PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 1

Volume 71 December, 2012

Windows Migration:

Welcome To Linux.

Welcome To PCLinuxOS!

2012 Annual HolidayGift Guides From

Meemaw Paul ms_meme

Windows Migration:Download, Verify & CreateA Live CD or USB

Setting Up ANetwork File SystemAnd More Inside!

A Little WINE Is Good

GraphicsTutorials:

Gimp, Part 6 exwintechPasses On ...

R.I.P.

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 2

3 Welcome From The Chief Editor4 exwintech Passes On ... R.I.P.5 Screenshot Showcase6 Graphics Tutorials: Gimp, Part 67 Screenshot Showcase8 Windows Migration: Welcome To Linux. Welcome To PCLinuxOS!

11 Screenshot Showcase12 Windows Migration: Download, Verify, and Create A LiveCD or USB16 Forum Foibles: Forum Land18 Mark's Quick Gimp Tip & Double Take19 Getting People To Understand The Importance Of Freedom

Over Convenience: Why Is It So Hard?21 Screenshot Showcase22 Setting Up A Network File System (NFS)25 Festive Foibler: YouCanToo26 2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Paul's Picks29 Screenshot Showcase30 2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Meemaw's Picks32 2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: ms_meme's Picks34 A Little WINE Is Good35 Screenshot Showcase36 ms_meme's Nook: I'll Be In The Forum For The Holidays37 Connecting Your Computer To Your TV39 OMNI: What's Old Is New Again40 More Screenshot Showcase

Table Of ContentsThe PCLinuxOS name, logo and colors are the trademark ofTexstar.The PCLinuxOS Magazine is a monthly online publicationcontaining PCLinuxOS­related materials. It is publishedprimarily for members of the PCLinuxOS community. Themagazine staff is comprised of volunteers from thePCLinuxOS community.Visit us online at http://www.pclosmag.comThis release was made possible by the following volunteers:Chief Editor: Paul Arnote (parnote)Assistant Editor: MeemawArtwork: Timeth, ms_meme, MeemawMagazine Layout: Paul Arnote, Meemaw, ms_memeHTML Layout: RudgeStaff:Neal Brooks ms_memeGalen Seaman Mark SzoradyPatrick Horneker Darrel JohnstonGuy Taylor MeemawAndrew Huff Gary L. Ratliff, Sr.Pete Kelly Daniel Meiß­WilhelmContributors:Antonis Komis David MooreJared Steer rmKevin Keijzer

The PCLinuxOS Magazine is released under the CreativeCommons Attribution­NonCommercial­Share­Alike 3.0Unported license. Some rights are reserved.Copyright © 2012.

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 3

WOW! Where did 2012 go? It doesn’t seem all thatlong ago that we were welcoming in 2012. Now herewe are already preparing for yet another holidayseason. In keeping with tradition (well, traditionduring my tenure as the magazine’s editor, at least),we once again deliver the annual holiday gift guide.This year, I provide 10 gift suggestions, Meemawprovides 10 more, and ms_meme jumps into the giftsuggestion fray with six more of her own.Among all the hustling shoppers and busy schedulesduring this time of year, the words “peace on Earth”and “goodwill towards men” are often heard, utteredand bantered about. Maybe I’m a bit naive, coupledwith a bit of an utopian view, but wouldn’t it be nice ifwe heard, uttered and bantered about these termsall throughout the rest of the year? Wouldn’t it benice if we (meaning all of us) could make thosewords become reality throughout the year, everyyear?As of late 2011 (the latest figures I can find), thereare 24 countries directly affected by ongoing wars,with over half (13, to be exact) affected by protractedwars of 10 years or more, and seven of thosecountries having experienced wars in excess of 30years – and still counting. I’m sure for those living inthese two dozen countries, the terms “peace onEarth” and “goodwill towards men” are just hollowwords and a distant, dim dream.Fueled by the selfish and wanton desires of so­called “power barons” who want to impose their willand their beliefs on others, there will be no “peaceon Earth” or “goodwill toward men” during this winterholiday season in at least those two dozencountries. I cannot understand the intense desiresome people have to rule over those who areweaker. I cannot understand why some feel theneed to limit and oppress their people.

I can easily imagine a world without wars, a worldwithout oppression. I can easily imagine a worldwhere freedom reigns – freedom of thought,freedom of movement, freedom of association,freedom to express one’s own mind, freedom tolearn, freedom for each individual to live their livesharmoniously. Just like the John Lennon song,“Imagine,” I can imagine all these things, as well asthe things expressed in the song.

So, for this holiday season, I’d like to wish each andevery one of you not only peace, prosperity,happiness and serenity … but also freedom. If eachof us works towards achieving that naive, utopiandream in our own little corner of the world, whoknows what may happen. It may even catch on andspread out of control. We should be so lucky. Happyholidays!

Welcome From The Chief Editor

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 4

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

It’s always a sad occasion when a PCLinuxOS forumfamily member passes on. Exwintech, a.k.a. DavidDoak of Croydon Park, Sydney, Australia, passedaway on November 10, 2012 at 64 years of age,after a short illness. The sad news was broken to thePCLinuxOS forum by Just17 on November 15, 2012.David was 64 years old.

Joining the PCLinuxOS forum on March 29, 2006,exwintech was very well known for his amusing andentertaining raves. If Dave was interested insomething, you usually knew because of the passionhe exhibited for that topic. Many of Dave’s raveswere related to video processing and the variousoptical media that videos could be burned to. Hewas especially a fan of trying to get DVD­RAM discsto work properly.Even in his last post to the PCLinuxOS forum onSeptember 22, 2012, he was making his usual

impassioned case against GMO (geneticallymodified organism) foods.

ms_meme’s caricature of exwintechBesides being a long time PCLinuxOS user, Davewas an avid photography enthusiast. He frequentedseveral photography forums, as well as the LinuxGraphics Users forum. In Dave’s words (from hisprofile on the Pentax camera forums), he took upphotography on his doctor's advice to "get out andabout more." One of his last activities was on theCanon Digital Photography forum at photography­on­the.net on November 9, 2012.Born September 29, 1948, Dave spent 25 years as asemi­truck driver between the Australian states. Histruck driving career came to an end when he wasknocked off of a loading platform by a forklift trainee,injuring his shoulder. The shoulder injury prevented

him from doing any heavy lifting, a requirement forhis trucking job.After that, he turned his computer hobby into aprofession by getting certification in computerassembly, followed by certification as an assistanttechnician. In 1996, he sought and receivedcertification on Win95 and Windows NT 4.0. Hefollowed that up obtaining certifications on Windows2000 and Windows XP in 2002.Shortly thereafter, Dave was diagnosed with Type 2Diabetes and early COPD (Chronic ObstructivePulmonary Disease). Combined with the previousshoulder injury, the other two chronic conditionswere enough to qualify him for a full disabilitypension.Dave tried to “get into Linux” with Mandrake 8.x, butdidn’t find the success he was looking for until hestumbled across the PCLinuxOS forum. There, hemade quick friends with Just17 and Jaydot, amongothers, all of whom helped guide him along his Linuxpath. With the help he received in the PCLinuxOSforum, he was using PCLinuxOS “nearly full time in afew weeks,” according to one of Dave’s early postsin the Linux Graphics Users forum.Mostly due to his interest in photography, Dave wasa big fan of the GIMP. From the time Davediscovered PCLinuxOS and took off on his Linuxjourney, Dave remained a faithful Linux user. Heused PCLinuxOS KDE 4.x as his sole operatingsystem, despite not quite having come to terms withthe changes that KDE 4.x brought to his favoriteLinux desktop. Dave remained forever fond of KDE3.5, and was hopeful that KDE 5.x would finally seechanges that would make KDE feel morecomfortable to him.

exwintech Passes On ... R.I.P.

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 5

Dave was an early contributor during the early daysof The PCLinuxOS Magazine. Dave even wrote apoem, called “Lament,” which appeared in the May2007 issue of The PCLinuxOS Magazine. His prosedealt with the then­recent release of Windows Vista,its lackluster sales and folks fleeing Windows forLinux.Rest in peace, Dave. Your insights, your raves andmost of all, the help you gave to others, will beforever missed. Screenshot ShowcaseScreenshot Showcase

Are viruses,adware, malware &spyware slowingyou down?Get your PC backto good healthTODAY!Get

Does your computer run slow?Are you tired of all the "Blue Screensof Death" computer crashes?

Download your copy today! FREE! Posted by Cstrike77, November 1, 2012, running KDE4.

exwintech Passes On ... R.I.P.

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 6

by Meemaw

Sometimes you take what you think is the perfectphoto, but then you’ll see that if just one little itemwasn’t there, the photo would be even better. But,how do you remove an item from a photo?Removing unwanted objects from your photo mayseem a little daunting, but the following method wasfairly easy for me. My vacation last summer wasriding 4­wheelers in Colorado. We went to one towncalled St. Elmo. The old buildings were beautiful, butone photo had a traffic sign I wanted to remove. Ithought my photo would look much better without it,so I decided to edit it out of this photo rather thancropping it out because I wanted the road in thephoto. We are going to do that using the Clone Tool.Start by opening the image you want to change. Youshould always make a copy of your original photoand edit the copy, or at least create a copy of yourbackground layer by right clicking on the backgroundin your Layers Panel and selecting “Duplicate”.

Choose the Clone tool stamp from the Tools panel.In the brushes area, choosing a bigger brush willclone a bigger area. Hold down <CTRL> with theClone Tool selected, and click anywhere in yourimage to sample that area. I clicked on the trees justto the side of the sign I want to cover in order tomake the result blend in with the background. A plussign will appear in your area, meaning that you havea “sample area” to use. Feel free to zoom in asnecessary on the area you are editing, in order to doa better job.

Now, paint carefully over the item you want todelete. The sample area you grabbed with theclone tool should cover up that item. When youpaint, your sample area indicator moves with yourcursor and the area you want to change should bepainted with the sample area. You should makeshort strokes and proceed carefully to get thedesired effect (top right).You can change brush size and hardness by right­clicking in your image. If the sample area doesn’t

match the area around one of the items you want toremove, you can always choose another in the samemanner. In this photo I had to choose three differentsamples: one for the background behind the sign,one for the vegetation behind the top of the post,and one for the part of the road behind the bottom ofthe post. You can see now that the picture looksbetter without the sign in it.

Graphics Tutorials: GIMP, Part 6

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 7

While this was a minor change, many photos can be“cleaned up” in this manner. In the bottom photobelow, I removed the electric line above andtransformer to the left of the building.

What a great tool! With a little practice, you’ll findyourself removing unwanted elements from yourimages in no time, too.

Screenshot ShowcaseScreenshot ShowcaseThe place where breaking news,BitTorrent and copyright collide

Posted by YouCanToo, November 1, 2012, running KDE4.

Graphics Tutorials: GIMP, Part 6

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 8

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

So you’ve decided to give Linux a try. Welcomeaboard! You’re joining a large and growingcommunity of computer users who have left closed,proprietary operating systems (such as MicrosoftWindows) behind. Just like you, they have embracedLinux. Most of them use Linux every day, as theirsolitary operating system.

What is Linux?Linux was first intended for (and still thrives on)computers using the Intel x86 microprocessorarchitecture. Chances are extremely high that youare reading this article on your computer running theIntel x86 microprocessor instruction set. Besidesyour computer, you’ve probably also used Linuxelsewhere in your everyday life, but never realized it.Linux has been ported to run more devices than anyother operating system – ever. Today, there are awhole host of things that you use every day that useLinux as the operating system to help them do whatthey do. Some examples are your television, DVDplayer, Android smart phones, various GPS units,your car, your eBook Reader, your Android tablet,some smart kitchen appliances, and many otherthings. We haven’t even begun to make a scratch inlisting all of the everyday devices that you use thatrely on Linux to make them run.Started October 5, 1991 when Finnish­born Linuxfounder Linus Torvalds (pictured above) released thefirst Linux kernel, Linux is a free Unix­like operatingsystem. Originally started as a project for hismaster’s degree from the University of Helsinki tocreate a Unix­like operating system that could run onhis 386 computer, Linux today is released under the

GNU General Public Software License. Thissoftware license allows open access to the computersource code by anyone who wishes to view ormodify it. Any changes made to it are also sharedwith everyone else. To this day, Linus Torvaldsremains the man with the final say about thecontinued development of the Linux kernel,approving or disapproving of changes and additionsto the Linux kernel.

This is in stark contrast to the closed developmentmodel, as you typically see with proprietary software,where only a few “privileged” individuals can eversee or look at the computer source code. With Linux,an open development model is used. This allows notjust a few (or few hundred) eyes to view, contributeand improve on the code, but it allows everyone toview, contribute and improve on the code. You mayhave heard Linux and GNU programs referred to as“Open Source.” This is what folks are talking about.Some other terms you may hear kicked around areFOSS (Free, Open Source Software) and FLOSS(Free Linux Open Source Software). They meanessentially the same thing. The one thing you willnotice that all of the names, nicknames andacronyms use the term “Open Source” to describe it.Surrounding the free Linux operating system, awhole ecosystem of free and open source softwaresprouted up to provide users with the means ofperforming the various tasks that users typically usea computer for. As a result, most Linux users alsouse free and open source software applications toaccomplish their daily tasks. These include browsingthe web, checking email, creating graphics, creatingdocuments, editing and watching videos, listening tomusic – just about anything you can imagine. Today,Linux forms the backbone of the Internet, since it isthe operating system of choice for the enterpriseserver market. It also powers 90% of the world’s 500fastest supercomputers, including all 10 of the top10 fastest.You may have heard talk that Linux is hard, or thatLinux is for computer geeks. While that used to betrue in the earliest of days about Linux, that is nolonger true (as you’re about to find out). While everyLinux distribution around (different “versions” ofLinux are called “distributions” that are created by a

Welcome To Linux. Welcome To PCLinuxOS!Windows Migration

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 9

single developer or a team of developers, yet theyall use the same Linux core) allows access to thecommand line (sometimes referred to as the CLI,which stands for Command Line Interface), mostmodern Linux distributions (also called “distros”)insulate the user from the command line with agraphical user interface. The graphical user interfaceis commonly referred to as the “desktopenvironment.”Each desktop environment (also referred to as DE)offers a variety of features. Some are created withthe intent of being lean, mean and fast. Others arecreated with the intent of providing the most robustand feature­laden computing environment possible.Unlike the situation under Windows, where you arepretty much restricted to using the computer oneway and only one way (the way that Microsoftdesigned it to work), you have a multitude of choicesnot only in the features of your desktop environment,but in how fast you want your computer to perform.Some popular desktop environments for Linuxinclude KDE 4 (which PCLinuxOS uses for its mainrelease), LXDE (often described as being similar toWindows 98), Xfce, Gnome, Openbox, andEnlightenment (also referred to as e17). KDE andGnome are often described as the environments thatprovide the most features, the most robustcomputing environment, and the most “eye candy.”Xfce, LXDE, Openbox and Enlightenment are someof the leaner and faster desktop environments.Your choice of which one to use depends on whatyou are looking for. If you have older hardware, youmay want to look at one of the desktopenvironments that are leaner and faster. Linux cancertainly breath new life into some older hardware. (Istill have Pentium III computers that I regularly use,loaded with versions of PCLinuxOS that utilize oneof the lighter desktop environments.) If you havenewer hardware, with a more modern processor, lotsof memory, a high quality video card, etc., you haveeven more choices. Do you want a desktopenvironment that provides lots of eye candy, lots of

features and a very robust computing environment?Or do you want a desktop that’s lean and fast,freeing processor time and memory for “moreimportant” tasks?One thing that is nice about Linux is that you can trythem all, for free, to see which one is best suited toyour computing needs and style. All you have to dois download either a Live CD or Live DVD, burn it tothe appropriate optical medium, insert it into youroptical drive, and reboot your computer. Oncerebooted, you are free to check out the differentdesktop environments, all without making a singlechange to your computer.

What Is PCLinuxOS?PCLinuxOS is a Linux distro, just like Ubuntu,openSUSE, Fedora, Mepis, Knoppix, Debian,Slackware, Arch and about 600 others. Probably thebest way to describe PCLinuxOS is to provide a briefhistory from the founder of PCLinuxOS, Texstar –a.k.a. Bill Reynolds (pictured below).

In the summer of 2003, I became interested in Live CDtechnology after looking at Knoppix and a freshdistribution from a fellow named Warren, called Mepis. I

was interested in helping Warren with Mepis at the time,but I had no clue how to build DEB files. Coming from 5years of packaging RPMS and not really wanting to learna new packaging system, I happened to come across aSouth African fellow by the name of Jaco Greef. He wasdeveloping a script called mklivecd and porting it toMandrake Linux. I, along with Buchanan Milne(Mandrake contributor) and a few others, began workingwith Jaco to help debug the scripts. I got an idea to makea livecd based on Mandrake Linux 9.2, along with all mycustomizations, just for fun. I had previously provided anunofficial 3rd party repository for the users of Mandrakefor many years, but had since parted ways. SinceMandrake was a trademarked name, myself and othersdecided to name the Live CD after our news site andforum, pclinuxonline, thus PCLinuxOS.Preview .3 was my first attempt to make a livecd. Idistributed it initially to about 20 people to get theirreaction and feedback. Everyone who tested it loved thelivecd but there was one thing missing. There wasn't away to install the thing to the hard drive! srlinuxx fromtuxmachines.org came up with a novel way to copy thelivecd to the hard drive and posted it on our forums. Jacoutilized this information and inspiration from the Mepisinstaller and wrote a pyqt script to make the Live CDinstallable, thus the birth of a new distribution.On October 24, 2003, PCLinuxOS Preview .4 wasreleased as a fork of Linux Mandrake (Mandriva) 9.2utilizing mklivecd scripts from Jaco Greef, a multimediakernel from Thomas Buckland (2.4.22­tmb) and acustomized KDE (3.1.4­tex). Preview .5 through .93 werebuilt upon on previous PCLinuxOS releases. After threeyears of updating one release from the other using thesame gcc and glibc core library, we found too manyprograms would no longer compile or work properlyagainst this aging code base.In November 2006, we utilized a one time source codesnapshot from our friends at Mandriva to pull in anupdated glibc/gcc core and associated libraries. We spentthe following 6 months rebuilding, debugging,customizing, patching and updating our new code base.We pulled in stuff from our old code base, utilized

Windows Migration: Welcome To Linux. Welcome To PCLinuxOS!

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 10

patches/code from Fedora, Gentoo and Debian just toname a few. This is why you will never see me distrobashing, as it would be hypocritical to do such a thing.We are still dependent in many areas on other distrosdevelopment processes due to our limited but hardworking volunteer development team.On May 20th, 2007, we felt we had reached a pretty stablebase and released PCLinuxOS 2007. It utilized our ownkernel from Oclient1, KDE built by MDE developer Ze,updated mklivecd scripts from IKerekes & Ejtr, a heavilypatched Control Center, graphics from the PCLinuxOSbeautification team, and many application updates fromThac and Neverstopdreaming. Development continues aswork is being done for a Minime release and aninternational DVD. A future release of PCLinuxOS willfeature an updated kernel, KDE 4, fresh Xorg server andall the latest applications. All in all it has been a greatride and we have made many friends along the way. Somehave gone on to other distributions and many are stillhere from our first release. As I've always said, we're justenjoying Linux technology and sharing it with friends whomight like it too. We hope you have enjoyed the ride aswell.While the above was written a few years ago,PCLinuxOS has continued to thrive and evolve.Shortly thereafter, MiniMe was released. MiniMerepresented a barebones KDE installation, with littleelse than the bare desktop and core Linux OS files.Designed for more advanced users, MiniMe allowsusers to install only those applications that theywant. Even though this distro uses the “rollingrelease” update method, new Live CDs werereleased every year (and recently, even more often)so a user wouldn’t have to download a huge numberof updates after installing to make sure they had themost up­to­date system available.In 2009, several developers left PCLinuxOS to starttheir own distro. While this happens in many otherdistros, PCLinuxOS hasn’t suffered from it, and isstill one of the top distros. In the wake of theirdeparture, others stepped up to fill the vacateddeveloper roles. Several other users stepped up to

create the various “flavors” of PCLinuxOS. Today,there several “flavors” of PCLinuxOS available tousers, each presenting PCLinuxOS a choice ofwhich desktop environment to use.To this day, the KDE desktop is still employed in the“main” PCLinuxOS release. However, all of the otherdesktop versions utilize the exact same Linux core,as well as the same repositories.Following the rolling release design, improvementsare always being made, and things evolve. FirstTexstar, followed by the PCLinuxOS developmentteam, expanded their focus a bit, and a much­wished­for 64­bit edition of PCLinuxOS has enteredinto the testing phase. Requiring a rebuild of all ofthe applications in the repos, the 64­bit repo nowhas over 8,700 of the 12,000+ applications in thePCLinuxOS 32­bit repo.

The PCLinuxOS CommunityWhen it comes to Linux communities, it’s hard to findone that’s friendlier or more helpful than thePCLinuxOS community. Some Linux communitiesare less than friendly places, where new users areexpected to “pay their dues,” and receive “RTFM”(Read The Freaking Manual … except that“Freaking” isn’t the word they use), “GIYF” (GoogleIs Your Friend) or “LMGTFY” (Let Me Google ThatFor You) as answers to questions.Fortunately, not only for new users, but all users,RTFM, GIYF and LMGTFY are not uttered. Moreoften than not, veteran PCLinuxOS users will takethe time to actually help a new user (or any user, forthat matter), rather than making them “pay theirdues” by having to look everything up themselves. Itdoesn’t matter how many times the question hasbeen asked, it seems that there is always someonewho is willing to lend a helping hand.So what comprises the PCLinuxOS community?

Probably the most common part of that community isthe support forums on the PCLinuxOS web site. It isthere that PCLinuxOS users from all around theworld gather to discuss issues, ideas, problems,solutions, trade barbs, share anecdotes, andotherwise get to know one another while providinghelp, laughter, a shoulder to cry on, or vent. Throughthe PCLinuxOS forum, many regular users havebonded and behave more like one big happy family.If you hang out there enough, you will seePCLinuxOS users sharing personal triumphs,hardships, and many other things. When they do, it’snot uncommon to see an outpouring of emotion fromthe other PCLinuxOS “family” members. It is thePCLinuxOS forum that provides the premiereavenue of support for PCLinuxOS users. It’s usershelping users. That is, after all, the Linux way. Justplease remember to search the forum before askingyour question(s). Chances are pretty good that yourquestion has been asked before, and the repliesmay provide the answer you are looking for in lesstime than asking the same question anew.Another avenue of support in the PCLinuxOScommunity is the PCLinuxOS IRC channels, usingthe FreeNode IRC network. If you launch Xchat, thepopular IRC client application in PCLinuxOS, youwill find the casual chat channel (#PCLinuxOS) andthe support channel (#PCLinuxOS­Support) alreadyset up for you. Once there, you can chat (via typedtext) with other PCLinuxOS users from around theglobe, in real time. There are also channels fordiscussion of articles that appear in the magazine(#pclosmag) and channels for discussion ofPCLinuxOS in various foreign languages (e.g.,

Windows Migration: Welcome To Linux. Welcome To PCLinuxOS!

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 11

#pclinuxos­pl is the channel for the discussion of allthings dealing with PCLinuxOS, but in the Polishlanguage).

PCLinuxOS also has The PCLinuxOS Magazine.Only one other Linux distro has a monthly magazinededicated to its users. The PCLinuxOS Magazine ispublished monthly by a dedicated group ofvolunteers. Within the magazine, you will find articlesof general interest to Linux users, along with articlesthat are especially of interest to PCLinuxOS users,about PCLinuxOS and the applications that are in itsrepositories. All of the magazine’s back issues areavailable free of charge, from the very first issue tothe latest issue, and are published as PDF files.Periodically, The PCLinuxOS Magazine will produce“Special Editions” of the magazine to help serve as areference resource. In the past, the magazine hasproduced “special editions” for KDE 4, Xfce, LXDE,Openbox, Gnome and Enlightenment desktopenvironments, as well as “special editions” to helpwith learning the Linux command line and how touse Scribus (a desktop publishing program that themagazine uses to produce the monthly PDF).Additionally, there are multiple mailing lists availablefor PCLinuxOS users to join. Many of the mailinglists have seen their use dwindle lately, as efforts areunderway to move most of those discussions intothe more open environment of the PCLinuxOSforum, where more PCLinuxOS users canparticipate.

SummaryAs you embark on your Linux journey, rest assuredthat you are not the first to travel this path. Othershave gone before you, and luckily, many of them areready and willing to lend a helpful hand. WithPCLinuxOS, you’ve chosen one of the top 10 Linux

distros, and one that works remarkably well and isvery stable.Does this mean that you won’t have problems?Probably not, and that is an unrealistic expectation.You are having to learn a new and different way ofperforming many common tasks. While many of theskills you learned while running closed­source,proprietary software will transfer smoothly to your

Linux experience, you are likely to experience abump or two in the road along the way. With somethings, you will have to learn how to do themdifferently. You will have to learn the “Linux” way ofdoing things. But, you don’t have to go it alone.We – the many users of PCLinuxOS – stand at theready to help.

Screenshot ShowcaseScreenshot Showcase

Posted by ferry_th, November 15, 2012, running KDE4.

Windows Migration: Welcome To Linux. Welcome To PCLinuxOS!

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 12

by Antonis Komis (agmg)

IntroductionSo, you’ve decided to take a step away fromWindows and explore the world of Linux, and morespecifically, PCLinuxOS. You couldn’t find a betterdistribution to do that with. PCLinuxOS is a rollingLinux release, well­known for its quality and stabilitysupported by one of the friendliest (if not thefriendliest) forums around. Whether you are anovice, intermediate or advanced Windows user,one thing is sure: you are facing something that youhave never seen before. A new environment, a newphilosophy, a new way of doing things, a new way oflife. Not everyone takes to the change in the sameway, but don’t worry: we have prepared a series ofarticles that will help you find your way around. Inthis specific article, you will find how to getPCLinuxOS and prepare an installation medium(CD, DVD or USB), to try it (yes, you can do that)and, if you like it, install it on your hard disk.If you want to know more about PCLinuxOS or needfurther help, you can visit the PCLinuxOSKnowledge Base (http://www.pclinuxoshelp.com), orbecome a member of the PCLinuxOS forum(http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum), where you willalways find people willing to help you with everyproblem or question you may have.Enough with the introductory stuff. Let’s begin ourjourney.Choosing the right version for youThe main difference between the variousPCLinuxOS editions is the Desktop Environment (orDE) they use and the applications that are installed

by default. Simply put, the DE is the Graphical UserInterface of your system, and it typically consists ofwindows, icons, panels, toolbars, wallpapers anddesktop widgets. It’s like the Desktop you are usingin Windows. It gives you the ability to interact withyour computer using concepts which are similar tothose used in the physical world, such as buttonsand windows. Most Desktop Environments include aset of integrated applications and utilities to give youa more complete graphical experience. UnlikeWindows, there are many Desktop Environmentsthat you can choose from, depending on yourpersonal needs and tastes and/or your computercapabilities. We will talk about DesktopEnvironments with more detail in a separate article,but here is a quick reference for your convenience:KDE Edition: This is the standard edition ofPCLinuxOS. It is based on the KDE platform(www.kde.org), which consists of the desktopenvironment (Plasma Desktop – with differentversions for desktops, netbooks or tablets) and asuite of applications based on that platform thatintegrate to the desktop environment and canliterally cover every user's needs.

LXDE Edition: This is a community release usingLXDE (www.lxde.org). The "Lightweight X11 DesktopEnvironment (LXDE)" is an extremely fast­performing and energy­saving desktop environment.It is the perfect choice for computers with lowhardware specifications, such as older computers ornetbooks, but it also runs lightning­fast on moremodern ones.

Xfce Edition: This is also a community releasebased on Xfce (xfce.org). It aims to be fast and lowon system resources, while still being visuallyappealing and user friendly.The default Xfce desktop environment (next page)

Full Monty Edition: Another community releasewhich is based on the standard KDE edition ofPCLinuxOS but sports a special desktop layout andmany drivers and applications pre­installed. FullMonty applies a new concept: an activity­focusedvirtual desktop layout, which is designed to addressa typical user’s needs/tasks and make working on

Download, Verify, and Create a LiveCD or USB

The default KDEdesktop environment

The default LXDEdesktop environment

Windows Migration

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 13

the computer straightforward and fun. You can findmore info on Full Monty here.There are also mini editions of PCLinuxOS (with thename “MiniMe”) that are not recommended for new

Linux users. These are editions that contain only thecore system and some basic applications so apower user can customize them the way he/sheprefers.

Ways to get PCLinuxOSThere are two ways to get PCLinuxOS:1. Download from the Internet.2. Order a CD/DVD/USB.We’ll only cover the first option in­depth, here.Ordering a CD/DVD/USB is usually preferred byusers that have a slow or no Internet connection atall, or who want to have PCLinuxOS on aprofessionally created medium. This option costs asmall amount of money and is slower, as it takessome time to get the medium shipped to you. If youare interested in this method, you can visitwww.osdisc.com for more information.The main source for downloading the latestPCLinuxOS releases is our official website:www.pclinuxos.comYou just select “Get PCLinuxOS” and you will beprovided with two options.­ The first option is to select the version ofPCLinuxOS you prefer.­ The second option is to select whether you want todownload via the Web (using either the FTP orHTTP protocol) or by using a BitTorrent client.

Downloading from the web (via FTP/HTTP)If you choose to download from the web, you canuse the main PCLinuxOS server, or choose from alist of alternative mirrors for better speed.

There are two files for each version of PCLinuxOS:the ISO file and the md5sum file. You will need both.The ISO file will be used to create the medium fromwhich you will try or install PCLinuxOS. The md5sumfile will be used to check the integrity of the ISO fileyou have downloaded to avoid creating a defectivemedium. You don’t have to download it, you onlyneed its contents, which can be copied directly fromthe website.

Downloading using the BitTorrent protocolBitTorrent provides a fast way of downloading largefiles by sharing bandwidth. You will need a BitTorrentclient to download a torrent file. If you are new toBitTorrent, here's a very nice beginner's guide.Advantages* You don't have to check your download afterdownloading.* BitTorrent can continue from a broken download(i.e., resume where it left off).* Allows slower or intermittent downloads (such asusers on dial­up) to do it over many days, or evenweeks.* You help take away the cost of providing downloadmirrors.Disadvantages* You have to configure your firewall to workproperly.* Download speeds are sometimes slower thandownloading from the mirrors.

Verify your downloadWhen you have finished downloading from the web,you should take an extra step to verify the file youhave downloaded before creating a CD, DVD orUSB. By doing this, you will ensure that the mediumyou will create is not defective, and that it will not

Windows Migration: Download, Verify, and Create a LiveCD or USB

The default Xfcedesktop environment

The Full Monty withactivity­oriented desktops

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 14

lead to a corrupted installation of PCLinuxOS.A very nice and free Windows utility for checkingmd5 hashes with an easy to use interface isWinMD5. You can download it from its officialwebsite: http://www.winmd5.comYou just select the ISO file you need to verify. Theprogram scans it and displays the current Md5checksum value. Then, you need the contents of themd5sum file corresponding to the version youdownloaded. Just click on its link and you will go to anew page containing something similar to this:1eeb3575bb9bf23b0be675b47337a841pclinuxos­kde­2012.08.isoCopy the first part of this line and paste it inside theprogram (as the original file MD5 checksum value)and click “Verify”. If everything is fine, you should geta message that the values matched. You are good togo!

Create the installation mediumNow that you have verified the downloaded ISO, youcan proceed with creating the medium from whichyou will try or install PCLinuxOS.You can use an optical medium (CD or DVD –depending on the edition of PCLinuxOS) or a USBflash drive.

Burning the ISO to a CD or DVDIf you are using Windows 7, then you don’t need anyadditional program to burn the ISO file to a disk,because Windows 7 natively supports this function.You just right­click on the file and select “Burn discimage” from the menu.

If you are using aWindows version olderthan Windows 7 (or youdon’t like the built­infunction), you can findmany free programsthat can be used for thispurpose.

The most well known isISO Recorder, which

can be downloaded here:http://alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm

Another well known program is ImgBurn.http://www.imgburn.com/

Of course, you may already be using your own diskburning software (commercial or free), so you will

decide what is best for you. Regardless of theprogram you are going to use, you should remembersome simple tips:* Always use quality, brand name disks.* Always use the lowest possible writing speed.* Always verify the disk you have created.Creating a bootable USBThe best way – and probably the easiest way – tocreate a bootable USB under Windows is to useUNetbootin.You will find it at its official website:http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/In this page you will also find a very helpful visualguide on how to use UNetbootin.There are also two other nice utilities for creating abootable USB available on www.pendrivelinux.comThe first one is called Universal USB Installer, andhas similar function as UNetbootin mentionedearlier.The second one is called YUMI and has a uniquefunction: it can create a bootable USB containingmore than one Linux distribution. You can use thisutility to create a multiboot USB that has all theflavors of PCLinuxOS, boot from it, try them all, anddecide which one is best for you.Using a USB instead of CD or DVD has manyadvantages:* A USB drive is usually faster than a CD or a DVD.* They can be erased and used again (i.e. to tryanother flavor of PCLinuxOS).

Windows Migration: Download, Verify, and Create a LiveCD or USB

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 15

* You can have many different Linux distributions inone single USB drive.NOTE: You have to make sure that you computer isable to boot from a USB before selecting thismethod. Most modern desktops and laptops offerthis function, but if your computer is older, youshould consult your manufacturer’s manual (if it is abranded desktop or a laptop) or your motherboard’smanual (if it is a custom built computer) to see ifbooting from USB is supported.How to boot your computer from a CD/DVD/USB.To make your computer boot from removable media(CD/DVD/USB), you have to change the boot orderfrom your BIOS. BIOS (Basic Input Output System)is software stored in a small chip inside yourmotherboard. BIOS instructs the computer on how toperform a number of basic functions such as bootingand keyboard control, and is also used to identifyand configure the hardware in a computer, such asthe hard drive(s), CPU, memory, etc.When you turn on your computer, you see a screensimilar to the one below during POST (abbreviatedas POST, the Power On Self Test is the initial set ofdiagnostic tests performed by the computer whenpowered on):

If you hit the DEL key, you will enter the BIOS setuputility (this key may be different, depending on yourBIOS manufacturer).You need to change the boot order and set theCD/DVD or USB first, so the computer will boot fromit. Since every BIOS setup utility is different, thespecifics on where the boot options may be locatedis different but you should look for items with nameslike Boot Options, Boot Order, Boot etc. Dependingon the BIOS, you may have to look in sections suchas Advanced BIOS Options or Other Options.Additionally, some computers (mostly laptops) havea special key (usually F12) which you can press justafter POST to change the boot sequence withoutchanging settings in the BIOS setup utility. This iswhat it should look like:

You select the correct device, save your settings andreboot your computer. When the computer reboots itwill boot from the device you have selected.

International CommunityPCLinuxOS Sites

Netherlands

Turkey

DenmarkCzechoslovakia

Italy

Poland

Brazil

Windows Migration: Download, Verify, and Create a LiveCD or USB

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 16

Forum Land Forum LandOh so much fun in Forum Land

Download PCLinuxOSYou'll be ever happy then

Sandbox SandboxMany new friends in SandboxOnce you log into the Forum

You'll always return againForum Land Forum Land

Oh so much joy in Forum LandJoin us now you won’t regret

Come meet all the guys and galsSandbox Sandbox

Remember your friends in SandboxOnce you log into the ForumYou always will have new pals

MP3OGG

Forum Foibles: Forum Land

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 17

ms_memeparnoteagmgMeeMaw

Forum Foibles: Forum Land

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 18

he top of the screen with itscorresponding thumbnail.You can now move from imageto image simply by selectingthe appropriate tab on theImage Tab Bar. It works muchlike tab browsing in Chrome/(Chromium in Linux).

Mark's Quick Gimp Tip

­Mark Szorady is a nationallysyndicated cartoonist withgeorgetoon.com. He blogs atgeorgetoon.com/blog.Email Mark atgeorgetoon@gmail.com.

The newest version of Gimp(Version 2.8.2) has a lot ofnew features that enhance itsease of use. One of the best,and one I absolutely LOVE, isthe new Image Tab Bar.Here’s how it works: First, make sure youare in Single­Window mode. To do this goto Menu Windows> Single­Window andmake sure it is checked. Now, when inSingle­Window mode, if you open multipleimages, each image will open in a tab att

©2012 by Mark Szorady. Distributed by georgetoon.com Answers on Page 29.

Mark's Quick Gimp Tip & Double Take

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 19

by Kevin KeijzerShared via Google+

I visited something one may call a family reuniontoday. Even though those who know me are likelyaware of the fact that something like that is not reallymy style. I have nothing against the peoplepersonally, so I did my best to be friendly and polite,have some general conversations, and possibly endup getting one or two people interested in leavingthe proprietary computing ecosystem and becomeliberated by GNU/Linux and other free software.The usual people with whom I have suchconversations about the importance of free software,(and more importantly, digital freedom) do not knowvery much about the subject, but are usuallysurprisingly willing to listen to what I have to say.Although I've come to believe that the reason forthem doing so is more likely due to the fact is that Ioffer to bring new life to their old computers free ofcharge, rather than being honestly interested in thepotential dangers I try to protect them from. I don'tthink I'll ever know their true intentions, and I try notto think about it that much; merely to avoid anothermajor disappointment in my life.Regardless, today I was talking with a relative whodoes know what he is talking about, and perhaps (oreven most likely) knows more about computer­related subjects than I do. But sadly, it did not takevery long for me to find out that even though he waswell informed about the subject ­ and wasn't too shyabout letting me know about that either ­ he stillreasoned like an average computer user. He told methat he just couldn't care less about how content ispresented to him, as long as it "just works". (And weall know that slogan, don't we?)

Even though American corporations like Microsoftand Apple will have full control over everything wedo with our (not so very) "personal" computers, andare able to spy on us, steal our personal data, applycensorship to the applications we are allowed torun, add DRM to media content, and lock us intoproprietary file formats, it was considered all right byhim, as long as working with his computer wouldtake as little effort as possible. So, basically,someone "smarter" than me is still part of theeveryday ''OMG this Silverlight movie doesn'twork, so GNU/Linux sucks'' crowd. As you canprobably imagine, it was one of the most depressingthoughts I had in a long time, finding out that respectfor two of the companies in ICT I consider to be themost evil of all time, is even present in this group ofusers.Even though he acknowledged some of my veryvalid reasons to avoid proprietary software like theplague, he still did not consider them to outweigh theconvenience of 'not worrying about anything' thatproprietary operating systems have to offer. What Iwould really like to know is why people findconvenience and making as little effort as possibleso much more important than their own freedom andsafety? Why would someone put their privacy andright to control something they own on the line, justso they don't have to think as much? I mean, Iwould really not feel comfortable running some kindof executable on my machine with root privileges,without having at least have some clue of what itdoes. Even though I'm not the most talentedprogrammer out there, I can tell wheneversomething really isn't right. And I trust the socialcontract that free software has to offer, that otherpeople will warn those who can make a difference,(such as the repository package maintainers), thatsomething in the source code really needs review.Proprietary software offers no such possibility, (other

than reverse engineering for years), and is therefore,in my opinion, defective by design, as the FreeSoftware Foundation so accurately describes DRM;one of my other nightmares.Anyway, back to what I was saying: I find the lack ofpersonal control over pretty much everything we doto be disturbing. I simply do not understand whypeople don't want to at least try to have as muchcontrol as possible over the things they have to dealwith in everyday life. I just don't see how someonecan be comfortable with CEOs of huge overseascorporations deciding what we may or may not dowith our own property. Why would you be fine withthe FBI breaking into your house if you copy a DVDthat you own for personal use, or install differentsoftware on a gaming console that you paid moneyfor? I don't see why anyone in their right mind wouldagree to an end­user license agreement thatexplicitly states that even though you went to thestore and purchased something, you are still notallowed to do anything the vendor doesn't want youto. Why would you agree that some software vendoris allowed to remove any feature they want to seedisappear, even though you may rely on it, and eventhough you possibly even paid money for it? (Don'tmake me bring up the PlayStation 3 Other OSfunction.)Giving up the ability to control any part of your life,particularly computers and other internet devices,which are an ever­increasing part of everyday life,feels both incredibly stupid and also seriouslydangerous to me. A man named George Orwellwrote a book about what could result from that, incase things go really bad. It might be worth a readsometime.To me, a computer is not just a tool that makes mylife easier. It's also a potentially harmful factor for my

Getting People To Understand The Importance OfFreedom Over Convenience; Why Is It So Hard?

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 20

personal life, my privacy and even my safety, if Idon't use it with care. It may take a bit more time torun as much free software as possible, (even thoughthe generally made assumptions are blowncompletely out of proportion), but it does seem worththe effort if I can prevent all kinds of bad things fromhappening. Why would I stand back and hope for thebest? Why would I just wait until something came tobite me in the neck big time, and not just dosomething about it? The only reasons that I canthink of are that I wouldn't be aware of all the things Ijust said, or that I wasn't capable of changing themmyself. And that's my exact point here: for the guyI'm referring to, neither was the case. He both knewabout all of this, and was most likely capable offreeing himself from it, but he still chose not to,because it would take some of his time, his effort,and his ability to view Silverlight movies.I'm not judging him, I'm not saying he's stupid, and Ireally think that everyone has every right to dowhatever they please. But I do think that it's ashame. I feel like he's letting himself down. I mean, ifyou really know a lot about a certain subject, andyou like doing it, whatever it may be, why wouldn'tyou try everything you can to help it move forwardand keep it safe, clean, and accessible foreveryone? Why wouldn't you stand up and join theidealists and make a change, rather than be part ofthe general population which just does as ordered,and never gets anywhere? Why would you chooseyour own convenience over doing the right thing,and making the world a better place?I just honestly believe that the world would be abetter place without proprietary software. In myopinion, commercial ownership of non­tangiblethings has a negative impact on every aspect ittouches. It holds back innovation; it threatens faircompetition; it drives up the prices; it decreases thedevelopment rate, the safety, the flexibility, theefficiency and the overall quality.I just don't think that viewing things from thecommercial side is always the best thing to do. Of

course, Microsoft and Apple have become filthy richby what they've done, but have they done right?Have they created products that have helpedhumanity move forward? Maybe, but at what cost?How safe are we now compared to 40 years ago?How much control do we have over our livescompared to 40 years ago? Those things have onlybecome much worse, as many things have becomecompletely dependent on computers nowadays.Almost everybody is forced to use MicrosoftWindows at work, for instance, no matter how badlythey try to avoid it. I have to jump through quite afew hoops in order to stay completely free ofMicrosoft and Apple products. But, to me that's worthit, because I really believe that doing business withthem is very harmful to myself, my family, and thecomputer technology in general. Any penny given toeither one of those companies is one too many.Then again, I don't think that I should be having todo all this. And if more people would agree with meand act upon it, none of us would. But unless morepeople stand up for their rights, things will neverchange. And that's what bothers me the most. Whathave we become? Why are we all such sheepnowadays? People used to protest againsteverything; universal suffrage, women’s rights, gayrights, abortion, the Vietnam war, nuclear plants, youname it. But now, on a subject that involves andthreatens billions of people, we do nothing. No oneseems to care. No one seems to even think about it.No one even takes the time.Kevin Keijzer is a free software advocate and GNU/Linuxuser who lives in Ridderkerk, Netherlands. His stated goalis to persuade as many people as possible into ditchingtheir proprietary software, in favor of free and opensource software. You can frequently find posts expressinghis advocacy on Google+.

Support PCLinuxOS! Get Your OfficialPCLinuxOSMerchandise Today!

Getting People To Understand The Importance Of Freedom Over Convenience; Why Is It So Hard?

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 21

Screenshot ShowcaseScreenshot ShowcaseWant To Help?

Would you like to help with the PCLinuxOSMagazine? Opportunities abound. So getinvolved!You can write articles, help edit articles, serveas a "technical advisor" to insure articles arecorrect, create artwork, or help with themagazine's layout.Join us on our Google Group mailing list.

LinPC.us

Posted by Crow, November 20, 2012, running LXDE.

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 22

by youcantoo

Requirements:We are going to assume that you have a fullyupdated version of PCLinuxOS installed andupdated.In addition, you need the following files:unionfs­tools­1.4­1pclos2007nfs­utils­clients­1.2.3­3pclos2011nfs­utils­1.2.3­3pclos2011libnfsidmap0­0.23­2pclos2010You can check your system to see if the NFS filesare already installed.Open a console window and enter the followingcommand:rpm ­qa | grep nfsIf they are there, you should see something like this:[dwmoar@localhost ~]$ rpm ­qa | grepnfsunionfs­tools­1.4­1pclos2007nfs­utils­clients­1.2.3­3pclos2011nfs­utils­1.2.3­3pclos2011libnfsidmap0­0.23­2pclos2010[dwmoar@localhost ~]$If you have the files already installed, good. If notopen Synaptic and install the missing files.

Setting up NSFOpen PCC (PCLinuxOS Control Center).

Select "Network Sharing," and then select "ShareDrives and Directories using NFS."

Now we want to add the directory(s) we want toshare, and with whom we want to share with. Soclick on "ADD," and you should see a window likethis (top, right):Now add the directory that you are wanting to share.

In my example, it is home/dwmoar/Pictures.

Now click ok and you should see something like this.

Setting Up a Network File System (NFS)

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 23

Now click "OK" again and you should be returnedback to the main PCC screen.Select "Network and Internet” and then under othersselect "Hosts definitions"

Now click on add. You should be greeted with thefollowing dialog box.

We need to add the ip address of each and everymachine that you wish to share files with. In mycase, I want to share with my laptop, so I wouldenter the following information.

Enter your ip address and the alias name or domainof machine that you want to share information with.

When you have entered the information, press OK.You will be returned to the Hosts Definitions screen.At the bottom of the list, you should see the newmachine that you have added.NOTE: the above step MUST BE done for each andevery machine that you want to share informationwith.

When you have finished, add the machines youwant, then press OK. You will then be back to themain PCC screen.Now select "Local Disks" and then select "Shareyour hard disk partitions"

The screen will will show three options. We will usethe default selection, "Allow all users." Click OK.

You will now see the “Share your hard diskpartitions” screen. Again, we will select the default.

Once more, click OK. We will be returned to themain PCC screen.Once again, click on "Network Sharing," and thistime select "Access NFS shared drives anddirectories.” You then will see the “Access NFSshared drive and directories" screen. At this point, itwill be empty.

Click on "Search servers" button. Be patient, as thismight take a little time. When it has found all yourNFS devices, it will display them, as in my example(next page).

Setting Up a Network File System (NFS)

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 24

You can see more information on your NFS deviceby clicking on the name or the ip address.

You can specify where you want the NFS directoryto be mounted on the local machine by clicking onthe "Mount Point" button at the bottom of the window(center, top).In my case, I am going to select the default directoryof "/mnt/Pictures"The NFS folder is not mounted yet. At this point, youmust click the "Mount" button at the bottom of thescreen. Note that the icon next to the mount pointwill change from a lightning bolt to a connected plugonce mounted

Once everything is to your liking, press the "Done"button at the bottom of the screen. If you want theNFS to be mounted automatically each time youstart your machine, you will need to make sure thatyou save the information to the fstab. Click "YES."(top, right)Once again, you will be returned to the main PCCscreen. Now, click on the "Share drive anddirectories using NFS." If all goes well, you shouldsee a dialog box saying "Starting the NFS­server,"and after a few seconds, you should see somethinglike this:Congratulations! You should now have a NFS shareworking on your system.

As in my example the NFS share was set for themount point "/mnt/Pictures". If I browse to the folder"/mnt/Pictures", I should see all my pictures.

Setting Up a Network File System (NFS)

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 25

YouCanToo's house

YouCanToo on a cruisewith PCLinuxOS mates

How YouCanToo sees himself How the customers see him

YouCanToo's recipe for thePCLinuxOS Knowledge Base The Forum gives YouCanTooa Blue Ribbon for all he does

Festive Foibler: YouCanToo

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 26

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

During this time of year, it’s easy to get caught up inthe holiday gift giving experience. Hopefully, you’ll beon the receiving end. So what about your favoritePCLinuxOS user that you may want to buy holidaygifts for?Once again, it’s time for the annual PCLinuxOSMagazine Holiday Gift Guide. This year, three of us– ms_meme, Meemaw and I – are going to give yousome holiday gift suggestions that any PCLinuxOSuser would enjoy. Meemaw and I are going to pickout 10 gift suggestions. Coupled with ms_meme’ssix gift suggestions, this will give you a total of 26suggestions to pick from.So, without any further adieu, here are my holidaygift suggestions for the 2012 holiday season. Theitems listed below were available at the time that thisarticle was written, and the quoted prices werecurrent at that time, as well. Prices are subject tochange over the weeks before the holidays.

OCZ Onyx Series OCZSSD2­1ONX32G 2.5" 32GBSATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) –Newegg.com, $49.99

From personal experience, aside from having plentyof RAM and a fast processor, there’s not much elsethat will improve the performance of yourPCLinuxOS system than the addition of a solid statedrive (SSD). As you may recall, I installed this verydrive in my new desktop computer build that I wroteabout in the February 2012 issue of The PCLinuxOSMagazine. I used the entire drive as my / directory.As a result, my boot time is around 10 ­ 12 seconds.Believe me when I tell you that there is nothingspecial you need to do to prepare a SSD for use. AllI did was format it with the ext4 file system, and Iinstalled PCLinuxOS. (My /home directory is on oneof four partitions on a 2 TiB conventional SATA IIhard drive). It literally was that simple. It has been anoutstanding performer ever since.

ICY DOCK MB990SP­B Dual Bay 2.5" to 3.5"SATA/IDE SSD & Hard Drive Bracket / Adapter –Newegg.com, $12.99

Of course, if you’re going to try to insert a 2.5” SSDinto a desktop, you’ll need a hard drive adapter to fitit securely into a 3.5” space. That’s where the ICYDOCK adapter comes in. Sure, there are otheradapters that are cheaper, but the price of this isvery reasonable, and it makes the insertion of that

2.5” SSD into a 3.5” hard drive space a cinch. Infact, you can place two 2.5” drives into the spaceused by one 3.5” hard drive.Installation is easy. The 2.5” drive clips into eitherthe upper or lower caddy. Then, you simply pressthe lever on the right side, slide it into the 3.5” drivebay, and release the lever. The pins on the side ofthe adapter lock it into place. No screws. No tools.No hassles.

TP­LINK TL­WDR3500 N600 Wireless Dual BandRouter IEEE 802.3/3u, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n –Newegg.com, $50.99

Most anyone who spends any amount of time on theinternet (and who doesn’t, these days?) would loveto be able to get “things” done faster and better(again, who wouldn’t?). Recent advances in wirelessnetwork speeds may have made your favoritePCLinuxOS user’s wireless router slow, inefficientand practically obsolete. While their current router

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Paul's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 27

may be keeping up with low­level networking tasks,it is most likely showing its age when it comes to itsability to stream high definition video feeds.With today’s wide range of devices that connect tothe internet – PCs, tablets, E­Book readers, smartphones, BluRay players, etc. – and with such thingsas high definition video feeds (YouTube, Hulu,Vumu, Netflix, etc.) becoming increasingly viewed inthe home, it may be time to upgrade your wirelessrouter to one that is more capable of meeting thoseincreasing demands on your wireless signal.This router is not only affordably priced, but it alsoprovides a 802.11n 600 Mb/s wireless connectionthat is more than capable of streaming 1080p highdefinition video. With a new router, your favoritePCLinuxOS user may be able to “cut the cord” withthe local cable television company, and save someserious money by streaming all of his/her favoriteshows.

Nikon Coolpix L26 Black 16.1 MP 5X Optical ZoomWide Angle Digital Camera – Newegg.com, $85.94

When it comes to a point and shoot digital camera –in fact, when it comes to any camera – it’s hard tobeat the high quality glass that Nikkor lenses are

made from. Of course, to get to use Nikkor lenses,you have to use a Nikon camera.It’s no secret that I (in what seems like a distantformer life) used to be a professional newspaperphotographer. Even back then, Nikon had thereputation of having the best “glass” (slang term weused for lenses) around. In fact, the difference wasso remarkable that I could look at black and whitenegatives and tell you if it was shot with a Nikon (Istill can, by the way).This camera comes packed with excellent features:a 5x optical zoom (with an additional 4x digital zoom… focal length of optics is 4.6 mm to 23 mm, a 35mm camera equivalent of from a 26 mm wide anglelens to a 130 mm moderate telephoto lens), 16.1Megapixel resolution, a 3” LCD screen, an imagestabilization system (for helping eliminate camerashake), recording HD movies in 720p resolution, 19special “scene” modes, uses readily availableSD/SDHC/SDXC memory cards, and uses only twoAA batteries as its power source.The latter feature is a HUGE benefit, in my opinion.For a while, camera manufacturers were driftingtowards using standard size batteries to power theircameras. Now, the pendulum is swinging back theother way, towards using proprietary Li­ion batteries.Let’s say you’re out in the middle of nowhere –biking or hiking – and your batteries start to fail. Witha Li­ion battery, you have to be somewhere nearanother power source to recharge your proprietarybattery. Don’t think for a second that you can just gobuy another one (remember, you’re out in the middleof nowhere). Even if you could, that proprietarybattery will probably cost you $50 or more – andmost likely not have a full charge.Yet, since this camera uses standard AA batteries,not only can you carry spares, you can buy morewhen you get back to even the most remote outpost.Also, you can use rechargeable Li­ion or NiMH AAbatteries, to further reduce your battery costs. I useNiMH rechargeable batteries, and carry along

several alkaline AA batteries as backup spares.When I buy a camera, my first choice is to always tobuy cameras that use readily available standard sizebatteries.

Dolica WT­1003 Floor Standing Monopod –Newegg.com, $19.99

I know … when you think about ways to stabilizeyour camera and minimize camera movement –especially at slow shutter speeds – most peopleimmediately think of a tripod. Take a word of advicefrom a former professional photographer (me).Tripods aren’t always the answer, nor are they theonly answer. Often times, a tripod is just plainimpractical. You can’t set them up on the sidelines ofan American football game, for example. Or, if you’reon a cruise ship and trying to shoot pictures at slowshutter speeds, a tripod transmits the ship’svibrations up three legs, effectively amplifying thosevibrations. Meanwhile, a monopod transmits less ofthose vibrations to your camera, through its singleleg.You will be amazed at how well a monopod helps tostabilize your camera (especially if you’ve neverused one before). Plus, a monopod is much smaller,lighter and less bulky to carry than a tripod. As anadded benefit, it can also be used as a walking stick,if you’re hiking.

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Paul's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 28

Simply thread the screw on the top of the monopodinto your camera’s tripod socket (by turning themonopod). This aluminum monopod, fully collapsed,is only 21.3” in length. Yet, when fully extended, itreaches a height of 67” (5’ 7”). It also comes with acarrying pouch, complete with a shoulder strap.

SpillNot No­Spill Mug Holder – ThinkGeek.com,$13.99

We know how many PCLinuxOS users just LOVEtheir coffee. Isn’t is just a crime when the cup is sofull that we spill drops of that precious black gold?With the SpillNot No­Spill Mug Holder, you can saygoodbye to crying over spilled coffee.Simply place your full cup of coffee (or otherbeverage) on the platform of the mug holder. Then,carry it about with the strap. When you walk, youcreate horizontal force, causing the side of the cupto press against the liquid, which then rises up andover the edge of the cup. The flexible loop handle ofSpillNot cannot deliver a lateral acceleration to thesaucer or the cup. As the handle moves horizontally,

the saucer and cup swing up slightly in the oppositedirection, balancing everything out so the liquidstays in the cup.Because of this – ruled by the laws of physics – youcan even swing the mug holder, complete with a fullmug of your favorite beverage, over your head in acircular pattern and never spill one precious drop.

Root Beer Brewing Kit – ThinkGeek.com, $26.99

Set your favorite PCLinuxOS user up with a kit thatallows them to brew their own beer … root beer, thatis. Unlike the heavily carbonated stuff you buy in thegrocery store, this root beer is more reminiscent ofthe smooth, creamy root beer of days past.This kit contains all the ingredients (except for thetwo different kinds of sugar, which you need toprovide) to make two one gallon batches of homebrewed root beer. Once bottled, it is ready to beconsumed three days later. Just note that thishomemade brew, due to the carbonation process,will contain trace amounts of alcohol: approximately½ of 1% alcohol by volume.

Luminglass – ThinkGeek.com, $39.99

Now, you can own your very own LuminglassLightning Storm disc, exactly like the one first seenin the “Star Trek: First Contact” movie. Makes aperfect gift for any PCLinuxOS Trekker. Plug it in,and watch as lighting mysteriously dances inside adisk of glass that's less than a quarter­inch thick!Create everything from a delicate tapestry of spiderwebs, to a powerful lightning storm! Luminglass alsofeatures a sound­responsive mode which, whenused with your voice or music, creates a pulsatingrhythm of light that will dazzle the senses. ACadapter included, and it is wall­mountable.

Large PCLinuxOS Mug – PCLinuxOS Store onCafePress.com, $15.99What self­respecting PCLinuxOS user wouldn’t wantto have this large, premium mug to drink theirfavorite coffee or tea from? Made from ceramic, thismug has a whopping 15 ounce (444 ml) capacity,and measures 4.5 inches tall and 3.25 inches in

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Paul's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 29

diameter. The mug is microwave and dishwashersafe. Plus, it has been officially approved by NealManBear.

PCLinuxOS Sticker – PCLinuxOS Store onCafePress.com, $3.99 each

Help your favorite PCLinuxOS user show their pridefor their amazing choice in operating systems! Getthem this sticker that proudly proclaims them a

PCLinuxOS user, and helps them spread the wordabout PCLinuxOS.Cover up that Dell or HP emblem on that laptop lid.Place one on the bumper or in the back window ofyour car. Measuring 3 x 5 inches, the sticker isavailable either in a rectangular or oval format.

Screenshot ShowcaseScreenshot Showcase

Answers to Mark Szorady's Double Take:(1) Eyes different; (2) Buckle larger; (3) Reindeercollar bells missing; (4) Santa hair different;(5) Reindeer nose larger; (6) Word balloon different

Posted by Ferdes Fides, November 4, 2012, running LXDE.

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Paul's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 30

by MeemawWow! December, and the holidays are almost here!We all have friends and families with largeassortments of likes and dislikes. As a result,shopping for many of us is most challenging.However, I have found several interesting gifts for awide range of people. If you are having troublepicking out something for a friend or relative, maybeone of these will be the right gift.Just as parnote said in his gift list, the items listedbelow were available at the time that this article waswritten, and the quoted prices were current at thattime, as well. Prices are subject to change over theweeks before the holidays.I used to get a catalog from a company called Bitsand Pieces. While I don’t get a catalog any more,the company does have a website. I loved looking atthe jigsaw puzzles, game books and brain teasers,and bought a few things. They have quite a fewinteresting items.Mini Desk Vacuum $ 14.99

Most of us justuse ‘cannedair’ to cleanout ourkeyboards,but this willreach moreareas andsuck the dirtout rather thanblowing it infarther. Needs2 AA batteries.

3D Jigsaw Puzzle ­ Neuschwanstein Castle$ 9.99

I don’t know about you, but I enjoy jigsaw puzzles.This one is a little different as it makes a large 3Dmodel of the building rather than just a photo. Theseused to be more expensive and now seem to be onsale.Relaxing Star Projector$ 19.99

Not only does thisproject a star simulationon your walls and ceiling,it also plays a variety ofnature sounds to relaxyou. Needs 3 AAbatteries.

Time Pyramid $ 19.99

This is a cool clock! The hour and minute sectionsrotate so it looks different all the time. The site saysit is a perfect pyramid every four hours.

Weather Station Keychain $ 14.99

This gadget features thetime, a weather forecastdisplay with temperatureand humidity, acompass, an alarm clockwith snooze, calendarwith date, day and year,and even a flashlight. Itattaches to your belt witha carabiner. Needs 2button­type batteries.

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Meemaw's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 31

Another site for fun gifts is Computer Gear. Theyhave t­shirts, toys and gadgets.Big Bang Theory T­Shirt $ 21.00 ­ $ 23.00

I love the television show, Big Bang Theory. You canget bobble­head dolls and several t­shirts. If youwatch the show you know this is the flow chart thatSheldon drew to outline a method for making newfriends.LED Snowflakes$ 49.99 on sale

This Snowflakes LEDLight Set is adecoration somepeople might nothave. They mount tosurfaces with suctioncups or hung on thetree, change color

from blue to white and back, and can turn onautomatically after being programmed. Each oneneeds one button­type battery.Another site I visit is Land’s End. Besides clothing,this site has a number of other products.Double Canvas Wine Tote $ 25.00

If you like wine or arelooking for somethingto give someone whodoes, this is a good­looking tote whichholds two bottles. Youcan order it with “Mine”and “Yours” as shownabove, or with “White”& “Red”, “His” & “Hers”or “Mine” & “Mine.”Made from sturdycanvas.

Polartec Fleece Throw $ 29.50

This is a 72” x 50”Polartec fleecethrow that comes inseveral colors, and,for a little extra, canbe personalized withthe monogram ofyour choice.

LEGO Imperial Shuttle Kit Newegg.com $ 27.38

My grandson loves Legos! Newegg has a bunch ofkits for sale, and your youngster has a variety ofthings he or she can build. The set above is for aStar Wars Imperial Shuttle. After it is built, the wingsare moveable.I hope your gift hunt is fun and successful!

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: Meemaw's Picks

Visit Us On IRC• Launch your favorite IRC Chat Client software(xchat, pidgin, kopete, etc.)

• Go to freenode.net

• Type "/join #pclosmag"(without the quotes)

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 32

What to give me for ChristmasI really have all I need

But if you really do insistGive me something to read

I like being well dressedAnd ten is my size

Something chic in my stockingWould be a nice surprise

A big stack of DVDsAs a gift you can't go wrong

Pictures of me I'd send right backAlong with a little song

$24.84http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim­97460­Branded­Recordable­100­Disc/dp/B003ZDNZT2/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1353170809&sr=1­2

$24.00http://www.amazon.com/Practical­Guide­Linux­Mark­Sobell/dp/0201895498

$20.99http://www.cafepress.com/pclinuxos

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: ms_meme's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 33

Now I cannot be selfishAnd myself only thinkAll my Forum friends

Give them something to drink

Then goodies from the ovenWon't take long to makeTo go with their coffee

A bacon fruitcake

Then a couple of TwinkiesTo help their digestion

Oops it's out of businessWell it was just a suggestionIf you have something better

Give your suggestion

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h62H­Ub8tNwsvYSt­_sE7vbcccIw?docId=ad63d379c1a747e89d862a985edd034b

http://www.gevalia.com/ http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food­network­kitchens/fruitcake­cheese­loaf­recipe/index.html

2012 Annual Holiday Gift Guide: ms_meme's Picks

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 34

by Jared Steer (Jalbindi)

A long time ago, on a computer far, far away, I usedto use Windows XP. There, I said it. I’m not proud ofthe fact, and I really hate touching those computers.But, that’s life. Changing to Linux was a breath offresh air for me. Personally, I don’t use Windows­based software much. There are a few programs Ihave to use which are only developed for Windows,and I can’t change that. However, what I can changeis the way in which I use those programs. For sometime, I would dual­boot, which kinda seemed ok. Imean, it really was just a make­do option, because Iwas afraid of what might happen to my computer if Iwere to get rid of Windows completely, and ventureinto the Linux realm where something might gowrong. And then what? No customer support for methere... Which, to be honest, I wouldn’t have usedwith Windows, anyway. So, I never understood why Iwas getting bent out of shape.I came across a piece of “Software” during myventures into Linux that had caught my interest. It iscalled WINE, an acronym for Wine Is Not anEmulator. At its core, it’s an API layer that enables aWindows environment to exist, self­contained withinthe Linux distro, without the user needing to install afull version of the Windows OS. It eliminates theneed for installing VMWare, or any other virtualmachine software, such as VirtualBox or Qemu. Tomy surprise, some of the Windows software I initiallyran on WINE worked pretty well, and without muchtrouble. Could this be the solution? Well, yes and no.At the time, I could run some things, but not others.WINE was at version 1.2 stable release and 1.3development release. So I jumped onto thedevelopment bandwagon, rolled my sleeves up anddecided to help as a Super Maintainer in the AppDatabase (AppDB for short). And, there I’ve been

ever since. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Iditched Windows years ago, and have a fully fledgedLinux all­in­one desktop system runningPCLInuxOS!

WINE in generalAs part of my commitment to help shape the worldaround me and convince people that Linux is theonly choice for them. I try and help them tounderstand what WINE can and can’t do. WINE canrun popular software. If you want to play World ofWarcraft or Command and Conquer 3, then there’s afairly good chance you can do that without muchhitch. This, of course, all depends on the repositoriesyou use. A lot of distros will always have the stablerelease version, (1.4 as of this date), which hascome a long way from the 1.2 version I began with.(And don’t get me started about WINE on OSX,which is way behind the times). However, it won’t runeverything.The software that is the most popular are PC videogames and programs that use a lot of computerresources, such as CPU, memory and graphicsrendering. MMORPGs are pretty popular, too. EVEOnline and World of Warcraft are pretty populargames for people to play in WINE. If you want toventure into more DRM territory, Steam in WINE isalso a stable running piece of software. For me, I tryand avoid them. (Maybe not EVE, but who wouldn’twant to fly around in space!).To help you understand the various color charts thatappear in the AppDB, I will help you by listing them.It is important for you to understand what theyrepresent, because it gives you a good gauge onhow far the development of that software is in WINE,

and whether or not you should refrain from installinga program in WINE for a bit longer.

Variety is the spice of WINETo help you understand the development ofsoftware, the AppDB has a series of designationswhich guide you into knowing how well it will work.These are:PlatinumPlatinum marked software means that when youinstall the software in WINE, it will work flawlesslyout­of­the­box. Whatever you expect the software todo in Windows, it will do in WINE. These are thebest to run because you know you’ll not have anyproblems either in the stable or developmentrelease.GoldGold marked software means that you can install thesoftware in WINE and it will work the way it isintended to, but you may have to configure WINEfirst. The configurations can vary. Sometimes it’s asimple thing like typing out a command for WINE torun the software in a certain way. Sometimes it’s alittle more complex. The end result, if you follow theguidelines, should give you the desired output.SilverMy favorite, when I’m in the mood, because it meansI get to troubleshoot! Silver marked software meansyou can install the software, but there will be minorissues involved. Typically, in my experience, it caninvolve DLL files, pathway problems, or additionalconfiguration. Maybe even configuration of WINE in

A Little WINE Is Good

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 35

regards to ALSA and graphics. A lot of users justwant their software to run, and understandably so.Unfortunately, software in this category might not beso easy to develop. But it is getting there!BronzeMy second favorite, because the software mightinstall, but chances are it won’t render graphicsproperly, or won’t render fonts, or even render fontsin the right color. It might be missing a bunch of stuffthat the program would normally need to work. Thesoftware might also run a lot slower than it ought to.(More on that later).GarbageBasically... it’s a trash program. The program won’tinstall, or it might install and not run properly, or itmight not render anything. It may contain so manybugs it’s impossible to run it any way you want.Usually, bug reports are made to try and resolvethese issues, because we don’t want software to betrash. But, sometimes it might be a piece ofsoftware nobody has submitted into the AppDB.

Word of CautionA few words of caution should be applied here.WINE will not run software with the same frames persecond as it would natively on Windows. That’sbecause WINE isn’t Windows: it’s an API layer thatallows Windows software to run. So if you’re after afast paced First Person Shooter, you might findyourself moving slower than other players.WINE is also susceptible to malware. Remember,you are running Windows software. If it’s an .exeextension and it’s from a dodgy website, thechances are it’s a trojan or virus. That means youcan infect WINE with it and cause untold problemsfor yourself. So my advice is, unless it’s from awebsite you absolutely know and trust, use physicalmediums such as CDs or DVDs to install the

software, because you can be relatively sure thesoftware is free of such things.WINE also doesn’t work the same way in everydistro. For example, a distro with lower securityfeatures might not find it difficult running certainsoftware that would otherwise require a firewall.Other distros might have WINE pre­installed in sucha way that it causes certain problems for softwarethat should otherwise work ok. This is normal, andthere are workarounds for it, which leads me to...

WINE in PCLinuxOSAs part of my tenure with the PCLinuxOS communityI will be writing articles relating to the woes you haveusing WINE. The version of WINE in the PCLOSrepository is the 1.4 stable release. I will work withthat release to help troubleshoot some commonproblems you might face, and highlight some tipsyou can remember to arm yourself in using WINE. Iwill also highlight certain software on the AppDB thatworks flawlessly, that you might enjoy, and some ofthe risks with some of the software that is used inWINE.

Screenshot ShowcaseScreenshot Showcase

Posted by agmg, November 1, 2012, running KDE4.

A Little WINE Is Good

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 36

I'll be in the forum for the holidays you can plan on meI'll see the jokes from all the folks and have a cup of coffeeIn the sandbox you'll find me it's always like a zooI'll be in the forum for the holidays I hope you will be there tooI'll be in the forum for the holidays the threads will be a glowThere'll be dips and bacon chips maybe there’ll be snowIn the sandbox you'll find me along with TexstarI'll be in the forum for the holidays I hope to see your avatarI'll be in the forum for the holidays the threads how they will shineThe band will play its special way have a glass of wineIn the sandbox you’ll find me I’ve said this before it seemsI’ll be in the forum for the holidays if only in my dreams

MP3 OGG

ms_meme's Nook:I'll Be in the Forum for the Holidays

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 37

by rm

According to the Financial Times, “US broadcastnetworks are suffering a precipitous drop intelevision ratings” (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/549b10da­2c1f­11e2­8582­00144feabdc0.html). Interest­ingly, the same report says that the reason for this isnot that people are watching less TV. What ishappening is that people are “viewing shows viadigital recorders, on­demand videos and onlinestreaming to computers and mobile devices.” Areyou part of this trend yet?

Connecting your computer to the TV has manyadvantages. For example, if you have a collection ofDVD movies, you can back them up to the computerto preserve them and enjoy them anytime you want,without even having to get up and insert the mediaevery time. You can also browse the Internet fromthe comfort of your couch. You can enjoy videostreaming from sites such as YouTube, Hulu, etc.,which has the added benefit of allowing you to enjoymuch better content than what is normally availableon the TV networks. For example, there are someexcellent documentaries available through Hulu.comthat you can watch at any time, for free. Also, thereare some very informative websites providing newsabout important current events, sometimes fromangles that network news programs rarely, or never,present. One thing I like to do when having friends

over is to set AmaroK or Clementine to play somepleasant music and display my photographycollection through digiKam as a continuous fullscreen slide show that people can turn to from timeto time. This creates conversation opportunities, butallows the gathering to switch away their attention inother directions at any time. Nice, eh?So what do you need to set this up? Well, it dependson what you want to accomplish. If, for example, allyou want is to use your TV as a monitor, likely allyou need is a TV with a VGA input port. Mostmodern TVs have one. You could use standardcomputer speakers with this setup, or run an audiocable from your computer’s audio card to the TV'sauxiliary audio port. I am sure many people can gothis very simple route. Unfortunately, this type ofsetup is likely not going to maximize the quality ofvideo or sound that your computer is able togenerate.Modern TV’s are able to display HD quality video indifferent resolutions, 1080p being the goldenstandard at the moment. That resolution is higherthan what standard DVD movies are able to deliver.You would need to buy Blu­ray movies if you wantedto see them at 1080p resolution. And of course youwould need to have a Blu­ray drive to be able to playthem (unless you are able to RIP them with anothercomputer to a high resolution file first). Additionally,you would need to have a graphics card that is ableto output 1080p resolution, the appropriate computerdrivers for it, and a connection between thecomputer and the TV that delivers the full 1080presolution. If any of those steps is missing you willnot be able to enjoy full resolution video.Sound quality can also be a big factor in yourenjoyment of certain media. Most movies these dayscome with high quality Dolby 5.1 sound. To explain

this in simple terms, think of the difference betweenstereo sound and monaural sound. If you have everlistened to stereo music using a set of headphonesyou likely noticed that some sounds are only heard(or are more prominent) in one side of theheadphones, while other sounds appear to becoming only from the other side. Well, with a 5.1sound system you will have sounds coming from 5different speakers, giving you a 3D sound sensation,plus incredible, earthquake level, base. To achievehigh quality sound from your computer, as with thevideo, you need to have the full 5.1 quality throughthe full path, from the sound card, drivers, etc., allthe way to the speakers.

To make matters worse, you are probably going towant other devices connected to the TV as well. Forexample, you may have a VCR (yes, some of us stillhave them), a DVD player, a Blu­ray player, a cableTV connection, and who knows what else. Andbelieve me, trying to connect and disconnect eachdevice whenever you want to switch from one to theother is going to get old fast. Because of that, many

Back of editor's TV.

Connecting Your Computer To The TV

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 38

people opt to have a “receiver." A receiver is adevice that is able to receive audio and videoconnections from different devices and route theoutput appropriately. Of course, there are manytypes of receivers at different price points. Makesure that you get one with the right number and typeof inputs that you want to send to it. I got an Onkyoreceiver and have been very pleased with it. A greatwebsite to go to for information on this subject ishttp://www.avsforum.com/. Also, while I am at it, agreat place to get cables at good prices ishttp://www.monoprice.com/. Avoid the temptation tojust go to RadioShack. Don't say I didn't warn you.

Ok, we are almost done. If your modem/router is notlocated on the living room, you may want to add aWiFi network card to your PC. The faster yourInternet connection, the better your streaming videoexperience will be. And, finally, a very importantpiece is a good wireless keyboard mouse device.The one I have is called “IOGEAR MultimediaKeyboard with Laser Trackball and Scroll Wheel”and I have been very happy with it.Now, what does all this have to do with Linux andPCLinuxOS in particular? Well, that just happens tobe the OS I have chosen for my TV connected PC.Of course you can use just about any operatingsystem to connect your PC to your TV/Soundsystem, but I have found that PCLinuxOS offers mea few advantages. First of all, PCLinuxOS has all thedrivers I need to run my hardware. For example, Iam able to take advantage of the high quality Digital

Audio Output of my sound card almost out of thebox. The only configuration I had to do was to gointo “Configure Your Desktop”, go to the Hardwaresection and select “Multimedia”. Once there Iselected the Phonon icon. This allows you to selectthe Audio device you want to use to output sound foreach category of application. For some reason(probably for compatibility sake) the default devicewas the Analog device. Since I am using the optical(digital) output of my sound card, I had to check the“Show advanced devices” checkbox to be able tosee the Digital Audio Output listed. Once that wasdone, I made sure this was the output used for theMusic, Video, and Games categories of the AudioPlayback section. After restarting KDE, I was able toenjoy beautifully crisp digital audio from my 5.1setup.One thing that is really nice with PCLinuxOS,besides the easy hardware configuration, is theplethora of great multimedia software available on itsrepositories. For example, I have found dvdrip to bethe nicest/easiest way to get good quality backups ofmy DVD collection. Getting dvdrip going withanother distro that I like to use proved to be quite achallenge, and that is a strong reason for me havingchosen to stay with PCLinuxOS for this machine, inspite of not yet having a 64 bit release.And finally, one feature of KDE that makes it ideal fora living room PC is the Zoom desktop effect. Thiseffect allows one to temporarily enlarge the itemsbeing displayed by pressing a couple of keyboardkeys (Win and +). This is very useful for readingsmall text on any application or on any part of thescreen. To return to normal size just use the Win keyand the “0” key. Very, very useful.By the way, don't think you need a supercomputer toaccomplish this. I purchased my computerrefurbished a couple of years ago. It originally hadWindows Vista as the OS. That didn't last long. But itcame with a decent integrated High Definition Audiosound card, a decent NVIDIA graphics card with DVIoutputs (I just bought a $2 DVI to HDMI adapter

from monoprice), and a few other nice specs, all for$402.78. I have a feeling that today one can do evenbetter than that. In other words, it doesn't take muchto get your PC home theater ready. For a true hometheater experience, the most expensive parts aregoing to be the speakers and the receiver. Of courseif you want one of those huge TVs on the marketnow, that will cost you dearly as well, but you do notreally need one that big for an average size livingroom. But, make sure you do your research firstbefore buying any of those parts. Hint: Bose is likelynot what you will want to get.Of course, there is a lot more that can be said aboutwhat you can do with a PC connected to yourTV/Home theater. I just hope that if you have beenthinking about what it would take to hook up yourcomputer to your TV, this little write­up proves to beof help to you.

Inside of a HTPC. Image from Wikimedia.

Connecting Your Computer To The TV

Connect connections in oneconvenient location!

All yourPCLinuxOS

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 39

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Back in October, 1978, a new magazine waslaunched, delivering a mix of articles coveringscience fact and science fiction. It contained, amongother things, writings from Isaac Asimov and ArthurC. Clarke, two of the all time great authors in thescience fiction genre. By providing a healthy dose ofscience discussion and science fiction entertainmentto tantalize our creative neurons, OMNI magazinequickly became a hit.

OMNI magazine was originally launched by KathyKeeton, the long time companion and subsequentwife of Bob Guccione, the publisher of Penthousemagazine. Guccione also served as the editor anddesign consultant for OMNI. Keeton described thefirst issue as, “an original if not controversial mixtureof science fact, fiction, fantasy and the paranormal.”Sadly, OMNI’s print edition ended with the Winter1995 issue. An online version of the magazinecontinued until 1998. During its run, OMNI alsofeatured stories from such prominent writers asStephen King, Orson Scott Card, William Gibson,and George R.R. Martin. OMNI targeted “educatedbut non­technical” readers, riding a wave of newscience magazines.Recently, the Internet Archive released all 205 itemsin the OMNI collection – including the “Best OfOMNI” collections of science fiction – for freedownload for all internet users. You can[a] view thecollection online, or you can download each issue aseither a PDF, EPUB or Kindle MOBI files.Once again, you can recapture the joy of reading thecontents of OMNI, but now within the newer, digitalrealm of your computer or ebook reader. If you’venever read OMNI, then you’re in for a treat as youdiscover this gem for the first time. Whatever thecase, it’s there and available. All you have to do isdownload it.

1. All the contents of The PCLinuxOS Magazine are only for generalinformation and/or use. Such contents do not constitute adviceand should not be relied upon in making (or refraining frommaking) any decision. Any specific advice or replies to queries inany part of the magazine is/are the person opinion of suchexperts/consultants/persons and are not subscribed to by ThePCLinuxOS Magazine.

2. The information in The PCLinuxOS Magazine is provided on an"AS IS" basis, and all warranties, expressed or implied of anykind, regarding any matter pertaining to any information, adviceor replies are disclaimed and excluded.

3. The PCLinuxOS Magazine and its associates shall not be liable,at any time, for damages (including, but not limited to, withoutlimitation, damages of any kind) arising in contract, rot orotherwise, from the use of or inability to use the magazine, or anyof its contents, or from any action taken (or refrained from beingtaken) as a result of using the magazine or any such contents orfor any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption,deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computervirus, communications line failure, theft or destruction orunauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of informationcontained on the magazine.

4. No representations, warranties or guarantees whatsoever aremade as to the accuracy, adequacy, reliability, completeness,suitability, or applicability of the information to a particularsituation. All trademarks are the property of their respectiveowners.

5. Certain links on the magazine lead to resources located onservers maintained by third parties over whom The PCLinuxOSMagazine has no control or connection, business or otherwise.These sites are external to The PCLinuxOS Magazine and byvisiting these, you are doing so of your own accord and assumeall responsibility and liability for such action.

Material Submitted by UsersA majority of sections in the magazine contain materials submitted byusers. The PCLinuxOS Magazine accepts no responsibility for thecontent, accuracy, conformity to applicable laws of such material.

Entire AgreementThese terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties withrespect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and replaces allprior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written ororal, regarding such subject matter.

DisclaimerOMNI: What's Old Is New Again

PCLinuxOS Magazine Page 40

Posted by krigga, November 5, 2012, running KDE4. Posted by Meemaw, November 21, 2012, running Xfce.

Posted by RobNJ, November 10, 2012, running KDE4. Posted by parnote, November 11, 2012, running KDE4.

More Screenshot Showcase