TOPIC: SUDO
Taking the sudo command beyond Ubuntu
27th October 2010
Though some may call it introducing a security risk, being able to execute administrator commands on Ubuntu using sudo and gksu by default is handy. It's not the only Linux distribution with the facility, though, since the /etc/sudoers file is found in Debian and I plan to have a look into Fedora. The thing that needs to be done is to add the following line to the aforementioned file (you will need to do this as root):
[your user name] ALL=(ALL) ALL
One that is done, you are all set. Just make sure that you're using a secure password, though, and removing the sudo/gksu permissions is as simple as reversing the change.
Update on 2011-12-03: The very same can be done for both Arch Linux and Fedora, The same file locations apply too.
Enabling DVD playback in Ubuntu 9.04
22nd July 2009
This information is scattered about the web, so I decided to collect something together in one place in case it helps anyone else. Here are two commands that appeared to do the deed for me:
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted-extras totem-xine libxine1-ffmpeg libdvdread4
sudo /usr/share/doc/libdvdread4/install-css.sh
The libdvdread piece is what sorts out encrypted disks and needs a two stage installation, hence the second command. For non-encrypted disks, ubuntu-restricted-extras might be all that's needed if my experience is typical. Taking things further, Wim Wenders' Buena Vista Social Club (Region 2 disk) worked when I tried it, too. In the interests of completeness, I tried the command combination on a virgin 9.04 installation with restricted and multiverse repositories enabled. Along the way, I spied a whole raft of helper components being set in place, and things worked like I would have expected with the aforementioned DVD afterwards. As with anything related to computing, your mileage may vary and, for more information, you can have a look here.
Removing files for which you have no write access from the GNOME Wastebasket in Ubuntu 8.04
2nd September 2008
It might be that GNOME contains a small trap awaiting the unwary: moving files for which you have no write permissions to the Wastebasket using Nautilus. This happened to me in Ubuntu 8.04 which meant that I couldn't clear the Wastebasket using the normal means. To resolve the situation, I thought of finding where the Wastebasket in the normal file system, and that isn't as easy as it might be. One place to look is ~/.Trash, but I didn't have that at all because the location in Hardy Heron is ~/.local/share/Trash/Files. Armed with this knowledge, I turned to the command line and performed the required erasure using sudo. It was all over soon enough once I knew where to look.
A quick way to do an update
8th August 2008
Here's a quick way to get the latest updates on your PC using the command line if you are using Ubuntu or Debian:
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade
Of course, you can split these commands up if you prefer to look before you leap. At the very least, it's so much slicker than the GUI route.