NO.

1 FOR RASPBERRY PI
PYTHON MASTERCLASS
BUILD AN ONION PI
INTEL VS RASPI

www.linuxuser.co.uk

THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE

FOR THE GNU GENERATION

HAS THE
RASPBERRY PI
MET ITS MATCH?
MinnowBoard: Review, Intel interview & spec face-off
VS Build
extensions
Sync files for XBMC
Make your own
with Unison with Python
The quick & reliable
way to save data

The other half

of WordPress
ISSUE 131

The story of co-creator Mark Little

Studio
Android
Masterclass Create a ALSO INSIDE
LaTeX docs with LyX
database with Master the Vim editor
Googles new IDE is here get started today! LibreOffice 14+ pages of reviews
 Raspberry Pi 32.99
Inc VAT

Model B - 512MB with code SC

1
8GB NOOBS SD Card 27.49 E
313058
x Vat

NOW IN STOCK!
5MP Raspberry Pi Camera
19.24 16.03 Ex Vat
code SC1302358
visit cpc.co.uk for more information

Get everything for your projects...

Full range of project accessories
Kits and Cases
Expansion, Breakout and Prototyping Boards
Vast Range of Components
Y
IV E

WiFi Dongles & HDMI to VGA Adaptors

R
L E

Video and Audio Leads

E
E R

k ,
.u ply

Keyboards, Mice and Monitors

co ap
D F

cpc.co.uk
GPIO Ribbon Cables
c. s
cp n
t tio

Programming and User Guides

si i
vi nd
o
C
Welcome
to issue 131 of Linux User & Developer Get
Linux User
Mihalis Tsoukalos has over 15 years of
This issue
Your team of Linux experts

UNIX system administration and

programming experience and has
been using Linux since 1993. He is
also proficient in Oracle database
administration, Cisco IOS and
Cocoa. In this issue Mihalis shows
us how to sync files with Unison, a
useful open source CLI tool (42-45).
Himanshu Arora is a software programmer,
open source enthusiast and Linux
researcher. His articles have been
featured on IBM developerWorks
and Computerworld among others.
He also blogs at mylinuxbook.com.
This month he shows us how to
make the most of Vim with his
expert guide starting on page 62.
Michael Reed is a technology writer, and hes
been hacking away at Linux for
over 15 years. He specialises in
desktop Linux solutions among
other things. In issue 131 Michael
shows us how to get started with
databases using LibreOffice its
easier than you might think. See
his work on pages 34-37.
Jon Masters is a Linux kernel hacker who has
been working on Linux for some
18 years, since he first attended
university at the age of 13. Jon lives
in Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and works for a large enterprise
Linux vendor. You can find his
indispensable Kernel Column on
pages 22-23 this month.
Gareth Halfacree is our new resident news
reporter and brings us the latest
from all over the open source
ecosystem, starting on page 14.
Also this issue, Gareth speaks to
Intel about its new dev platform
MinnowBoard on page 6. You can
also find his review of this potential
for 4.19
MinnowBoard exclusive per issue
Build add-ons for XBMC Page 32
Sync your files with Unison
Get started with Android Studio
Welcome to the latest edition of Linux User &
Developer, the UK and Americas favourite open
source and Linux magazine.
When youre trying to make the best Linux and open
source read in the world, theres nothing more useful
than feedback from readers. Theres little point us
being here if we dont aim to give you a healthy dose
of what you want, so we pay close attention to what you
have to say. But what have you been saying? After collecting,
formatting, graphing and a lot of stubble scratching, its clear
many of you want more tutorials, bigger reviews and more
introductory and intermediate developer content.
As youll see this issue, weve dedicated more pages
to tutorials and guides than ever before and weve even
reformatted our distro reviews to make them more useful.
We still need your help, though. If youre keen to learn more
about development in the open source field, we want to know
what languages and frameworks you care about. Weve been
focusing very heavily on Python in recent months and intend
to continue with this, but would you like to see Qt, Vala and
C++ here too, or something else entirely?
Let us know on Facebook and Twitter or simply drop me an
email directly at russell.barnes@imagine-publishing.co.uk.
Russell Barnes, Editor

Get in touch with the team:

RasPi-beater on pages 12-13.

Rob Zwetsloot studied aerospace engineering

at university, using Python to
model complex simulations in
class. Along with tutorials, reviews
and more this issue, Rob tells us
linuxuser@imagine-publishing.co.uk
which IDE we should be using
(pages 72-77) and walks us through Facebook: Twitter: Buy online
the build process of an Onion Pi
(pages 46-49).
Linux User & Developer @linuxusermag

Visit us online for more news, opinion, tutorials and reviews:

www.linuxuser.co.uk
3 Issue 131
NEW OPPORTUNITIES WITH NEW

DOMAINS
NEW!
Choose from over 700 new top-level domains! Create a short, memorable
web address that perfectly fits your business or website theme, like fashion.blog,
kitchens.online or john-smith.london. You can also make your website easier
to find by getting new extensions for your current domain.
With almost 20 million registered domains, 1&1 is Europes market leader for PRE-ORDER

FREE
domain registration. Thanks to integrated forwarding features, domains
registered with us can be quickly and easily connected with any website, no matter
which web hosting provider you use.
Find out more at 1and1.co.uk
WITH NO OBLIGATION!*

DOMAINS | MAIL | WEB HOSTING | E-COMMERCE | SERVERS 1and1.co.uk

* Pre-ordering a domain name is not a guarantee that the domain will be registered. If your requested domain has already been pre-ordered, you will be added to a waiting list for that domain.
Exclusive Intels big fish in a little pond

n Scott Garman is a Yocto Project engineer

at Intel, and the companys evangelist for
the MinnowBoard

Intels big fish

in a little pond
We chat to Scott Garman about Intels first foray into the world
of Linux-powered open hardware development systems
Scott Garman, the man Intel has appointed
as the evangelist for its first steps into open
hardware development, has a history of
embedded development. Im not a hardcore
kernel hacker, he tells us during an interview to
commemorate the launch of the MinnowBoard
single-board computer, but a generalist who
enjoys working with the big picture in mind.
A software engineer for the Yocto Project, a
collaborative effort to make the development
of Linux distributions for embedded platforms
as simple as possible, working under Intels
Open Source Technology Center, Garman has at its heart a low-power 32-bit Atom processor,
already given plenty back to the community. Hes the board is designed as a development platform
responsible for Yocto-related training materials, to bring the flexibility and familiarity of the
including one of the most popular screencast x86 instruction set architecture to embedded
introductions to the project, and is now leading systems and to do so at a low cost.
the effort to introduce the first open hardware Most surprisingly of all, the device is open
platform designed with Yocto firmly in mind: the hardware: all specifications, schematics, board
Intel MinnowBoard. layouts and firmware packages are available for
The MinnowBoard, reviewed on page 12, download and reuse under a permissive licence
owes a clear debt of gratitude to devices like the a first for an Intel hardware product. Clearly, this
Raspberry Pi and the BeagleBoard. Designed is a departure from the norm, and one of which
around Intels Queens Bay platform, which has Garman is understandably proud.

6 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Intels big fish in a little pond
n The MinnowBoard itself
is compact yet powerful,
and boasts impressive
I/O capabilities
How did the MinnowBoard come about?
Id say development in earnest started
happening at the end of 2012. MinnowBoard
was an unusual project because of the way
Intel and CircuitCo [the company behind the
BeagleBoard and BeagleBone development
platforms] collaborated on it. The Intel
Yocto Project team provided input to help
design the requirements for MinnowBoard
around performance, openness, flexibility
and standards. CircuitCo then used an Intel
To my knowledge, reference design the Queens Bay platform
and adapted it as needed. They also
MinnowBoard is manufacture and sell the MinnowBoard, so
its primarily their product, not Intels. The result
the first hardware
is a win-win situation where our team got a
great development platform and more, and
platform designed
CircuitCo has a compelling product platform
to sell.
Weve been really happy to work with
with the Yocto CircuitCo on this, because they understand
the open hardware/open community model so
Project in mind well, but we both had plenty of things to learn
from each other during the process of bringing
n Along with the power and reset buttons n The MinnowBoard sits on four stilts to help aid the
on the right, the MinnowBoard boasts four passive cooling of its 1GHz Intel Atom processor
programmable buttons
How the MinnowBoard came about
InTervIew
The open
hardware movement
n Open hardware an offshoot of
open source, where the schematics,
component lists, and even the individual
Gerber files for having printed circuit
boards made are released under
a permissive licence is growing
increasingly popular. Although the
Raspberry Pi, one of the most popular
low-cost embedded development
platforms, is proprietary, many of its
competitors are more open: as well
as the MinnowBoard, the Gizmo, the
BeagleBoard and its smaller BeagleBone
offshoot, the Olimex OLinuXino family,
and the microcontroller-based Arduino
range are all open hardware.
Open hardware can lead to rapid
advances in features and technologies
for the projects that adopt it, but as with
open source software there are risks:
the Arduinos open nature has led to it
being one of the most copied projects
around, with Far Eastern factories
churning out illegitimate clones by the
dozen and misappropriating the projects
trademark in direct contravention of its
otherwise extremely permissive licence.
up this first board. Its turned out to be a great
collaboration and were really pleased with
the results.
In one sense, the Intel team working on this
is extremely small. At the same time, I wouldnt
want to discount the contributions that many
people have done to help make this happen,
even if they werent involved with the project full-
time on a daily basis.
What led to the decision to choose the Queens
Bay platform, with its Tunnel Creek Atom
processor, in the MinnowBoard?
Two main issues led us to use Tunnel Creek
CPU for MinnowBoard. One, we were looking
for longevity of the platform. Going with an
open hardware model means that this is
going to be an attractive board for embedded
product companies to use and adapt for
commercial products. I can tell you from
experience, there is nothing more frustrating
7 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Exclusive Intels big fish in a little pond

Larger and pricier than the

Pi, the MinnowBoard offers
full x86 compatibility

than developing a successful embedded

product and then finding out that your
components are about to enter end-of-life.
Queens Bay is a platform used in IVI [In-Vehicle-
Infotainment] devices, and was designed with a
long lifespan since people tend to own cars for
a long time. It still has four to five years left in the
products life cycle.
Two, the time to execute was now, so
we werent about to wait for upcoming Intel
platforms to roll out. Tunnel Creek met our main
requirements and was available immediately, so
we ran with it.
What advantages does the x86 architecture
used in the Atom processor offer in the
embedded space, compared to ARM or other
RISC platforms?
Compatibility is likely the biggest advantage.
Linux originated on the Intel 386, and whether
youre working on embedded or desktop
applications, the toolchain, libraries etc were
designed on and are pretty much guaranteed to
work on x86.
Performance is another significant one.
Countless person-years have been put into
optimising compilers such as GCC to take full
advantage of x86 platforms, so you can leverage
that to its greatest benefit.
Do you agree that the success of the ARM-
based Raspberry Pi has demonstrated a clear
demand for low-cost development boards
from hobbyists?
Yes, absolutely. One of the things I appreciate
and respect about the Raspberry Pi project
is that its introducing so many new people
to embedded Linux development. It used to
be that embedded was a niche thing that
software engineers specialised in, and now the
embedded Linux community is becoming much
more diverse, especially with younger people. I
love that.
What does the MinnowBoard offer that other,
more established development boards lack?
MinnowBoard stands out in its combination
of performance, flexibility, openness and
standards.
The Intel
Atom CPU provides
plenty of performance for high
computational workloads. It also has
strong I/O performance due to PCI Express
powering its Gigabit Ethernet and SATA disk
features. We also make PCI Express available
through MinnowBoards expansion connector
to enable high-speed I/O to custom hardware
projects, for example interfacing with FPGAs or
other hardware.
The MinnowBoard can be used for fun hobby
projects, yet scales up to higher workloads. Its
expandable via several PC and embedded bus
standards, and offers an environment for custom
firmware development.

The MinnowBoard includes eight GPIO pins With Gigabit Ethernet and a real-time clock, it pulls ahead
and a dedicated expansion port for Lures of the Raspberry Pi

8 www.linuxuser.co.uk

The open hardware model is
very attractive in empowering
your customers
MinnowBoard includes PC architecture
standards including PCIe, USB and SATA,
as well as embedded standards such as SPI,
I2C, GPIO and even [a CAN bus] for automotive
applications. It was designed with the Yocto
Project in mind, which is an industry-wide
standard for embedded Linux.
The MinnowBoard is open hardware how
important do you think that will be to its
success in the market?
The open hardware model is very attractive
in empowering your customers and
allowing them to innovate in ways you
cant anticipate. Since people
are free to reproduce
and customise the
MinnowBoard, the sky
is the limit with this
boards potential. I think
this will be fundamental
to [its] success.
Keep in mind that
open hardware is
meaningful not only if the
design files are available, but when
all the parts are available through accessible
distribution channels and the boards price is
not subsidised. If someone wants to rebuild it,
or rebuild something similar, they can at about
the cost its being sold for now. Not many boards
can offer that potential.
What made Intel get involved in hobbyist-level
embedded computing development?
We wanted MinnowBoard to become a useful
platform for Yocto Project development that
encouraged experimentation and the pursuit
of fun projects in addition to more serious
embedded applications, as a board we would use
in Yocto Project training courses. And we needed
it to be flexible enough so you could do interesting
things in a classroom-style setting, which lines up
with what hobbyists want, too.
With the board now in the hands of early
adopters, have you seen any particularly
innovative or exciting applications for the
MinnowBoard emerge from the community?
Intels big fish in a little pond
Its still a bit early for me to have good visibility
into this, as the board has only been available
for about three weeks [at the time of the
interview]. As I hear about community projects,
I do intend to highlight them on our social
media channels.
I am aware of someone who plans to use
a MinnowBoard as part of a quality control
system for 3D printers by making use of
computer vision capabilities. Ive also heard
that folks in the FGPA design community are
quite interested in the MinnowBoard due to its
high-speed expansion capabilities. Theres also
a group of students interested in building out
learning exercises on the MinnowBoard, as a
way to advance their embedded design skills.
Intel has something of a mixed history with the
open source community - in particular in failing
to release graphics drivers for selected Atom
processor models. With the MinnowBoard being
truly open, does this signal a shift in attitude
towards the open source and open hardware
communities at Intel?
The Open Source Technology Center at Intel
is full of incredibly talented, well-known and
passionate people who care deeply about
openness. In recent years this group has
grown dramatically in both size and influence,
and it reflects the reality of the increased
influence open source plays in the global
software ecosystem.
Intels Core graphics have open source
drivers that work with hardware acceleration,
and the upcoming Bay Trail Atom platform
makes use of it. This will address the issue
you mentioned with graphics drivers on Atom.
Im looking forward to this, and I think Intel
is definitely moving in the right direction in
this regard.
Intel and CircuitCo have published a list of
current and proposed add-on boards, dubbed
Lures, for the MinnowBoard. Is there a
particular add-on you would like to highlight?
One of the Lures that Im sure will be quite
popular is the Trainer Lure the one based on
an Arduino [microcontroller]. Combining the
computational power of MinnowBoard with
How the MinnowBoard came about
INTERVIEW
Queens Bay
The code name for the combination of an
Intel Atom E6xx-series processor with
the EG20T controller hub (code-named
Tunnel Creek and Topcliff respectively),
Intel launched the Queens Bay platform
in 2010 with the embedded market firmly
in mind.
Initially, the company targeted in-car
computer systems for navigation
and entertainment so-called
infotainment devices but claimed
the platform would be equally at
home in gaming, communications,
point-of-sale, industrial and digital
signage applications.
The Tunnel Creek family of processors
are not true system-on-chip designs,
offloading much of the circuitry to the
EG20T chip, but do include the CPU, a
graphics processor supporting up to
two simultaneous displays, an audio
controller and a hardware video codec
on a die some 46 per cent smaller than
its predecessors.
Until the launch of the MinnowBoard,
however, using Queens Bay in hobbyist
applications was almost impossible:
Intels official development board was
provided only to registered hardware
partners, and came with the expectation
that you would be placing an order for a
few thousand processors once you had
finished your design.
the embedded input/output capabilities and
community of Arduino will open up a lot of
interesting possibilities.
How critical is Linux and the Yocto Project to the
MinnowBoards success?
We designed the board to be a Yocto Project
development platform, and Yocto produces
embedded Linux distros. So its pretty core to our
purpose. It was the primary motivation behind the
project itself to my knowledge, MinnowBoard
is the first hardware platform designed with the
Yocto Project in mind. But most people using
the MinnowBoard may have no knowledge of or
interest in the Yocto Project thats okay, too.
Is the MinnowBoard likely to be the first in a
family of open development boards from Intel,
or is it merely an experiment for the company?
There are a lot of people within Intel who are
excited about open hardware. I cant speak
[about] any specific future product plans, but I
think the future is very, very bright.
9 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Specifications MinnowBoard vs Raspberry Pi

MinnowBoard Intels Atom-powered

development board is the
first to be Yocto Project-
compatible and runs
Angstrm Linux. While considerably more
expensive than the Raspberry Pi, it utilises the
x86 architecture so offers computational power
more akin to desktop and mobile computers.
Its also a very complete package, offering both
Angstrm Linux on a microSD card and a properly
rated power supply in the box.
However, without decent driver support for
the Intel GMA 600 GPU and a DVI-over-HDMI
video interface (no HD audio or HDCP encryption), The MinnowBoard supports tinkerers with The stilts increase airflow to help keep the
it lacks the same multimedia appeal as the two on-board LEDs and six buttons 1GHz Intel processor (under heat sink) cool
Raspberry Pi.

SATA support brings
mass storage within easy
reach of MinnowBoard
It has fewer GPIO pins, Gigabit Ethernet means
but includes two LEDs and faster networking great
four buttons to control if youre planning a server
Analogue audio input is
a definite step up from the
Raspberry Pi
MinnowBoard needs
a staggering 2.5A to
keep its lights flashing
Four stilts and bigger
dimensions mean it
towers over the RasPi
MinnowBoard Specs
Price 162
Dimensions 106 x 115mm
Weight 119g
Operating system Angstrm Linux (Yocto certified)
supplied on microSD
Processor 32-bit Intel Atom E640T
single-core at 1GHz
Video Embedded Intel GMA 600
Max resolution 1366 x 768 (no HDCP encryption)
Memory 1GB DDR2 (shared),
4MB SPI flash (firmware
storage)
Output DVI-over-HDMI (no audio),
analogue audio out
Input Analog audio in, 2x USB,
1x SATA-2, 1x micro-USB,
1x mini-USB, 1x serial console,
SD card slot, 1x micro-SDIO,
8xGPIO pins
Networking 10/100/1000 Ethernet
Real-time clock Yes (no battery installed)
Extras Lure connector with CAN bus,
HD audio, LVDS, IC, 3x PCI
Express, SATA-2, SDIO, SPI bus,
UART, 2x USB
Power 5V at 2.5A (adaptor included)

10 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 VS
MinnowBoard vs Raspberry Pi
COMPARED

Raspberry PiThe Raspberry Pi has inspired

(Model B, Rev. 2)
thousands to try Linux for the first
time and reinvigorated interest in
bare-metal computing. It opens the
door to the creation of fascinating Internet Of
Things projects and drastically lowers the barrier
of entry for both programming and physical
computing. Its not all plain sailing, though. Its
low-price means the out of the box experience
isnt stellar. One still needs to acquire a microSD
card, an HDMI cable and power supply, meaning
starter packs can retail upwards of 60.
While its raw processing power is left in the
shade by Intels x86 CPU, the Raspberry Pi
continues to amaze users with its remarkable Standard SD card support is good, but high- The Pis small size makes it ideal for hiding
multimedia prowess. speed SD cards are worth the extra expense behind a monitor or stashing in a project box

Raspberry Pi Specs A microSD card The RasPi could really

slot would have been do with a Lure port - even
Price 28
preferable here just two more USB ports
Dimensions 86 x 54mm would be great
Weight 40g
Operating system None included (Raspbian &
others supported)
Processor ARM1176JZF-S (armv6k) The multimedia 26 GPIO pins
single-core at 700 MHz support is means theres
Video VideoCore IV frankly stellar massive scope
Max resolution Full HD with HDCP encryption for tinkering.
No analogue
Memory 512MB DDR2
support,
(shared) though, sadly
Output DMI (with HDCP encryption),
composite RCA,
analogue audio out
Input 2x USB, 1x micro-USB,
SD card slot, 26x GPIO pins
Networking 10/100 Ethernet
Real-time clock No (can be added via GPIO)
The The audio
Extras DSI display connector, Broadcom on the RasPi
JTAG headers, CSI (camera SoC is brilliant, is probably
module) connector, SPI bus, even if it chugs its weakest
I2C, UART occasionally aspect. No mic
Power 5V at 700mA (not included) support either

11 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review Intel MinnowBoard

The Lure connector, for add- An HDMI port offers DVI video
on boards, carries everything connectivity, but does not carry
from CAN bus signals to three digital audio
PCI Express lanes

Two USB ports

provide connectivity for
external peripherals

Gigabit Ethernet gives

the MinnowBoard powerful
networking capabilities

DEV PLATFORM

Intel MinnowBoard 162.83

($200)
Intels answer to the Raspberry Pi is here but at nearly six
times the price, can it tempt buyers back to x86?
Pros Clearly, the MinnowBoard is no Raspberry Pi. Measuring amount of heat, allowing for passive cooling through a
Powerful, flexible,
open; a familiar
102mm on its shortest side, its significantly larger, requires compact heat sink.
x86 environment a whopping 2.5A from a 5V power supply to run and costs With 1GB of RAM, the MinnowBoard offers a surprisingly
for newcomers
to embedded
almost six times as much as the credit-card-sized Pi. The powerful yet lightweight platform for embedded computing.
development MinnowBoard does offer something the Pi lacks, however: Peaking, during testing, at 7W from the socket, it scored a
full x86 compatibility. respectable 95th percentile time of 11.49ms almost five
Cons At the heart of the MinnowBoard is one of Intels less times faster than the Raspberry Pi at 51.45ms, but still some
Compared to ARM powerful processors: the Atom E640T. Running at 1GHz, way behind the Gizmos impressive 9.87ms score. Add in the
equivalents its
expensive, and its the single-core chip offers a 32-bit x86 implementation fact that the Gizmo can run two threads simultaneously and
performance lags already putting it on the back foot compared to the dual-core its clear Intel isnt going to win on outright performance
behind AMDs rival
Gizmo device 64-bit APU found on rival AMDs Gizmo, the closest device although it has included Hyper-Threading support in the
for comparison while generating a surprisingly small MinnowBoard for pseudo dual-core operation.

12 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Intel MinnowBoard
x86-based embedded development board
REVIEW

A micro-SDIO slot plays host to

a bundled SD card containing the
Angstrm operating system

A small heat sink passively

cools the Intel Atom
E650T processor

Bundled risers lift the board up

in order to allow the processor
room to cool

Technical specs
Operating system Angstrm Linux (Yocto Certified)
Processor 32-bit Intel Atom E640T single-core at 1GHz
Video Embedded Intel GMA 600
Memory 1GB DDR2, 4MB SPI Flash (Firmware Storage)
Dimensions 106 x 115mm
Weight 119g (excluding PSU)
Input/Output DVI-over-HDMI, Analogue audio in & out,
2x USB, 1x SATA-2, 1x USB device, 1x Serial Four switches Also
console, Gigabit Ethernet, 1x micro-SDIO
Extras Lure connector with CAN bus, HD audio,
combine with two user-
controllable LEDs to get
consider
LVDS, IC, 3x PCI Express, SATA-2, SDIO, SPI users started with the
bus, 2x UART, 2x USB boards capabilities
Power 5V at 2.5A

Treating the MinnowBoard as a standard computer,
however, misses the point entirely. The device is designed for
embedded development, and to help Intel regain a foothold
in a market that has become almost completely dominated
by ARM-based systems. Accordingly, it includes eight
buffered general-purpose input-output pins, along with two
user-controllable LEDs and a set of four switches. Together,
these turn the MinnowBoard into a ready-to-run system
for developing embedded applications and unlike with
ARM-based devices, those used to an x86 toolchain dont
have to learn anything new.
The board also includes an expansion connector for add-
in daughterboards dubbed Lures. Designed to be analogous
to the shields of the Arduino microcontroller, the port gives
each Lure access to considerable potential: as well as three
PCI Express lanes, an SDIO channel, two USB channels and
At present, the MinnowBoard ships with a bare-bones
installation of Angstrom Linux no friendly out-of-box
Sage Gizmo
experience here. With full Yocto Project certification, $199 (154.29)
however, rolling your own OS isnt a challenge and Intel is in Based on an embedded AMD
APU, its far more powerful
talks with distributions including Ubuntu to add support for than the MinnowBoard.
the boards somewhat unique 32-bit UEFI firmware. Embedded graphics aid
computer performance and
Using documentation still in progress from the a bundled expansion board
projects founders, the MinnowBoard is quick to offer up its makes getting started easy.
It does, however, require
GPIO capabilities. The only real disappointment comes from more power under load.
the HDMI socket, which only carries a DVI signal and not the gizmosphere.org
audio required of a full HDMI implementation. Theres also no
support for HDCP encryption, although anyone considering
using the MinnowBoard as a media playback system has
probably missed the point of its design and features.
Gareth Halfacree
Raspberry Pi

Summary
more, the port carries everything from CAN to IC buses. 28.07
The Pis ARMv6 processor is
Although there are no Lures available on the open market at considerably less capable
the time of writing, several are in development including The MinnowBoard is a welcome foray from Intel into the world than the MinnowBoards
of open hardware and offers considerable potential. While its Atom but at almost a
one which will offer compatibility with Arduino shields. sixth the price, its easy
That doesnt mean the main board is bereft of connectivity: performance may lag behind the rival Gizmo board, the Lure to overlook this in favour
connector holds promise for some impressive add-ons to of having spare cash for
a micro-SDIO slot for the boot device, two USB ports, add-on hardware and
come but its high price means the Raspberry Pi has little to
analogue audio connections, Gigabit Ethernet, and mini- and tinkering components.
fear from this upstart. raspberrypi.org
micro-USB ports for acting as a USB device or as a debug
serial console are included. The board also features a SATA-2
port, offering up to 3Gbps of throughput to a mass storage More
device with a second port available through the Lure information
expansion port if required. minnowboard.org

13 www.linuxuser.co.uk
OpenSource Your source of Linux news and views

www.linuxuser.co.uk Email us directly

For the latest news and views linuxuser@imagine-publishing.co.uk

OpEn SciEncE

Linux Foundation leads

open science initiative
Partnership with OpenBEL will make sharing scientific data easier
A collaboration between the Linux Foundation
and Selventas freshly opened OpenBEL
project could help push the ideals of open
source development further into the realms of
scientific research, the groups have announced.
Previously a closed-source proprietary
platform, OpenBEL the Open Biological
Expression Language was designed to help
users to capture, store, share and use life
sciences content through what its creators
describe as a knowledge engineering
platform. Addressing the difficulties with
sharing and using data, the team behind
OpenBEL has been using it for ten years
but the platform was only opened up in June
last year, a move that the Linux Foundation is
claiming will be the making of the project.
All of us are smarter collectively than any
one of us is by ourselves, and Linux is one
of the greatest examples of that principle,
claimed Jim Zemlin, executive director at
The Linux Foundation. We are able to take
what we know about Linux and collaborative
development and transfer that to new
industries. OpenBEL represents an amazing
opportunity for openness and collaboration to
nOpenBELs Ted Slater extols the virtues of
Linux and collaborative development
advance science, and were happy to impart
our knowledge of collaborative software
development to leaders in the life sciences
industry. Successful open source projects
dont just host code; they make use of a full
suite of open source best practices to quickly
gain adoption and collaboration. We aim to help
OpenBEL achieve even more success.
The Linux Foundation hosts the largest
collaborative project in the history of
computing: Linux, stated Ted Slater, project
lead for OpenBEL. It is the standard by which
all open development projects measure
themselves. We know our industry can
learn a lot from this neutral steward of open
development and governance Also, by
hosting OpenBEL at The Linux Foundation, we
have access to a variety of important services
to help facilitate collaborative development,
allowing our teams to focus on our subject
matter: life science.
Hosting the OpenBEL platform with the
Linux Foundation, its creators hope, will boost
its adoption. Since going open source in June
2012, the project has already been adopted
by organisations as diverse as the Harvard
Medical School, the University of California
at San Diego, the Fraunhofer Institute, and
pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Pfizer.
The groups hope that wider adoption of
OpenBEL will lead to a pooling of information
on life sciences, with the platform allowing
for easy dissemination and analysis using a
standardised set of computable networks and
application programming interfaces (APIs).
The deal with OpenBEL is the latest of the
Linux Foundations Collaborative Projects,
which include partnerships with the Yocto
Project, Xen Project, FOSS Bazaar, and mobile
platforms MeeGo and Tizen.
Details on the project, and links to the source
code, are available on the official OpenBEL
website at openbel.org.

All of us are
smarter
collectively than
any one of us is by
nOpenBEL provides a platform for the capture and collaborative analysis of life sciences data ourselves Ted Slater

14 www.linuxuser.co.uk

OPEn SOURCE
SourceForge DevShare
branded malware
They not only crossed the line, they threw up on it
Open source hosting outfit SourceForge has
been criticised for bundling selected binary
releases in advertising-laden packages.
LaunchedinJulythisyear,DevSharebundles
software with add-ons such as AnchorFrees
HotSpotShield. SourceForge claims it provides
an easy way for developers to monetise their
nThe DevShare programme introduced by
SourceForge owner Dice Holdings has drawn
strong criticism
OPEn SOURCE
X.Org loses
non-profit status
The Foundation behind X.Org has lost its
status as a 501(c)(3) non-profit group in
the US, following a failure to file taxes with
the US Internal Revenue Service for three
consecutive years.
I was taken by surprise that the IRS hit
ussorudely,FoundationaccountantStuart
Kreitmansaidatthecompanysmostrecent
board of directors meeting. Ive had little
issueswithmyownreturnsandhavealways
foundthemtobereasonableandfriendly.
Kreitman has, however, admitted that
the tax returns have not been filed, but
argued that the organisation has never
filedreturns.
News
ThelatestintheLinuxcommunity
OPEn SOURCE
Linux calendar
Open World Forum 13
3 - 5 October 2013
 Le Beffroi, Paris
France
openworldforum.org
The first European summit
designed to bring together
efforts; its critics claim its nothing more technical experts and political
thanmalware. representatives, Open World
Forum includes speakers ranging
SourceForge, once a mighty force for
from Microsofts Frederic Aatz to
the good of open source, has fallen far from the CIO of the French Culture and
its previous lofty heights, opined Red Hat Communication Ministry.
developer Justin Cliff in a post to the Gluster
Project blog. Im not against monetisation at
all, we all have lives and need to pay our bills.
OggCamp
19 - 20 October 2013
Butnotthroughabusingusertrust.Notthrough
LJMU Art & Design Academy,
preyingontheunskilledorunwary.Tomisquote Liverpool
MargeSimpson:Theynotonlycrossedtheline, England
theythrewuponit.
oggcamp.org
SourceForge, now owned by Dice Holdings, The largest open source and free
has defended the initiative. SourceForge will culture event in the UK enters
always respect the rights of our users and we its fifth year. Based around the
will never infringe on them. DevShare offers a unconference format, there will
transparentinstallationflowthatgivesusersall be three fluid tracks along with
a series of scheduled speakers
the necessary information to make educated
throughout the weekend.
choicesaboutwhatsoftwaretoinstall.
The decision to launch the programme,
currentlyinbeta,hasledtocallsforhigh-profile
projects to move to alternative hosts; others 
LinuxCon Europe
21 - 23 October 2013
including FTP client FileZilla  have, however,
alreadysigneduptoDevShare.  Edinburgh International
Conference Centre
Scotland
events.linuxfoundation.org
The largest event covering Linux
in general  rather than specific
distributions  comes to Scotland,
with over a hundred planned
sessions. Followed by the Linux
Kernel Summit, Automotive Linux
Summit and Embedded Linux
ConferenceEurope,allinEdinburgh.
21 - 23 October 2013
CloudOpen
Europe
nThe X.Org Foundation is considering  Edinburgh International
letting others take care of its paperwork Conference Centre
in future Scotland
events.linuxfoundation.org
TheFoundationisnowconsideringjoining The second annual CloudOpen
an umbrella organisation in order to reduce conference looks to build on the
thepaperworkrequired of its members and success of the first, helping push
prevent this sort of embarrassing situation forward the use of open source
technologiesincloudcomputing.
fromrecurring.
15 www.linuxuser.co.uk
OpenSource Your source of Linux news and views
www.linuxuser.co.uk
For the latest news and views
GOVERNMENT
Valencia
completes
LibreOffice
switch
Local government coffers
already 1.3 million richer
The Valencian regional government in Spain
has completed its planned switch from
proprietary software to LibreOffice.
The project to migrate to an open source
alternative began in 2012, and has already
been credited with saving the government
1.3 million in software licensing fees.
Apart from economic benefits, the
commitment to free and open source software
brings other advantages, including having
the solutions available in the Valencian
language as well as in Spanish, and IT
vendor independence, which encourages
competition, said Sofia Bells, director general
of the Valencian government ICT department.
We also have the freedom to modify and adapt
the software to our every need.
HARDWARE
ARM begins Internet of Things push
Aims for a trillion devices sold by 2025
Cambridge-based low-power processing giant
ARM is throwing its weight behind the Internet
of Things, forming a new IoT business unit with
the aim of selling a trillion devices by 2025, and
purchasing IoT specialist Sensinode Oy.
Claimed by its proponents to be the next logical
evolution of the internet, the Internet of Things
looks to equip everything possible with internet-
connected sensors and interactivity as the
means to making peoples lives easier.
ARM plans to integrate Sensinodes 6LoWPAN
and CoAP standards with its own Cortex-based
mbed microcomputing platform, which it sells
both for embedded hardware development and in
breadboard-friendly format for hobbyist use.
Sensinode is a pioneer in software for low-
cost low-power internet connected devices and
16 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Email us directly
linuxuser@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Moving to LibreOffice has saved the Valencian government a small fortune
Valencia has long been at the forefront added, but also boosts the development
of open source adoption, having pushed a of the local ICT sector, promotes the
programme of Linux adoption in schools back use of Valencian in the digital world and
in 2005. Covering 110,000 PCs installed across improves interoperability and security of the
all regional schools, the move to Lliurex Linux is administrations IT systems.
claimed to have saved over 30 million so far. The move has been lauded by the European
Installation of the free office suite is Commissions JoinUp programme, which looks
part of the regional governments strategic to improve interoperability between public
commitment to its use of free software. It will administrations through standardisation,
not only help save costs for licences, Bells suggesting other governments may follow suit.
has been a key contributor to open standards
for IoT, claimed ARMs John Cornish of the deal.
By making Sensinode expertise and technology
accessible to the ARM partnership and through
the ARM mbed project, we will enable rapid
deployment of thousands of new and innovative
IoT applications.
The move comes as industry analysts predict
a pending explosion in the number of connected
devices, with Bill Morelli of IHS offering an ARM is pushing its technologies, including the
estimate of 30 billion connected devices by mbed prototyping platform, as the future of IoT
2020 a figure that ARM is going to do its best
to exceed. frequently, these days, the low-cost and high-
Small-scale IoT projects, including printers performance Raspberry Pi or its more flexible
that act as Twitter gateways and environmental alternative the BeagleBone Black while others
monitoring systems, often make use of ARM- use lower-cost microcontroller devices from
based microcomputing systems most Atmel, Texas Instruments and others.
 News
The latest in the Linux community
open source

linux
Torvalds celebrates
linux 3.11
Following his decision to name Linux 3.11
Linux for Workgroups, Linus Torvalds has
posted a nostalgic message celebrating its
final release candidate.
Hello everybody out there using Linux
Im doing a (free) operating system (just a
hobby, even if its big and professional) for
486+ AT clones and just about anything else
out there under the sun, Torvalds wrote.
This has been brewing since April 1991, and
is still not ready.
The message is an amusing echo of his
1991 initial Linux release notice, which
called for Minix users to try Linux and
claimed it wont be big and professional
like GNU.
viDeoGames
metro: last light heads to linux
Linux gaming no longer being ignored by triple-A developers.
Developer 4a Games has confirmed that first-
person shooter metro: last light is heading to
linux following its debut on windows earlier
this year.
Due to arrive on Steam for Linux later this year,
Metro: Last Light is one of the first big-name
titles to be released on Linux in the same year as
its Windows counterpart and marks a growing
trend for development houses to consider Linux
as a valid target market for their software.
n4A Games has ported Metro: Last Light to
Development of the Linux release was
Linux, for launch later this year
performed in-house at 4A Games, with the
company crediting its custom game engine for We are very happy with the results, said 4As
making it easy to port to alternative platforms. CTO Oles Shishkovstov. We hope that Mac and
The game will also be launching on OS X around Linux gamers will appreciate our efforts to create
the same time. the best possible version for their machines.

malware

Hand of Thief Trojan

targets linux Does your current database support provider
guarantee a 15 minute response?
Experts warn users to beware as
malware spreads
a Trojan horse, dubbed the Hand of Thief, has been discovered
targeting linux users and attempting to grab banking credentials
and other sensitive data.
The Trojan, discovered by RSA researchers, includes sophisticated
anti-monitoring and anti-virtualisation techniques which make
it hard to analyse. Sold for around $2,000 on underground sites,
the Trojan is claimed to be effective against all common Linux
desktop distributions.
Anti-virus experts are positioning the Trojan as proof that such
protective software is a requirement on Linux. Its yet another reason
why Linux users shouldnt be complacent about their computer
security, and run an anti-virus program, claimed former Sophos
consultant Graham Cluley. The statement that the Linux platform
We do.
is absolutely secure now seems even more illusive, added Avast!s
Peter Klnai. 2ndQuadrants Platinum Production Support for PostgreSQL
However, the Trojan can only install when provided with root access
provides a guaranteed 15 minute (human) response, 4 hour
workaround and guaranteed bug fix within 24 hours.
something the majority of modern desktop distributions shut off
behind a password. By being careful about what is installed and not 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
providing a password to an unexpected pop-up dialog, Linux users PostgreSQL is used worldwide for mission critical applications. Now
should largely be protected from its ravages. you can choose this open source database, safe in the knowledge
Those who frequently install software from outside their that if you ever need help, its less than 15 minutes away.
distributions official repositories, however, should take heed: as With guaranteed fix times and access to leading Postgres experts.
the popularity of Linux grows, sadly so too does its attractiveness 2ndquadrant.com/support
to criminals.

. . . .
PostgreSQL Development 24x7 Support Training Services .
2ndQuadrant Ltd. 7200 The Quorum, North Side, Oxford Business Park, Oxford, OX4 2JZ, UNITED KINGDOM
www.2ndquadrant.com TEL +44-870-766-7756
 Opinion
The free software column
open source
open source robotics
Linux is the platform
for robotics
Linux is increasingly being used for cutting-edge robotics opening up the
field to anyone interested in learning more
Alan broun is currently studying
for a PhD at the Bristol
Robotics Laboratory. He is
also the managing director
of Dawn Robotics Ltd
www.dawnrobotics.co.uk
robotics is a fascinating subject. It links
computers to the physical world, allowing them
to move around, sense their environment, and to
interact with it. Building your own robot, however,
has traditionally required that you spend a huge
amount of time and energy to get even the most
basic of robotic systems up and running. You
need mechanical engineering skills to build
the chassis or body, electronic engineering
skills to wire up the motors and the sensors,
and programming skills to animate the robot,
to control its body to get it to do what you want.
These barriers to entry mean that people entering
into the field of robotics either in search of a
stimulating pastime, or perhaps as part of more
formal research can quickly be overwhelmed
by the sheer amount of work required. The initial
dreams of building a robot to fetch your beer or
to walk your dog get pushed further and further
back, as more and more time is sucked up just
getting the basics working.
Things are changing, however, and the barriers
to entry are falling. The relentless march of
progress in consumer goods means that a lot
18 www.linuxuser.co.uk
of commonly used robotics hardware such as
cameras, accelerometers and communication
devices are now both much cheaper and much
smaller than they were ten years ago. Actually
making use of electronic sensors, and motors, is
also a lot easier now, as platforms like the Arduino
make connecting electronic components to
your computer, and controlling them, both quick
and simple. On top of all this, small, powerful
computers such as the Raspberry Pi and the
BeagleBoard, to name but two, mean that you
can now cram much more processing power into
your robots at an affordable price.
In order to put this hardware to good use,
however, you need software, and as luck would
have it, Linux is the platform where the most
exciting developments in robotic software are
taking place. Writing the software for modern
robots can be one of the most involved and
complicated parts of the process. Software is
needed for controlling
Not having access
motors, reading
values from sensors
and, possibly most
importantly, to provide
high-level control
to robotic hardware
and AI. A number of
distributed software is no bar to entry
environments have
been produced to try to ease the development
of robotic software. But the Robot Operating
System (ROS) produced by a company called
Willow Garage in Silicon Valley is arguably one
of the most successful. ROS is not actually an
operating system, but rather a BSD-licensed
open source software framework which runs
on Linux. It allows interfaces to be defined for
common bits of robotic software, such as the
drivers for cameras and motors, and it allows
this software to be run as a large number of
separate processes called nodes either all on
one machine, or transparently distributed over a
network of machines.
Over the last five years, ROS has dramatically
eased the process of writing robotic software.
Now you can download a large number of pre-
compiled packages to quickly allow you to
hook up common sensors such as cameras or
Microsofts Kinect. High-level services such as
inverse kinematics, map building and speech
recognition are easy to plug in, and ROS also
provides a great selection of visualisation tools
so that you can see whats going on from your
robots point of view. When you need to write your
own software, you can do it in the language you
choose. Low-level motor drivers can be written
in C and then communicate over ROSs network
layer with high-level control processes, written in
a language such as Python or Java.
Not having access to robotic hardware is
no bar to entry, as ROS also provides support
for simulators such as Gazebo. ROS has been
embraced by the robotics research community
and so lots of
simulations of cutting-
edge robots are now
provided by the teams
who built them. So,
for absolutely no
cost at all, you can
get access to Willow
Garages PR2 robot,
NASAs Robonaut and Boston Dynamics Atlas
robot. This last robot is currently being used in the
DARPA Robotics Challenge, which seeks to get a
humanoid robot to drive a car and move around a
disaster area, so its ambitious stuff.
Now is an exciting time in robotics, and Linux
is the platform on which some of the coolest
stuff is happening. If you havent tried it yet, then
I would urge you to download and have a play with
ROS, start building yourself a robot and join in all
the fun!
 Can you volunteer for
Code Club?
Code Club is a nationwide network of volunteer-led
after school coding clubs for children aged 9-11.
We need people who know how to program computers to volunteer to run a club at their
local primary school, library or community centre for an hour a week.

We create the projects for our volunteers to teach, the projects we make teach children how
to program by showing them how to make computer games, animations and websites.

Get involved, lets teach the next generation to code!

Visit www.codeclub.org.uk to find out more

OpenSource Your source of Linux news and views

the Open SOurce cOLumn

Fair game
Simon fears the future of gaming is the future of technology
Simon Brew is a technology
writer and editor,
working across the
Linux, Windows and
Mac OS X platforms
I play games. Ive always liked playing games,
and suspect Ill continually sneak one or two in
for the rest of my days. If you talk to my editor,
hell obviously tell you that Im the most reliable
hitter of a deadline that hes ever met and that
my words arrive perfectly formed, requiring the
barest of edits before theyre laid before your
eyes. Scratch that: thanks to computer games,
Ive slipped under the proverbial door seconds
before it slams shut more times than Id care
to admit.
But games are changing. For someone
who was brought up with the spirit of 8-bit
computing, where anyone could spend a day or
two locked up in their bedroom coding a game,
the current climate is all a little disconcerting.
Take Watch Dogs: this is a big game that a big
publisher is making, that before its even been
released has been put on the fast track for a big-
screen movie. Or the evil of Candy Crush Saga,
the mobile game revolution that doesnt want
any money off you up front, but is happy to take
as much off you as it can once its got you cosy
and sitting on the sofa.
Games are interesting, and always have been,
because theyre at the forefront of control. I
think back to sticking dongles in the back of my
Commodore Amiga to stop people pirating a
game (naturally, the only people inconvenienced
turned out to be the people who legitimately
coughed up), or lining up pictures on wheels.
Then, as technology evolved, so did the
methodologies of control. PC gaming, through
Windows, has taken things to scary levels. At
one stage, the publisher Ubisoft implemented a
system whereby you had to go online and prove
you were legitimate once a day, else you werent
allowed to play the title that youd legally bought.
Naturally, one day its servers werent working
properly and people werent allowed to play their
game. Those running pirates copies could.
Microsoft has tried to implement a similar
system with its upcoming Xbox One games
console, although its had to perform a
significant U-turn when the volcano of public
opinion erupted. Still, those buying a game for
an Xbox One machine will need to activate
it. A friendly word that, isnt it? It sounds so
reasonable and happy. Just do one thing and
everything will be active and working. What
could be easier? The truth, of course, is that
its a further eradication of users rights in the
proprietary software sector.
The problem is that what happens in
videogaming increasingly becomes a dry-run
for what we get in the broader technology
ecosystem. Publishers know that people will
endure a degree of hassle to play a game,
and they take advantage of it ruthlessly. Now,
were at a point where Adobes Creative Suite of
tools wont even be sold in a box any more its
the cloud version or bust, and a subscription.
Someones been looking at the World Of
Warcraft model.
Even in the app sphere, where the spirit of the
bedroom programmer should still be alive and
well, theres a corporate sheen thats taking the
fun off things. That Candy Crush Saga model
has proven to be the proverbial grail for many,
in that the appearance of a free, open approach
is just a disguise for one of the most ruthless
gaming money-making machines Ive seen in
recent times.
Its why the good ones need supporting, of
course. But for all the marches of progress,
the loss of an ethos has become real
collateral damage.

n Kings Candy Crush Saga a ruthless money-making machine

20 www.linuxuser.co.uk

the Free soFtware column
a Gpl breakthrough
Samsung is releasing the code for its exFAT file system driver
for Linux under the terms of the GPL. This is an important
breakthrough because of the participation of both Samsung
and the GPL Compliance Project for Linux Developers
richard hillesley writes about
art, music, digital rights,
Linux and free software for
a variety of publications
non-profit Foss organisation the software
Freedom conservancy has reached an
amicable agreement with samsung to
release the code for samsungs exFat file
system driver for linux under the terms of
the Gpl. The exFAT driver code came to light
through its inadvertent release via GitHub
(lwn.net/Articles/560424/) and the use of a
binary version in a Samsung Linux-based tablet.
The Software Freedom Conservancy, led
by Bradley Kuhn, works with developers and
manufacturers to ensure compliance with the
GPL. The greater part of the job is to point out
the legal obligation to manufacturers and to
help them achieve compliance, and most will
happily comply.
Sharing the code is useful to
everyone, but the terms of the GPL
havent always been enforced
As we all know, the GPL makes a simple pact
between the coder and the user. Anyone can take,
modify, copy, share and redistribute the software
and the code, but must pass on the same rights to
subsequent users of the software, including any
modifications to the code.
The coder, who is usually (but not always) the
copyright holder, gains because enhancements
to the code are fed back through the development
process. The manufacturer gains because third-
party developers become involved who may
bring new dimensions to the code. The user gains
because the code remains free and the obligation
is mutual, meaning that every other user has the
same obligation to feed their changes back.
The only requirement of the GPL is that the
source code be made accessible to end users, but
this requirement is often ignored, especially when
the code is reused in firmware and embedded
devices. GPL code is used in thousands of
devices, but many dont comply with the terms of
the licence.
The role of Software Freedom Conservancy is
to alert manufacturers to failures in compliance
and to help them to reach an amicable resolution.
Most violations are resolved without court
proceedings. In very rare cases this may involve
litigation but as Jeremy Allison, a board member
of Conservancy, observes: The point is not
to punish people for making mistakes, but to
bring them into compliance. When people get
into trouble its usually down to laziness and
inconvenience. Its usually a case of I cant be
arsed, and its too much effort to do it right, so Ill
just use it.
Opinion
The free software column
open source
The great majority of infringements are
not deliberate, and can be attributed to
misunderstandings and lack of attention to
detail. Manufacturers of mobile devices operate
in a rapidly changing environment with short
product cycles and shorter time-to-market. The
market for firmware and mobile devices is highly
competitive, and every new product comes to
market with a new range of features. Failure to
comply with the GPL is usually inadvertent, but
releasing the source code is a small price to pay
when set aside the considerable advantages of
cost-effectiveness, speed to market, and the
accessibility of pre-written and tested code
that free software offers, especially when it is
remembered that it is only the GPLd code that
has to be made available to others.
Sharing the code is useful to everyone, but the
terms of the GPL havent always been enforced
because the coders have other things to do, or the
copyright has been assigned to corporate entities
who dont care about the licence beyond their
immediate needs.
For this reason it is an important development
that significant contributors to the Linux kernel,
in the shape of Conservancys GPL Compliance
Project for Linux Developers, have become
involved in helping to ensure compliance with the
terms of the licence, and that Samsung, a major
manufacturer, was not only a willing and amicable
partner in releasing the code, but was happy
to talk publicly about the matter, which may
make it easier to achieve compliance from other
manufacturers in the future.
The drawback, in this instance, is that exFAT
is owned by Microsoft, is a proprietary file
format and has patent issues. The exFAT driver
code can only be deployed by manufacturers
or distributions that have obtained a licence
from Microsoft.
21 www.linuxuser.co.uk
OpenSource Your source of Linux news and views
JOn MaSterS
the kernel column
Jon Masters is a Linux kernel hacker
who hasbeen working on
Linux for some 18 years, since
he first attended university
at the age of 13. Jon lives in
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
and works for a large
enterprise Linux vendor. He
publishes a daily Linux kernel
mailing list summary at
kernelpodcast.org
Linus torvalds announced the latest release
candidate of the 3.11 Linux for Workgroups
kernel on the 22nd anniversary of his original
Hello everybody email first introducing Linux
back in 1991.
The last few weeks have been largely quiet
in terms of changes merged into the mainline
kernel, typical both of late summer and of the
late stages in a kernel release cycle. It would
seem that temporary fixes for the ongoing
Windows 8 ACPI compatibility issues which
cause display backlights (now managed directly
by certain Windows graphics drivers, rather than
in the ACPI firmware) to misbehave on some
laptops will suffice for this release, but will be
22 www.linuxuser.co.uk
The latest developments in the kernel
community, including changes to Linux 3.11
raised again in the next cycle. If all goes according
to plan, the final release should be out very
shortly, in time for a summary in next months
issue of Linux User & Developer.
Every Linux release has a (code) name,
typically something very silly, and usually
whatever Linus dreams up at the time he opens
the merge window (the period of time during
which disruptive kernel changes are allowed)
for a new kernel release. But from time to time,
a release name has a deeper meaning. The
3.11 release came close to happening on the
20th anniversary of the original Windows 3.11
Windows for Workgroups release, but it was
not to be. Still, Linus had some fun with the
celebration of the 22nd anniversary of his original
Linux announcement, posting a Google+ post
in which he parodied himself, saying: Im doing
a (free) operating system (just a hobby, even if
its big and professional) for 486+ AT clones and
just about anything else out there under the sun.
This has been brewing since 1991, and is still
not ready.
nUMa development
Linux Weekly News recently noted that there
can often seem to be themes to given periods of
kernel development, and that this past month
has had somewhat of a memory management
theme. This certainly seems to be the case.
But even more specifically, this months theme
would seem to actually be that of NUMA (Non-
Uniform Memory Access) development. NUMA
is all about dealing with the reality that as SMP
(symmetric multiprocessing, the kind used in
your computer to provide many CPU cores for the
operating system) scales, it does not necessarily
do so in a linear fashion. The truth is that certain
memory DIMM banks are closer to certain
CPU cores.
In an SMP system, every CPU can access
every memory location in the system, which is
typically coherent, meaning that the underlying
hardware takes care of ensuring that memory
locations cached internally by other CPUs are
updated when a different CPU updates that
same memory. But accessing a given memory
location can be more expensive in terms of
latency if it is not local to a given processor ie
if the underlying hardware must take more steps
to reach a given location by routing access to that
location through an inter-processor local bus. To
an application (and a user) this manifests in terms
of slower performance than could be achieved if
the memory for an application were strictly local
to a given processor.
Linux handles NUMA in various ways. To a
certain extent it can provide a level of transparent
support, by migrating memory for applications
to be closer to the processors that are using it
(copying the underlying memory locations to
other locations more local to a given processor
and updating the virtual memory translation
tables accordingly), but special tools have been
written to allow administrators to be more
specific about how a given application should
manage its memory. Mel Gorman, famous for
writing the definitive book on Linux memory
management, has been working on NUMA
scalability problems recently, and both he and

This months theme would
seem to actually be that of NUMA
Johannes Weiner have posted patches that aim
to better handle NUMA hinting and automatic
reconciliation of memory closer to where it
is used.
Beyond NUMA, other memory-scalability-
related topics were discussed at length over
the past month. Dave Chinner posted patches
that convert the kernel inode cache (an internal
kernel data structure responsible for caching
metadata about mounted file systems) to use
Paul McKenneys famous (and IBM patented)
RCU (read-copy-update) memory access
optimisation. This allows the inode cache to scale
more easily when Linux is run on very large NUMA
or non-NUMA systems without using a previously
global lock. Also scale related, Andy Lutomirski (of
a large banking corporation) began a discussion
concerning a new MADV_WILLWRITE flag that
can be used when setting up memory mappings
to inform the kernel that a given range of virtual
memory will definitely be written to later. This
allows the kernel to forgo its usual copy on
write (deferred allocation of new virtual memory
regions until the first use) and instead take the
(slightly more expensive) up-front hit of directly
allocating the memory in order to save a latency
hit later when that memory is touched by a
running application.
Memory management contributions this
month also included a virtualisation optimisation
from Martin Schwidefsky (of the IBM s390 team),
who provided patches that allow guest instances
to inform a host hypervisor that they are not using
pages (the fundamental unit of memory chunks
that the system uses to manage memory used
by applications, virtual machines, the kernel itself
and so on), which are automatically discarded
whenever they would be swapped out to disk, and
reinitialised when required later. Still further in
the realm of memory management, Michal Hocko
provided a patch that prevents the OOM (out of
memory) killer from being triggered on kernel
allocation faults the kernel should itself be able
to handle memory allocations failures, or use
dedicated reserve memory pools.
power capping framework
Beyond memory management, Srinvas
Pandruvada (Intel) posted an initial RFC
(Request for Comments) patch the first
stage in developing a new idea into code
series that implemented an in-kernel power
capping framework. The basic idea is to allow
a given system (platform) to specify how much
power is available and for a precise cap to be
enforced across a variety of CPU and non-CPU
devices installed within the system. Using
this mechanism, it is hoped to provide certain
limits (such as the amount of power that can
be delivered by a battery, or power utility, or the
amount of power available if a battery is intended
to last for a certain time period, and so on) and for
devices to provide various performance trade-
offs within those constraints. But by providing
an overall framework, it is possible for the kernel
to make whole-system decisions that are not
isolated to a given subsystem or to a given device
in isolation.
Initial comments on the power capping
framework were favourable, although Greg
Kroah-Hartman (now of the Linux Foundation)
suggested that he wanted to see actual users
of the framework before it is merged by which
he meant that he really wanted to see Intel post
code for its own CPUs and platforms to make use
of this framework. This seems to be in progress,
since comments on the mailing list implied that
such patches exist and have been reviewed by at
least a subset of developers to this point. It will be
interesting to see where this development leads,
especially in the mobile space, and also when
applied to other architectures.
Opinion
The kernel column Jon Masters
open source
ongoing development
Beyond NUMA and virtual memory, development
has included an initial implementation of UEFI
boot stub support for 32-bit ARM systems (which
previously used a less standard embedded
bootloader called U-Boot), a patch to allow per-
process control of transparent huge pages, a
fix for PCIe reinitialisation when performing a
kernel crash dump (and kexec into a kernel that
must not have outstanding DMA operations
pending on boot), and optimisations from Andi
Kleen for the kernel build system known as
kbuild. Andis patches convert the kallsyms
stage of kernel compilation into a single-pass,
rather than being the multi-stage process that
has been the case. This is the point during kernel
compilation at which all of the symbols (function
names provided by the kernel for internal and
modular use) are resolved during the final linking
of the kernel image. Andi has a series of cute
hacks proposed for dramatically speeding up
the process.
In this months kernel announcements, Ted Tso
reminded everyone that the 2013 Linux Kernel
Summit is coming up in Edinburgh next month,
and that there will be places reserved for those
who are strictly hobbyist developers. This seems
to have been a late decision since the deadline
for submissions came and went quickly, but it will
be worth keeping an eye on this next year, in case
such an invitation is repeated. Beyond the Kernel
Summit, there will be a number of kernel and non-
kernel developers present at the Linux Plumbers
Conference in New Orleans, at which several
other mini-conferences will run concurrently.
These include an ACPI/Power Management
gathering, a PCI mini-conference and this years
Linux Security Summit, among many others.
23 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Feature Android Studio

Get started with

Android
Studio
Get your head around the early access preview
of the next stage in Android development

A
nnounced earlier this year at Google I/O, Android
Studio will be the replacement for the current
Android development solution in Eclipse. This
Eclipse setup is part of the Android Developer Tools, and
takes advantage of the IDEs Java-based development
environment and plug-in support to currently create the
development portion of Android apps. With the rest of the
SDK, virtual devices can be created and used to test code
before deployment onto real devices.
The Android Studio aims to be an all-in-one solution for
development and testing. Coming with the entire SDK, and
not even requiring traditional compiling or installation on
Linux, Android Studio is an incredible easy and quick way
to get straight into coding your apps whether youre an
experienced Android/Java dev working directly in code,
or a novice looking to use the graphical, drag-and-drop
approach to app creation.
Android Studio is still currently in beta as a free early
preview well cover some of the current quirks with the
software. However, its a definitely a great way to get used
to using the software before the final switchover occurs.
Well also cover how you can export from Eclipse if youve
already been using that, and how to then distribute your
app once its finally complete.

24 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Android Studio
Get to grips with the new IDE for Android development
Feature

25 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Feature Android Studio

Introducing Android Studio

The new Android Studio is based on IntelliJ IDEA, a much
smaller and streamlined IDE than Eclipse. Android Studio
utilises its features to create an all-in-one Android development
environment with a smart visual view that is great for people
just getting into app development, and the standard text editor
for those who know their way around Java and the Android API.
Installation is very simple as well the files contain both the IDE
and the SDK youll need to create your apps, so you wont need
to install the SDK via ADT separately like you will have done with
Eclipse if youve developed for Android in the past. The Studio
allows you to edit how the SDKs are utilised, how imports and
exports work, and even has a plug-in manager.

New Project
Start a new project by
going through the handy
Android new project
wizard, selecting API
levels and setting
the icon

Recent Projects
The recent projects view
allows you to go straight
into any project you
wish to work on without
having to look in the
Open Project prompt

Check for updates Docs and How-Tos

Android Studio has its Some tips and how-tos
own update manager, for IntelliJ, the base
allowing you to keep it of Android Studio, are
up to date. It will notify available straight from
you when a newer the welcome screen
version is available

Installation

01 Download
Head over to the Android Developers
website and grab yourself a copy of the early
access preview to Android Studio from here:
bit.ly/1bWrFXz
Youll need to then extract the contents
put it in a folder you have easy access to, as
you need to run the Studio from the folder.
02 Runtime
Use cd in the terminal to navigate to
the folder you just created, specifically the
android-studio/bin/ directory. To launch
Android Studio, enter into the terminal:
03 First run
If this is your first time using Android
Studio, you can safely ignore the prompt
$ ./studio.sh to import any settings. Otherwise, find the
If it asks about your Java settings, for file you created from before, or your old
now press Enter, as we can fix that later if it installation folder, to get previous settings.
becomes a problem. We can import from Eclipse later on.

26 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Android Studio
Get to grips with the new IDE for Android development
FEATURE

Key features Helpful shortcuts

Android Studio has handy, configurable
Development views keyboard shortcuts. Heres a list of the
As the Java for the Android
most common to get you started
apps is split into visual and
function elements, you can Command look-up
use a visual WYSIWIG editor (autocomplete command name)
for the XML code, allowing
you to place buttons and
Ctrl + Shift + A
text and other UI elements Project quick fix
wherever you want on the
screen. The text part is a full Alt + Enter
IDE, with code navigation,
debugging, syntax Reformat code
highlighting and a smart
code analyser that warns you
Ctrl + Alt + L
of any obvious issues with Show docs for selected API
what youve written.
Ctrl + Q
Virtual devices
Show parameters for selected method
Test your apps on a virtual
device that you define, either
by using settings for the main
Ctrl + P
Nexus devices, or by using Generate method
generic settings for different-
sized Android phones or Alt + Insert
tablets. You can edit the
system settings to limit or Navigate open tabs
increase RAM, and even allow
it to use the system GPU if
Alt +
you need it to. Its not perfect, Alt +
but its a great way to quickly
test functionality. Jump to source

F4
Delete line

Ctrl + Y
Search by symbol name

Ctrl + Alt
+ Shift + N
Build
Eclipse migration Debugging
For existing Android developers, its easy to A specific debugger can analyse the code as
Ctrl + F9
migrate from Eclipse and the ADT to Android it runs and give you a full rundown of whats
Build and run
Studio. The tools are already in place to happening when, allowing you to go through
export the necessary files from Eclipse, and the logs and figure out any possible issues, Shift + F10
Android Studio includes a handy feature or work out where problems are already
that allows you to then import them, and any occurring. You can pause the program at any Toggle project visibility
other Studio file. This is helpful now and will point to isolate issues, instead of having to
be essential when it replaces Eclipse. search through code as it continues to run.
Alt + 1

27 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Feature Android Studio

FAQ Create a new project

Since Android Studio is still under some
development, there are some bugs that
still need to be ironed out. Here are a
couple of known issues with Android
Studio that you can work around.
Android Studio offers a quick way to start your to put together an app with specific versions
app: name, package name, theme, advanced of Android in mind, making newer API objects
icon options and the ability to select between available for some. Well look at a basic setup
different Android APIs. The latter allows you first so we can make our Hello World app later.

1) Error: Gradle project refresh failed

Android Studio has a newer version
of Gradle that has some backward
compatibility issues. These can be fixed by
first clicking the link to search build.gradle
from the error dialog. From there, double-
click the line under the build.gradle usage,

01 02
opening the project build.gradle file. Edit Create New Project Set image
the classpath to change the gradle version From the Welcome screen, click on Here you can set your image,
to 0.5.+. Finally, save the file and rebuild Create New Project to open up the dialog giving you a nice preview of how it will look
your project. window. Name the project HelloWorld well on different types of devices. You can set
be creating the code for that shortly. Leave all padding, background colour and more to your
2) Error: Failed to import Gradle project the other default settings they relate to what app icon. For now, click Next, as we dont need
This can be a problem after upgrading versions of Android will be able to use the app. an icon for the sample project.
Android Studio, as the project files may
point towards an SDK element that
no longer exists. To fix this, youll need
to quickly install the Android Support
Repository. First, open Android SDK
Manager, find and expand Extras, and
install Android Support Repository.

03 Activity selector
For now, well just use the blank
activity. When making other apps, this activity
selector can help you choose how the app with
behave such as being full-screen or having a
multi-column flow to view several items.
04 Activity name
Here you can name the activity and
customise the way it works, with tabs, drop-
down menus and other actions. For now, well
leave this as is. Hit Finish and the project will
be built. It may take a little while to do this.

Migration
Its quite easy to export existing projects
from Eclipse and then import them into
Android Studio. First of all, make sure your
ADT plug-in is up to date, then select File
and Export. Open Android from there and
select Generate Gradle files, then your
projects to export before clicking Finish.
In the basic Android Studio window, click
05 Project structure
Android Studio will create a lot of files
for what will be a simple app luckily we just
06 Views
The default view is the visual
development interface it includes elements
on Import project, find the build.gradle
need to pay attention to MainActivity.java down the side that allow you to drag and drop
file and then press OK at the pop-up. You
and Main_Activity.xml for the moment. The functionality. You can also click the Text tab at
should then be able to start development
interface is also initially set up to allow for the bottom to get straight into the Java code,
on the project within Android Studio.
WYSIWYG visual development. with a live preview updating as you type.

28 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Android Studio
Get to grips with the new IDE for Android development
FEATURE

A view to develop
The two views for Android Studio serve different purposes
and people. The default visual view allows you to drag and drop
functions onto the interface, with guidelines to make sure you
keep them aligned with other UI elements. This then adds the
elements to the code, so you can edit them further in there.
The text view works like any good IDE, with a hierarchical view
of code, code navigation tools, autocomplete and, of course,
proper syntax highlighting.
Whichever view you use is up to you however, you will
ultimately have more control with the text view.

Layouts & widgets Live preview Toolbar Component tree

Drag and drop different layouts See a live preview of Quick access to preview and Even in the visual view, you can
and functions to create your the way your app will debugging tools, along with the ability break down the code in the
app visually a great way for look, even while using to change the theme, activity type and individual components to see
novices to get started the text mode the device preview how they work

Useful resources
There are plenty of online resources you can
use to help you with your development
whether you need to figure out a more elegant
method to create a specific function, or need
to wrestle with some bugs. Heres a list of some
of the places you should visit.
Android Developer Site
developer.android.com
As well as the place to get Android Studio, the
Developer site has regular posts on interesting
projects, updates to the SDK, and some
troubleshooting tips.
Stack Overflow stackoverflow.com
One of the best places on the internet to get
advice on an issue either by searching for a
related question or submitting your own.
IntelliJ IDEA Support
intellij-support.jetbrains.com/home
Support for IntelliJ IDEA, the base for Android
Studio. Some of the support questions may be
more suited to the IntelliJ side of things.
XDA Developers
www.xda-developers.com/
A community built around smartphone
development, the XDA forum is a good way to
find out about Android-specific tips and tools,
and even to promote your application.

29 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Feature Android Studio

Make your first application

Creating your first app in Android Studio is easy, and well within them what were going to do here is learn how to simply
start with the simplest one of all the classic Hello World. make Hello World in Android, and what other simple tasks we can
All basic apps, when created, have Hello World already displayed do in it.

01 Visually
To do it visually, simply select Plain
TextView, and place it on the display. Double-
click it and type in Hello World!. All static text
can be placed this way onto the interface, and
it will create the necessary code in the text
view as well.
android:layout_height=wrap_content
android:text=Hello World!
android:id=@+id/textView/>
OnClickListener;
import android.widget.Button;
This allows us to use some extra Android
The layout variables can also be set as fixed functions to press and use the Quit button.
pixel width/height.
04 Quit button
The file were editing now is just the
06 Coded actions
Add the following code below the line
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);:

02 Relative text
The relative layout should be included
in the code by default. Create a text parameter
by opening up triangle brackets with:
<TextView
which we will use to display Hello World.
display. To do something, we need to start
editing the .java file. While were still in the .xml,
place a button and give it the caption Quit.
Button button = (Button)
findViewById(R.id.button)
button.setOnClickListener(new
Open up MainActivity.java from the Projects OnClickListener() {
column before we continue.
@Override

03 Hello code
To add Hello World to the Text
05 Imported
Now add these imports to the top of
the code:
public void onClick(View v) {
finish();
System.exit(0);
parameter, we put in: import android.view.View; }
android:layout_width=wrap_content import android.view.View. });

Code listing
Package name package com.linuxuser.helloworld;
The name of your package according to the import android.os.Bundle;
Android system import android.app.Activity;
import android.view.Menu;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import functions
import android.widget.Button;
Import the various functions we need to get the public class MainActivity extends Activity {
code to work on an Android device @Override
public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
MainActivity class setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
The MainActivity class includes all the functions Button button = (Button) findViewById(R.id.button);
in our main activity that we created button.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
@Override
public void onClick(View v) {
Main layout finish();
This sets what the main layout, and displays it System.exit(0);
}
});
Quit button }
The section containing the code to make sure @Override
our button (with id button) properly quits the app public boolean onCreateOptionsMenu(Menu menu) {
with System.exit // Inflate the menu; this adds items to the action bar if
it is present.
getMenuInflater().inflate(R.menu.main, menu);
Settings menu return true;
This creates the Android settings menu that appears }
at the top of the app }

30 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Android Studio
Get to grips with the new IDE for Android development
FEATURE

Working with virtual devices

Create a virtual Android device to test and debug your Android apps, choosing from a selection of generic phones and tablets

Home screen Physical buttons

Emulate a list of Android Theres a range of
devices, from Nexus physical buttons you can
phones and tablets to use that work on certain
generic phones defined devices, with power and
by screen resolution volume working on all

Hardware specs
Edit specific hardware
variables to better
emulate certain aspects
Android buttons of a device, or give it
Software buttons are more power via your
included on the virtual host system
device, as they are part
of modern Android

01 Virtual device manager

From the Project View, find the
Android Virtual Device (AVD) manager icon
along the top and click it. From here you can
create and edit a range of devices for testing
your apps on. Click on New so that we can
get started.
02 New device
In the pop-up dialog, name the virtual
device, select the device you wish to emulate
and then the target API level. Some devices
will have a minimum Android version target.
Your can edit this later, but for our app we wont
need to change any other settings.
03 Virtual reality
Click OK and Android Studio will
confirm the options youre using. Press Start
while the device is selected and choose
whether you want to get a pixel-accurate
screen, or a scaled version. It will then boot
up a virtual phone or tablet you can test on.

Debugging
Android Studio includes tools to debug
the apps you create. To use them, first
make sure a device is running to emulate
the app. Then, click the Debug button
in the shape of a green bug and the file
will rebuild and launch on the device. This
time, though, it will bring up a full logging
window, a console and a debugger with
full tools to figure out where problems
Use Android Studios debugging tools to analyse your code
may be occurring in your apps.

31 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 OW
R RY
N
DEUR
OR H
SUBSCRIPTION VOUCHER
YES I would like to subscribe to Linux User & Developer

YOUR DETAILS
Title First name
Surname
Address

Postcode Country
Telephone number
Mobile number
Email address
Please complete your email address to receive news and special offers from us

DIRECT DEBIT PAYMENT

UK Direct Debit Payment
I will receive my first 3 issues for 5, I will then pay only 25.15 every 6 issues thereafter.

Instruction to your Bank or

Building Society to pay by Direct Debit
Please fill in the form and send it to: Linux User and Developer Subscriptions Dept, 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne ME9 8GU

FANTASTIC
Name and full postal address of your Bank or Building Society Originators Identification Number
To: The Manager Bank/Building Society
5 0 1 8 8 4
Address

Reference Number

SUBSCRIBER
Postcode Instructions to your Bank or Building Society
Please pay Imagine Publishing Limited Direct Debits from the account detailed in this
instruction subject to the safeguards assured by the Direct Debit guarantee. I understand
Name(s) of account holder(s) that this instruction may remain with Imagine Publishing Limited and, if so, details will be
passed on electronically to my Bank/Building Society

Signature(s)

OFFER
Branch sort code

Bank/Building Society account number

Date

Banks and Building Societies may not accept Direct Debit instructions for some types of account A6 instruction form

PAYMENT DETAILS Subscribe today and get

your first three issues
YOUR EXCLUSIVE READER PRICE, ONE YEAR (13 ISSUES)
UK: 62.40 (Save 20%) Europe: 70.00
World: 80.00
Cheque
for 5 (and save 13.00)
I enclose a cheque for Pay only 4.19 for every
(made payable to Imagine Publishing Ltd)

Credit/Debit Card
future issue a 30% saving
Visa MasterCard Amex Maestro on the store price
Card number Free UK delivery to your door
Expiry date
Issue number (if Maestro) Never miss an issue
Signed Money-back guarantee
Date
Code: PGG134Q
Terms & Conditions
Please tick if you do not wish to receive any promotional material from Imagine Publishing Ltd by post by This offer entitles new UK direct debit subscribers to receive
telephone via email their first three issues for 5. After these issues, subscribers
Please tick if you do not wish to receive any promotional material from other companies by post
will then pay 25.15 every six issues. Subscribers can cancel
by telephone Please tick if you DO wish to receive such information via email
this subscription at any time. New subscriptions will start from
Terms & Conditions apply. We publish 13 issues a year, your subscription will start from the next available issue
unless otherwise indicated. Direct Debit guarantee details available on request. This offer expires without notice. the next available issue. Offer code PGG134Q must be quoted
I would like my subscription to start from issue: to receive this special subscription price. Details of the Direct
Debit guarantee are available on request. Offer expires 31 March
Return this order form to:
2014. Imagine Publishing reserves the right to limit this type of
Linux User & Developer Subscriptions Department, 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park,
offer to one per household.
Sittingbourne, ME9 8GU or email it to lud@servicehelpline.co.uk
Source Code PGG134Q
You will be able to view your subscription details online at www.imaginesubs.co.uk Web address: www.imaginesubs.co.uk/lud. Tel: 0844 249 0282
3 ISSUES OF
LINUX USER
FOR JUST 5
Readers in
the US see
page 84 for
exclusive
offer

Get your first 3 issues for just 5,

then save 30% on the shop price
THREE EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE
1.Online 3.Post or email
www.imaginesubs.co.uk/lud Please complete and post the form to
Linux User & Developer
And enter PGG134Q Subscriptions Department
800 Guillat Avenue

2.Telephone Kent Science Park

Sittingbourne

0844 249 0282 ME9 8GU

Or alternatively, you can scan and email the form to
And quote PGG134Q lud@servicehelpline.co.uk
 Tutorial Make a small business database with LibreOffice

phpMyAdmin offers a Data entry is
web-based front-end for the carried out via an
creation and maintenance of easy-to-use form in
MySQL databases Base, the front end
to our database
All of the actual
database design
(fields, form layout
etc) is carried out
from within Base
You import and export data
to and from LibreOffice
Base by using Calc, the
spreadsheet module. This
enables access to most
common data formats

Make a small business

database with LibreOffice
Create a database that combines an easy-to-use,
form-based front-end using LibreOffice with a portable,
networked MySQL back-end
Advisor
Michael Reed is a technology
writer, and hes been
hacking away at Linux
for over 15 years. He
specialises in desktop
Linux solutions
Resources
LibreOffice: www.libreoffice.org
At least one Ubuntu Linux PC
Were going to show you how to put together
a typical database for small business use: a
database of customer details. It will be possible
to both export and import contact data from
in standard formats by making use of Calc,
LibreOffices spreadsheet module. Well use
Gmail contacts as our source, but you can use
any software that can export CSV files and
pretty much everything can.
Weve added a few twists to keep things
interesting. This project uses the Base module
of LibreOffice as the front-end, and this provides
a GUI for setting up the database, creating the
forms for data entry and the actual business
of entering data. For the back-end, we will be
using the industry-standard MySQL. This allows
us to locate the back-end on a central server.
This, in turn, allows multiple users to access
the database.
For initial creation of the MySQL database,
well use phpMyAdmin thanks to its friendly
web interface, although the actual database
design will be carried out from within Base. By
the end of the project, you will have a GUI system
for browsing and editing the database with a
portable, networked back-end.

34 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Make a small business database with LibreOffice
Use LibreOffice and MySQL to create a customer database
TUTORIAL

01 Install LibreOffice
At time of writing, the major Linux
distributions havent moved over to LibreOffice 4
04 Install the MySQL Server
Type sudo apt-get install mysql-server to begin installation. Before long, you
should be prompted to set a root MySQL password. Note that this isnt the same as the administrator
and are still offering 3.x. This means that you may account of your system, which is also called root. Choose a password and make a note of it.

05 06
have to install LibreOffice 4 manually. Visit the
Install and test phpMyAdmin Create database
LibreOffice website (www.libreoffice.org) and
Type sudo apt-get install Within the phpMyAdmin web interface,
follow the instructions. On Ubuntu, this consists
phpmyadmin to begin installation. When select the Databases tab. Now create a new
of unpacking the archive and running sudo dpkg
prompted to choose a web server, choose database by entering the name customer into
-i *.deb on the contents.
Apache2, select it with the space bar and press the text box and clicking on Create. This database
Return. When requested, give it the MySQL will contain our customer data.
root password and then choose a password for
phpMyAdmin and make a note of it. Navigating
to http://localhost/phpmyadmin/ should take
you to a functioning login page. Log in using the
MySQL root username and password. Well
use MySQL to set up and maintain the actual
database, although well create the fields from
within LibreOffice later on.

02 Install the Apache web server

07
Well install Apache early on and with Add JDBC in LibreOffice
its own command because some of the other We now need to tell LibreOffice where
packages need to be able to configure a working to find the JDBC class file. Start LibreOffice
Apache installation. Carry out the installation and go to LibreOffice>Options>Advanced. In
with sudo apt-get install apache2. Test the Java Options section, select Class Path and
it by navigating a web browser to http://localhost. then Add Archive. The file you need is located at:
/usr/share/java/mysql-connector-java.jar.
Select it and restart LibreOffice.

03 Install Java and additional classes

Connectivity between Base and MySQL
makes use of a Java class. Type sudo apt-get
install default-jdk to install the Java
runtime. Type sudo apt-get install
libmysql-java to install the needed additional
Java classes.

35 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Make a small business database with LibreOffice
08 Connect the database
We now need to connect our front-
end (LibreOffice) to the back-end (MySQL) of
our database. Start LibreOffice and launch the
Base module. In the dialog that pops up, select
Connect to an existing database. From the drop-
down menu below this, select MySQL as the
database type.
09 Configure Base
On the next page, select Connect using
JDBC. On the next page, click on Test class to
ensure that the Java RT is working. Now enter
the name of the database that we created,
customer, and enter localhost into the Server
field. On the next page, add Root as the username
and tick Password required. Now click on the
Test connection button and enter the root
MySQL password, when asked for it, to test the
connection between LibreOffice and the local
MySQL server. Presuming that this completes
without errors, click on Next.
Remember that this file contains 14 Test data entry
the connection information for access
to our MySQL database it doesnt
contain the actual records
36 www.linuxuser.co.uk
12 Create form from template
Select Forms from the sidebar. Click on
Use Wizard to Create Form in the Tasks window.
10
In the table wizard, click on the >> symbol to copy
Save the database
across all of the fields in the database.
You can accept the defaults on the next
page, so click on Finish. When prompted, give
the database a name and save it. Remember
that this file contains the connection information
for access to our MySQL database it doesnt
contain the actual records.
13 Finalise form
Accept the defaults in sections 2, 3 and 4,
but select the first arrangement icon in section 5,
Arrange controls. You should now see a preview
11 Create fields from a template
You may want to create a custom set of
of our entry form in the main window. Select
defaults on the other sections and then click
on Finish.
fields for your customer records, but to save
time were going to use the one of the templates
that is built into Base. Select Tables from the
side menu and then Use Wizard to Create Table.
Using the Sample tables pull-down menu, select
Customers. Use the >> button to copy all of them
across. On the next page, you can tweak the fields
that you have included and add new ones. Select
the defaults on the next two pages and then click
on Finish.
To enter data into the database, use the
form that we created. Select Forms in the sidebar
and then double-click on the name of the form in
the main window. This brings up the GUI record-
editing interface. The form can still be tweaked
and edited by right-clicking on its name in the
main window.
 Make a small business database with LibreOffice
Use LibreOffice and MySQL to create a customer database
TUTORIal

18 align the fields

The field names from our imported data
dont quite match those of the database and so
we need to use the second page of the wizard
to line them up. To do so, click on a field name
and use the up and down icons in the other list
to create the correct attachments. Then click
on Create.

19 Create a new database user

To access the database from more than
one machine, you must create additional users.
Log back into phpMyAdmin, click on the Users
tab and select Add user. From here, create a
new user with the name and password of your
choosing and make a note of it. Click on Check all

15 Export your contacts from Gmail

Switch from the Gmail contacts view
using the pull-down menu in the top-left corner,
17 Import the data into Base
When youve cleaned up the spreadsheet,
select the data (including the column headers)
in the Global privileges section.

underneath the Gmail logo. From here, click by clicking on the top-left cell and then Shift-
on the More icon pull-down menu and select clicking on the bottom-right cell. Right-click and
Export Click on Export. select Copy. Select Tables from the side menu of

16
the Base module. From here, right-click on the
Clean up the data and create a key
customers table and click on Paste. This should
Start a new spreadsheet and open the
bring up the import wizard. Select Append data
CSV file that you exported from Gmail. Use
and Use first line as column names options, and
Ctrl-mousewheel zooming to get an overview.

20
click on Next. Redistribute the database
Typically, a lot of the fields will be completely
blank, so select these columns (click on the In the Base module, re-save the
column letter at the top of the window) and database under a new name. In this new version
remove them (Edit>Delete cells). We have to of the file, we have to alter a few details. Select
create a key for each record. Label a column ID. Edit>Database>Properties and enter the name
Select the first cell in the column and then select of the new database user. Click on the Additional
the final cell by Shift-clicking on it. Use the fill Settings tab and enter the IP address of the
feature (Edit>Fill>Series). machine with the MySQL database.

37 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Write LaTeX documents with LyX

The toolbar gives you
shortcuts for items like
lists, images, tables and
maths formulae
You can always see what
the actual LaTeX source
code looks like for your
document. Nothing is
hidden from you in LyX
The main window is where
you type your text. This
is also where your text
gets rendered
You can view what your
document will look like by
rendering it to a PDF file.
Dont forget to refresh it
after making edits

Write LaTeX documents

with LyX
LyX lets you to get your document written without having to
deal with LaTeXs steep learning curve. Heres how

Advisor LaTeX is a typesetting system that gives you full

Joey Bernard As a true renaissance
man, he splits his time between
building furniture, helping
researchers with scientific
computing problems and writing
Android apps. When the kids let
him have some time, that is
control over how everything in your document is
rendered. The problem is its really steep learning
curve. One option is to use a basic text editor and
learn all the markup you need for your document.
The other option is to use an application that
wraps the markup to some degree. LyX does this
In this tutorial, youll learn how to create a new
document and create various content sections,
like images, tables and lists. You will also learn
how to use various document settings, like the
document class, to control the overall options
used during document rendering. Since LaTeX
is a typesetting system, LyX will let you output

Resources very nicely. While a fully WYSIWYG editor for LaTeX

doesnt make sense (since your doc isnt fully
LyX: www..lyx.org rendered until sent to an output device), LyX does
provide a pseudo-WYSIWYG interface where you
LaTeX: www.latex-project.org
can see how different regions will be rendered.
to several formats, like PDF, Postscript, HTML,
plain text and OpenDocument files. Regardless of
whether you are writing a book, a journal article or
a set of presentation slides, LyX will help you get
your work done with minimal fuss.

38 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Write LaTeX docs with LyX
Use LyX to lay out your LaTeX documents with ease
TUTORIal

01 Installation
The first step is to get LyX installed on
your system. Most distributions should have a
package available. For your non-Linux friends,
there are binaries available for Windows, Mac
OS X, and even OS/2 and Haiku. As always, you
can download the source code and build from
scratch in the worst-case scenario.

04 Text layout
While the document class sets the
defaults for your document, you still have full
control to change anything in the document.
The Text Layout option lets you change the
indentation size to a custom increment. The
vertical spacing and line spacing can also be
customised. You also have the option to make
06 Numbering and the TOC
Documents are broken down into several
nested subregions. How these regions are
handled in the layout is decided by the document
class. You can also set whether these regions are
numbered or not, and whether they show up in
the generated table of contents.

02 Opening a new document your document two-column here.

When you first start up LyX, the main
window opens up with a splash screen image
displayed. You actually have to tell LyX that you
want to start a new document before you can
start writing. You can start a new document by
clicking the menu item File>New.
05 Page layout
LaTeX figures out the actual rendering
of your document based on a page layout. You
can select one of a number of standard page
formats, or set a custom page size. You can set
whether the page is oriented as either portrait or
landscape mode.
07 View source
Now that your document is set up,
you can start typing. LyX gives you a pseudo-
WYSISYG display of the text. But LaTeX is a purely
text-based markup language, so you can always
see the actual source code to verify what LyX is
putting into your document. To see the source,
just click on the menu item View>View Source.

03 Setting the document class

Many of the layout properties for your
document are set to defaults based on the class
of your document. You can set this by clicking the
menu item Document>Settings. This will pop up
a dialog window that well use for the next few
steps. The drop-down list will give you a very full
list of possible document classes.

39 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Write LaTeX documents with LyX
08 Title
The first item your document will need
is a title. In LaTeX, you need to worry about what
a particular piece of text is supposed to be, not
what it will look like. So at this stage, you can type
in your title text. To identify it as a title, you can
click the drop-down at the top right of the toolbar
and select Title.
09 Author
Hitting Enter will give you a new line, with
the type back to Standard. You can here enter
your name and set the type to Author, again with
the drop-down at the top right of the toolbar.
Where and how this will get rendered depends on
the document class and the output format.
40 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Many of the
layout properties
for your document
are set to defaults
based on the class
of your document
12 Sections
In most documents, you will probably
want to break the text down into sections, and
possibly subsections. Sections are defined
by giving them a title. For instance, if your first
10 Dates
You should have noticed that there is a
date option in the drop-down. You dont need to
section is going to be an introduction, then you
would type the section title as Introduction and
set the type in the drop-down to Section. The
use this if you dont wish to. LyX will automatically actual text for this section would be set to the
add the current date when you actually render the type Standard.
document into an output format.
11 Abstracts
If you are writing an article, or a report, you
may need to include an abstract of the subject
matter being covered. If you have already written
your abstract, you can highlight the region with 13 Mathematical formulae
Mathematical formulae are always a
problem area in document typesetting. Many
your mouse and select Abstract from the drop-
down. This adds the title Abstract and changes people in the sciences first move to LaTeX
the format of the text. because of the ability to fully control equations by
explicitly laying out all of the elements. However,
for more complex equations, this can still be
confusing. Therefore LyX provides an equation
writer tools that helps you create the LaTeX
required to lay out your formula in your document.
You can set the type of maths to be either inline
with your text, or to be centred and displayed on
its own.
 Write LaTeX docs with LyX
Use LyX to lay out your LaTeX documents with ease
TUTORIal

14 lists
There are several different types of
lists available for your use. Both numbered and
unnumbered lists are available as buttons on the
main toolbar. To start a list, click on one of the
buttons and start typing the first item. Hitting the
Enter key will give you a new item to enter. Hitting
Enter on an empty item will drop you out of the
list section.

15 Tables
You can add a table by clicking on the
menu item Insert>Table. A dialog will appear
where you can set the number of rows and
columns. The first row is set aside as a header
for the columns, but you can change this in the
LaTeX source.

(pdflatex)]. There are also other viewing options, provided by your LaTeX installation. This is
in case you want to render your document using defined in the Document Settings dialog, where
other methods. you can set the family, encoding and fonts to use
for Roman, Sans Serif and Typewriter.

16 Images
Clicking on the menu
Insert>Graphics opens a dialog window where
item

you can select an image file to insert into your

document. You can either set a scaling factor, or
an explicit width and height for its display. You
can also rotate your image through X degrees.
You also have the option to control if and how the
image gets clipped to a bounding box.

20 Output formats
Now that you have your document
finished, you will want to render it to some
final output format. A common choice is either
PostScript or PDF. This way, you know that it will

18
look the same, regardless of who you give it to.
Spellchecking
But you have several other options available, too.
Most people need help when it comes
You can output to HTML, rich text, plain text or
to making sure everything is spelled correctly. If
even OpenDocument.
you want to use the system default spellchecking
engine, you can simply click on the menu
item Tools>Spellchecker. You can change
the engine being used by selecting it in the
options window.

17 Previewing
Now that you have a bunch of content in
your document, you probably want to get an idea
of what it will look like once it is fully rendered.
You can get LyX to generate a PDF for viewing
by clicking the menu item View>View [PDF
19 Fonts
Linux users have had problems,
traditionally, when dealing with fonts. This
extends to applications like LaTeX. LyX includes
options that help you correctly set up TrueType
fonts, allowing you to use fonts other than those

41 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Synchronise your files with Unison

Unison synchronises files This line indicates that This error message
between computers here Unison has nothing to sync shows that there is a
were using the command- at the moment, since no lock file that needs to be
line version of the tool files have changed manually removed

Synchronise your The network connection

files with Unison

is broken so Unison
cannot synchronise files

Learn how to use the Unison command-line tool to

synchronise files between computers quickly and reliably
Advisor
Mihalis Tsoukalos has over 15 years of UNIX
system administration and programming
experience and has been using Linux
since 1993. He is also proficient in Oracle
database administration, Cisco IOS,
Cocoa and iOS programming. He always
learns new things
Resources
Unison: www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison
Two networked UNIX machines
Unison is an open source file synchronisation
tool for both text and binary files. It also has
a GUI, but here were focusing on the only the
command-line version because its quicker and
gets the job done cleanly. Unison really shows
its capabilities when you are working with more
than one computer and you need synchronisation
across all of them.
Benjamin C Pierce led the creation of Unison at
the University of Pennsylvania and it started life
as a research project. It can be used through the
SSH service and works equally well on both UNIX
(Linux, Mac OS X etc) and Windows machines.
It should be apparent that Unison was inspired
by the rsync utility. Unison differs from rsync
in that the latter is a mirroring tool that needs
to know in advance where the willing-to-keep
versions of the files are, whereas Unison is a
synchronisation tool that identifies the files that
have been changed since the last sync process
and decides the way that the changes are going to
be propagated. In short, its smart.

42 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Synchronise your files with Unison
Use the Unison command-line tool to sync files between computers
TUTORIal

01 Installing Unison
Most Linux distributions have Unison
as a package ready for installation so that you
do not have to compile it. At the time of writing,
the current stable version of Unison is 2.40.102.
Note that every machine that is part of the
synchronisation process must have a copy of
the command-line version of Unison installed.
Additionally, this copy of Unison should be located
inside one of the directories of the default PATH
shell variable. Assuming youre on a Debian-
based system, simply type:
sudo apt-get install unison
To find the version of Unison you are using, just
type the following command:
unison -version
having a profile file does not prevent you from
adding extra command-line options (although
this article will not deal much with such options).
In the rare event that you have troubles working
with Unison, you may run it using the -debug all
command-line option so that you can better trace
and resolve errors.
and is located inside the ~/.unison directory. The
following two lines to work on the same machine,
as they do not include a remote machine:
root = /Users/mtsouk
root = /tmp
04 Synchronising files with
another computer
Given a profile name called articles.prf that
is located inside the ~/.unison directory, you
can tell Unison to use it by executing the
following command:
$ unison articles
The remote machine declaration starts with
root = ssh://.
There are rare occasions usually when the
user changed a file on both computers before
synchronising where Unison will not be able
to determine whether a file or directory has
changed on the local or the remote server. In
such situations, Unison kindly asks for your help
so that it will not mistakenly proceed using the
wrong version.

03 Synchronising files on the

same computer
Although Unison was initially developed with
synchronising files located on different machines
in mind, you can synchronise files located on
the same computer using one of the following
two methods:
Using localhost as the remote machine name.
Using only local directory paths for both

02 Unison profile files

Unison can run from the command line
without using any configuration files (profiles),
but using a profile greatly simplifies its use
root = lines.
Your advisor prefers the second way as it does not
require the SSH server be up and running.
The Unison profile file is called localFiles.prf

43 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Synchronise your files with Unison

07 The .unison directory

Most of the Unison housekeeping
happens inside the .unison directory which
resides in the users home directory.
Unison keeps the following data there:
Its profile files including the default profile
called default.prf.
Its backup files, if you decided to have central
backups.
The status file for each used profile.
The Unison log file, should you tell it to keep one.
You can put it anywhere you want but it is very
convenient for it to reside there.
Unison creates lock files there, during
synchronisations, which it deletes when finished.
Note: It is not recommended to synchronise the
whole .unison directory. Synchronising just the
profiles is okay.

08 A more advanced
Unison profile file
The contents of the advanced.prf file are as
follows:

05
root = /Users/mtsouk
Running Unison using a simple computer) that are going to participate in the
root = ssh://linode//home/mtsouk
profile file syncing process as well as the directories that are
considered the root directories for each machine. times = true
Some basic things you need to know about
After those important declarations, the actual batch = true
Unison profiles are:
directories that are going to be synced are listed. # Log file
The default backup level is 2, which controls
In this example we have just one directory (one logfile = /Users/mtsouk/.unison/
how many previous versions of each file are kept
path = line). Its full path is /Users/mtsouk/docs/ unison.log
not including the current version of the file. So the
article/working for the local machine and /home/ # Paths to synchronize
default backup level keeps two backup copies of
mtsouk/docs/article/working for the machine path = code/C
a file. The parameter for setting the backup level
called linode (an IP alias inside /etc/hosts). You # Backup files
is called maxbackups.
can have as many path entries as you want. All backup = Name *
You can tell Unison not to keep file backups by
files are synced except the ones that match backuplocation = central
not adding any backup options inside a Unison
the ignore option. You can also have as many maxbackups = 3
profile file.
ignore = lines as you want and can use regular ignore = Name {Thumbs.db}
Unison profile files support Unicode characters.
expressions in them. The backup option tells ignore = Name {.DS_Store}
The logfile option tells Unison to keep a log file
Unison to keep backups of all files. ignore = Path {Samples.lnk}
called unison.log inside the .unison directory.
Sometimes, network problems prohibit file
synchronisation, but Unisons error messages are
denoting the problem:
$ unison articles
Contacting server...
Connection closed by 109.xxx.yyy.zzz
Fatal error: Lost connection with
the server

06 Explaining the profile file

Lines starting with a # denote
comments and are not processed any further.
Exactly two lines must start with root =. They
declare the machines (one is always the local

44 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Synchronise your files with Unison
Use the Unison command-line tool to sync files between computers
TUTORIal

3. Copy the contents of the ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

file from your local server into the file
~/.ssh/authorized_keys found on the remote
server. One way of doing it is by executing the
following command:
$ cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh linode
'cat >> .ssh/authorized_keys'

The next time you try to log into the remote

Linux server using SSH, you will be asked for
the passphrase of step 1 for the last time.
From now on, you can log into the remote
Linux server by just typing ssh linode:
$ ssh linode
Linux (none) 3.9.3-x86_64-linode33
12 Unison hints and tips
The first two or three times you use a
new profile, double-check if everything works
as expected.
You do not need to use every parameter that
Unison supports, just the ones that will do
your job!

09 Explaining the advanced

profile file
The times = true line tells Unison to
synchronise modification times.
The maxbackups = 3 line tells Unison to keep
the current file version plus three backups of it.
The backup = Name * line tells Unison to
back up every file.
The backuplocation = central, which
is the default option, tells Unison to keep all
backups in a central location. If neither the
backupdir preference nor the environment
variable UNISONBACKUPDIR are set, the
.unison/backup directory is used as the
backup location. If set to local, then all backups
will be kept in the same directory as the
original files.
The batch = true option is a little tricky and
you should be careful with it as Unison will ask
no questions at all and non-conflicting changes
will be propagated whereas conflicts will be
skipped. Nevertheless, it is an essential option
if you want to use Unison as a cron job.
The ignore = Name {.DS_Store} line tells
#1 SMP Mon May 20 10:22:57 EDT 2013
x86_64
.
. The more you use Unison, the more you will
. understand its practicality.
Last login: Wed Jul 31 18:46:23 2013
from ppp-94-64-21-97.home.otenet.gr
mtsouk@li140-253:~$
The first time you log into the remote server
without typing your password, the following
informative message will be on the screen:
Identity added: /Users/mtsouk/.ssh/
id_rsa (/Users/mtsouk/.ssh/id_rsa)
You can troubleshoot Unison using the
-debug all command-line option. It will
generate lots of output useful for debugging.
You should be very careful with your backup
options, especially maxbackups, as it can take
up too much space on your computer.
You can use Unison to securely exchange files
between computers.
If a Windows machine is involved in the
synchronisation process, be careful with file
and directory permissions.
For non-critical data files you may run Unison
once a day, but for critical data you should run it
more often.
Unison cannot replace regular backups!
When you are making a new profile, either
start simple or use an existing one as a starting
template. Add the extra functionality and
features while making sure that you always
have a working profile.

11
Unison to not synchronise files that end with Two common Unison
.DS_Store. troubleshooting techniques

10 Using SSH without

giving a password
The single most time-saving thing you can
do is to set up SSH so that you will not need
to enter your password each time you want
to synchronise your files and directories. The
procedure is easy and involves the following
three steps:
1. Run ssh-keygen -t rsa
You will have to enter a passphrase twice, so
please do remember the passphrase! Two new
files are going to be created: ~/.ssh/id_rsa and
~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub.
2. You may need to create a directory called
.ssh on the remote server if it does not
already exist.
There are times when things do not work as
expected. Unison offers you many options that
can help you both find and solve problems.
The first option to try is the -testserver
option that just connects to the remote server
and then exits without synchronising any files.
The second thing to do is run the
following command:
$ ssh remote.machine.domain 'echo
$PATH'
The aforementioned command let you see
whether the PATH is the same as when you
log in using ssh remote.machine.domain.
If the problem is with the PATH, check if the
option PermitUserEnvironment in /etc/ssh/
sshd_config is set to no and change it to yes.

45 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Browse privately with Onion Pi

This isnt a Using not much more than a Hook into the internet just
hardware hack a Raspberry Pi, you can route about anywhere theres
spare SD card can one or more systems through an internet connection a
be used for the Tor a Tor-enabled access point, relatives house, hotel
router, and other guaranteeing anonymity rooms and more
SD cards can be
used for different
functions without
any problems

Browse privately Connect everything

with Onion Pi
over a wireless
network no need to
directly connect to
the Pi with a cable

Turn your Raspberry Pi into a highly secure and

very portable router to keep your system safe and
your browsing anonymous, wherever you are
Advisor
Rob Zwetsloot models
complex systems and
is a web developer
proficient in Python,
Django and PHP. He
loves to experiment
with computing
Resources
A Raspberry Pi
Raspbian: www.raspberrypi.org/downloads
Compatible Wi-Fi adaptor:
www.adafruit.com/products/814
We showed you in issue 129 how
to turn your Raspberry Pi into the
ultimate portable wireless router,
requiring very little power and giving
you a wireless network wherever
theres the most basic of internet
connections. What if its not enough to
know you can search the web, though?
What if you want to be wholly secure
as you do it? Then its time to upgrade
the router with Tor to protect your
privacy on the internet.
This Onion Pi, as dubbed by
Adafruit, combines Raspbian and
Tor to create and secure a wireless
access point using just a Raspberry Pi.
This project is fairly straightforward:
after setting up the wireless access
point, we install Tor and do some basic
setup tasks so that it routes traffic
properly, and securely. This will keep
you anonymous online a handy
feature in a time of privacy concerns
all around the web.
When the Pi is not connected to
the internet, it should still function as
a wireless router, allowing at the very
least a wireless LAN in your location.

46 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Browse privately with Onion Pi
Turn your Raspberry Pi into a Tor-enabled wireless router
TUTORIAL

06 Set up DHCP
Now we need to configure the DHCP
server. Edit the configuration file with:

$ sudo nano /etc/dhcp/dhcpd.conf

And start by putting a # in front of the two option

domain-name entries, then remove the # in front
of authoritative, seven lines down.

07 Server address
At the end of the configuration file, add
the following:

subnet 192.168.42.0 netmask

255.255.255.0 {
range 192.168.42.10 192.168.42.50;
option broadcast-address
192.168.42.255;
option routers 192.168.42.1;
default-lease-time 600;

01 04
Install Raspbian SSH connection max-lease-time 7200;
Raspbian is the Raspberry Pi distro Plug your USB wireless adapter into option domain-name "local";
well be using for the Onion Pi. Download the zip the Pi and turn it back on. On another computer option domain-name-servers 8.8.8.8,
file, extract the image and then apply it to an SD connected to the same network, open a terminal 8.8.4.4;
card using: or type into the command line: }

$ dd bs=4M if=[version number]- $ ssh [user]@[IP address] Save and exit.

wheezy-raspbian.img of=/dev/[SD card
location] Then enter the password for your Raspbian if it
asks for it.
You can also use NOOBS to install Raspbian if
you wish.

02 Set up Raspbian
Go through the initial Raspbian setup
and make sure to turn on the SSH server, and to

05
disable autoboot to desktop this is unnecessary Install DHCP
and will only use extra power. You can also tell it to To make life easier for any system
fill up the rest of the card if theres room for it. connecting to the Pi access point, we need to

03 Pi IP install a DHCP server to it. We do this with:

Well be accessing your Raspberry Pi via
SSH to set it up. To do this we need to know its IP $ sudo apt-get install hostapd isc-

08
address you can find it by typing ifconfig into dhcp-server DHCP server
the command line. Make a note of it and turn off Edit the server configuration files
your Pi. DHCP will automatically assign IP addresses to so that its set to work in conjunction with the
network-attached devices, meaning you wont wireless adaptor:
need static IPs.
$ sudo nano /etc/default/isc-dhcp-
server

Scroll to INTERFACES and change it to:

INTERFACES="wlan0"

47 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Browse privately with Onion Pi

09 Incoming Wi-Fi
We need to set up the Wi-Fi adaptor to be
both static and accept incoming signals. First:
14 Network addressing
Setting up a NAT will allow multiple clients
to connect. To do this, run:

$ sudo nano /etc/network/interfaces $ sudo nano /etc/sysctl.conf

Put a # in front of iface wlan0 and following And add to the bottom of the file:
lines with wpa roam, iface default and any other
affecting wlan0. net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

Save this, and then finish by running:

$ sudo sh -c "echo 1 > /proc/sys/

net/ipv4/ip_forward"

10 Static IP
Now give the wireless interface a static 12 WLAN configuration
interface=wlan0
driver=rtl871xdrv
IP after the line allow-hotplug wlan0, enter
the following: ssid=[access point name]
hw_mode=g

15
iface wlan0 inet static channel=1 IP tables
macaddr_acl=0 Run the following three commands to
address 192.168.42.1 auth_algs=1 make sure the internet connection is forwarded
netmask 255.255.255.0 ignore_broadcast_ssid=0 correctly:
wpa=2
Save and exit, and then set wlan0s address with: wpa_passphrase=[password] sudo iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING
wpa_key_mgmt=WPA-PSK -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE
$ sudo ifconfig wlan0 192.168.42.1 wpa_pairwise=TKIP sudo iptables -A FORWARD -i
rsn_pairwise=CCMP eth0 -o wlan0 -m state --state

13
RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
Hostapd
sudo iptables -A FORWARD -i wlan0 -o
After saving and exiting, we need to edit
eth0 -j ACCEPT
hostapd to point it to this new file. Open it with:

$ sudo nano /etc/default/hostapd 16 Apply configuration

So that this still works after a reboot, type:

And then find the line #DAEMON_CONF="". $ sudo sh -c "iptables-save > /etc/
Remove the #, and change it to: iptables.ipv4.nat"

11 WLAN creation DAEMON_CONF="/etc/hostapd/hostapd. Then add to the end of /etc/network/interfaces:

We need to create a new file that holds all conf" up iptables-restore < /etc/iptables.
the information for our wireless network. We are
ipv4.nat
going to make it password protected so that only
the people we want to can access it. To create the
file, start with:

$ sudo nano /etc/hostapd/hostapd.

conf

And then enter the text from the next step.

48 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Browse privately with Onion Pi
Turn your Raspberry Pi into a Tor-enabled wireless router
TUTORIal

17 Wi-Fi final
Finally, set it up as a daemon so it runs
at boot with the following commands:

sudo service hostapd start

sudo service isc-dhcp-server start
sudo update-rc.d hostapd enable
sudo update-rc.d isc-dhcp-server
enable

And the wireless access point part will be

finished.

18 Install Tor
After a reboot, we now need to install
Tor. Do this simply with:

$ sudo apt-get install tor

Once its installed, youll need to edit the Tor

config file with:

$ sudo nano /etc/tor/torrc

Follow the next step to add all the necessary If you want to keep SSH open to connect $ sudo sh -c "iptables-save > /etc/
information to it. remotely, youll need to make an exception for iptables.ipv4.nat"
that with:

19 Tor configure
Put this below the FAQ comment: $ sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING 23 logging
We should create a log file in case
you need to debug later. To do this, use these
-i wlan0 -p tcp --dport 22 -j
Log notice file /var/log/tor/ three commands:
REDIRECT --to-ports 22
notices.log

VirtualAddrNetwork 10.192.0.0/10
AutomapHostsSuffixes .onion,.exit
AutomapHostsOnResolve 1
TransPort 9040
TransListenAddress 192.168.42.1
DNSPort 53
DNSListenAddress 192.168.42.1
21
Reroute $ sudo touch /var/log/tor/notices.
Route all DNS traffic first, using: log
$ sudo chown debian-tor /var/log/
$ sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING tor/notices.log
-i wlan0 -p udp --dport 53 -j $ sudo chmod 644 /var/log/tor/
REDIRECT --to-ports 53 notices.log
You can also check it with:
And then route any TCP traffic with:

$ sudo iptables -t nat -A PREROUTING $ ls -l /var/log/tor

24
-i wlan0 -p tcp --syn -j REDIRECT Secure the router
--to-ports 9040 Finally, we can activate the Tor service
so that we can start using the access point
securely with:

$ sudo service tor start

You can check this if you wish with:

$ sudo service tor status

20 Table flush
We now need to flush the current IP
tables so that we can get the routing to go
22 Check and save
You can check the table setup with:
To make it turn on at boot, you simple add it to
rc.d with:

through Tor. First of all, do: $ sudo iptables -t nat -L $ sudo update-rc.d tor enable

$ sudo iptables -F If youre happy with it, save it to the NAT file like
$ sudo iptables -t nat -F before with:

49 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Have you got
unwanted monitors?

4,000 monitors needed for

schools in Africa and Latin America
WEEE compliance guaranteed
0% to landfill policy
All legal liabilities covered
Data wiped to UK military standards on all PCs

www.computeraid.org/donate
020 8361 5540
enquiries@computeraid.org
Or find us on...

Registered Charity No. 1069256 Registered Company No. 3442679

The only Linux magazine for open source developers
100% FOSS focused Features Tutorials Sample code

If it wasnt
open source, if it
wasnt GPL, there
wouldnt be the
20,000 plug-ins
that have been
written for it
Mark Little talking about
WordPress

51
 Mike Little celebrates receiving his outstanding contribution award

The other half

of WordPress
With ten years under its belt, WordPress has firmly
cemented its place in the hearts of bloggers. But what next
for its co-founder Mike Little? David Crookes finds out
We are on a tram to
Manchester, tapping away
on our phone as we update
one of our blogs, engrossed
in the words and thinking
little about the underlying
code which is making all of this possible. Just
as the last few words are written, the tram
stops and we make our way up the escalator
to Piccadilly Station about to meet the man
who created the behemoth that is WordPress,
the very blogging platform we had been using
throughout the journey.
Our meeting is being held at a railway station
because Mike Little, who is from Stockport, is
a busy man. He has already had one meeting
before we shake hands and he is due to have
another. We decide to sit in a coffee shop and
he grabs a sandwich before telling us about
his latest venture, which is unsurprisingly
given the software is used by 18.9 per cent of
the top 10 million websites very much related
to WordPress.
Little is currently working on a series of
screencasts which showcase how WordPress
can be used, explaining the fundamentals of it
to encourage more people to get involved with
blogging using the platform. Its a slow process
it takes about an hour to edit a minutes
footage, he says but hes getting there. The
idea is that the screencasts will form a paid-for
online course. I want them to be better than
anything else that is out there, so they have to
be done right, he says. There is a lot of rubbish
being made where you get someone just filming
what they are doing and there are lots of ums
and ahs and backtracking. My screencasts
wont be like that and people will certainly get
value for money.
Little, who also teaches WordPress to classes
face-to-face, continues to work with WordPress
for professional clients too. After all, if he
cannot produce a killer website for companies
and organisations using the software, then
nobody can. It is fitting, then, that he has worked
with Downing Street on government sites. He
appears most proud of a science-engagement
site for children called Im A Scientist, Get
Me Out Of Here, which has spun off into Im
An Engineer. I really enjoy doing these, he
says, explaining that his entire freelance

52 www.linuxuser.co.uk

Matt Mullenwegs WordPress.com website is run by his company Automattic
career has been based around
66%
WordPress since he left full-time
employment in 2008.
WordPress has, therefore,
shaped his life. In between
mouthfuls, he tells us
all about the WordPress
project, barely pausing for
Proportion of all
breath, and there is little WordPress sites
doubt that he is proud of the
part he played in the initial
that are in
years of WordPresss inception. English
If there was any doubt, then the
snazzy WordPress T-shirt hes wearing
at our meeting certainly puts paid to that.
Before WordPress
Little has been programming professionally
since 1990. His first six years were spent at
an industrial software house called Pantek
in Stockport, where he became responsible
for a team of six and developed Visual Basic
apps, learned C++ and gained experience in
DOS, Windows SDK, assembler, Novell, TCP/IP
and Microsoft networks. After leaving Pantek,
he went on to work at various other software
companies in the Greater Manchester area, but
he was also an early blogger.
He used software called b2/cafelog which
had been written by Michel Valdrighi, the first
Corsican blogger. A small community had built
up around the software with around 2,000 active
users on the forum, but development of b2/
cafelog suddenly ground to a halt when Valdrighi
disappeared, leaving behind an app that had
a few bugs, a couple of security issues and a
The other half of WordPress
The story of WordPress co-founder, Mark Little
domain that was up for renewal.
Another programmer, Matt
Mullenweg, also used b2/
cafelog, or, as it was more
commonly known, b2,
and he was concerned
not only about Valdrighis
disappearance but
also about the lack of
development of b2. He
posted an article on his blog
called The Blogging Software
Dilemma which discussed how
he had come to be using b2, primarily
because it was the best of the bunch and
something he was able to develop. Mike Little
spotted this blog post and responded, asking
Mullenweg if he would be interested in forking
b2. Mullenweg said he would. The pair then got
together, albeit remotely over the internet.
Id communicated with Matt a couple of
times before because he had a website with
a really good gallery on it and Id emailed him
to ask him about the software, recalls Little.
Id actually communicated with him on the b2
forums as well, but I didnt know he was the
same person as the one who ran the gallery
site. So when I saw his blog post about b2,
I was interested. As it turned out, I was the
only person who responded to his posting at
the time.
Version one
Mullenweg and Little took the b2 software
and began to work on it, fixing bugs and adding
extra features. Then Valdrighi reappeared. He
LITTLE AND LINUX
Mike Little is a long-term user of Linux. Ive
been into Linux since the early days, he
recalls. I could see that the openness, the
ability to look at code, to modify [it] was
making better software So Ive always been
passionate about it and I just absolutely think
its the right thing to do.
He has fond memories of the days when
Linux needed to be downloaded from FTP
sites and stuck on several 3.5-inch floppies.
Im going back to 1.something series kernels,
so right from when there probably were only
three or four distributions. Slackware was one
but I dont even think the likes of Debian had
started in the early days. I remember Red Hat
starting so I was into it before that.
Little had been involved in a project called
DJGPP, which was a port of the GNU Compiler
Collection onto 16-bit DOS. It is, he concedes,
a ridiculous undertaking in hindsight, but
it meant developer tools could be obtained
on DOS without having to shell out money. I
think that was before I even got the world wide
web, so at that time I had a modem but I was
dialling up to bulletin boards and getting
software that way, he explains.
And then when I got onto the internet
I just kind of continued in that vein. So Id
already understood that this DJGPP was a
port of these GNU tools so I started looking
at what they were and how I could use those
and eventually got brave enough to partition
my Windows machine and get Linux booted
on that. Before that I used to boot it from a
floppy but yes, eventually I went over to dual
booting into Linux and in 1998 I went over at
home full-time to Linux By the time I had a
decent laptop, I started with Debian but my
last three laptops have run Ubuntu.
That first release
of WordPress had
a couple of extra
features Id already
created for b2
53 www.linuxuser.co.uk
declared Mullenweg and Littles software as
the official successor to b2. It turns out hed
been made redundant or something like that,
had to give up his flat, gone back to his parents
who didnt even have internet and so on,
smiles Little. So it was just the real world was
much more important than a bit of software.
WordPress was thus born.
It was January 2003. Little had been learning
PHP and he felt he would work his way around b2
and make alterations. No software is perfect,
so it was just a case of thinking of things that
we wanted to add to it, says Little. That first
release of WordPress had a couple of extra
features that Id already created for b2 and
the same for Matt: hed had a couple of extra
features that hed added to b2. Wed shared
these things on the forums and we kind of
incorporated those into the core project. And
yeah, we just took it from there.
One of the biggest changes was the
introduction of Pages, which made a massive
difference to WordPress and set it apart from
its rivals at the time. It enabled WordPress to
become more than blogging software. But the
TAKING INSPIRATION
WordPress was not created in isolation.
Although Little and Mullenweg worked on
their own, with the expanse of the Atlantic
ocean separating them, they did look at other
blogging software being created at the time
and they took inspiration from it.
There was definitely a lot of studying
of rivals and playing catch-up, seeing what
other people were doing, Little says. For
a very long time there was a lot of blogging
software and certainly you would see Blogger
or Moveable Type with features that were
cool and that we thought we might add to
WordPress. Eventually it started going the
other way round as well and these other apps
were copying features that had been added
to WordPress.
54 www.linuxuser.co.uk
killer feature, Little says, came in the guise of
hooks. It meant you could write additions to
the product without having to modify the code,
and that was something that only really big
grown-up software did, like some of the Java
Stacks, says Little. This ability to actually
change the way it behaves and add things to
it without having to touch any of the core files
was crucial. Its still the hardest thing, I think, for
new developers to get their heads round how it
works, but I think thats what made it
18.9%
so much easier.
He said it made the process
of updating the software so
much easier. Prior to that,
with anything like Drupal
or any of those tools, The percentage
whenever there was an of the 10 million
update you were in danger
of losing your changes
websites in the
because youd modified world that run
original files to call your stuff WordPress
or to add somebody elses stuff
in. Youd stick these function calls in
there. It meant that as soon as you got the
new version, if you just literally FTPed the new
one over the top of the old one, you were going to
lose your stuff and lose your modifications. So I
think that was probably one of the key features
and I dont think its necessarily something
that people appreciate because these days
they just never see the problem. They update
WordPress or they update the plug-ins and oh,
its the new version, and nothings gone wrong.
And yet before then you had to save those
files you modified before you updated to the
new software.
Mullenweg and Little continued to work on
WordPress and the first release came in May of
that year.
If it wasnt open source, if it wasnt GPL,
there wouldnt be the 20,000 plug-ins that
have been written for it
User-friendliness
Little and Mullenweg saw WordPress as
an evolving product. Little worked on doing
what he could to eliminate the ability to make
mistakes, which he believes was a crucial step
forward. With the original b2, you could lose
your settings, he says. But with WordPress, I
added the config sample PHP and it just took
that ability to make a mistake away. I took what
was the original b2 settings file and created an
Options interface for it. It was another
file, you didnt have to fiddle with
it - you didnt have to know how
to edit these files and FTP
them back up to your server
and stuff like that. I think
all those bits helped make
it easier, made it harder
to cock up and I think that
all helped.
The need to be user-
friendly was at the forefront
of the minds of both developers.
It was also important for them that
WordPress, like b2, was an open source
project. They loved that b2 operated under a
General Public License, which meant they had
the freedom to take the code, change it and
distribute it to other people. They loved that
it was free too. Ive always been a huge open
source advocate, says Little. Matt was kind of
new to the open source idea, but that was one of
the reasons behind him choosing to use b2.
Little attributes the popularity of WordPress
to its open source nature (if it wasnt open
source, if it wasnt GPL, there wouldnt be the
20,000 plug-ins that have been written for it or
the 10,000 themes, he says) and it matters not
to him that he has not made any direct money
from WordPress. Nobody does, he says. Its

n The original posting, The Blogging Software Dilemma, on Mat Mullenwegs website and
Mike Littles response
not sold and yes, I continued in my day job. Matt
went [to work] for CNET, which had just started
using WordPress for just a couple of things, and
they actually had him doing a standard software
development job. But they paid for him to work
one day a week on WordPress itself and I think
it was through working there that he met a guy
called Tony Schneider, who had just
sold some software to Yahoo! for
4 billion
25m or something like. Matt
had started Automattic at
this point. Schneider later
managed to help raise
funding for him and joined The number of page
the service that eventually
became WordPress.com.
views of WordPress
But me, I continued in websites from
my day job up until 2008. April 2012 to
Carrying on April 2013
Little considered becoming
part of WordPress.com, which is a
blog web hosting service provider owned by
Automattic, but this was prior to the funding
and the company couldnt afford to pay him a
wage. Today it is financially supported via paid
upgrades, VIP services and advertising and can
pay wages, but in the early days there wasnt
much cash for this and the bulk of the fund-
raising efforts went on infrastructure.
The other half of WordPress
The story of WordPress co-founder, Mark Little
Up until the first release, the development
team consisted of just Mullenweg and Little, but
five people were working on the project by the
end of 2003 and it continued to grow after that.
By the end of 2005, Little wasnt able to stay
involved. I had issues at home, real-life issues
which meant that I couldnt spend the time
working on this thing voluntarily, he
says. It was still a very techy thing,
a very geek thing, it wasnt as
good and as user-friendly
as it has become today
and it certainly wasnt
as prominent.
Cash, he insists, is
something that does not
motivate him, however. I
need to pay the bills and we
need to eat, he says. I am
the breadwinner of the house
and I always have been, but I just
wish I could put that side of things in
place and do what interests me from that point
on. Theres no doubting my passion for open
source computing.
Indeed, he has read up on the philosophy
behind the General Public License and he has
devoured Richard Stallmans story of how he
created the free software movement. I not only
found it very inspiring, he says, it just seemed
OUTSTAnDinG
COnTRiBUTiOn
TO DiGiTAL
At SASCon 2013, Mike Little was presented
with the inaugural Outstanding Contribution
to Digital award for his part in co-founding
and developing WordPress.
The award, which was handed out at
a conference at the new Manchester
Metropolitan University Business School,
acknowledged his instrumental role in
setting up and developing the first version
of WordPress, which has become the most
popular content management system on
the internet.
Richard Gregory, one of SAScons
founders, said: There isnt a single digital
marketing agency that hasnt made
generated income by building WordPress
websites, and we are honoured to be able to
recognise him with this award.
the morally right thing to do, for me. The fact
is that, at the time, in the 1970s and 1980s,
software companies were effectively creating
artificial scarcity, based on intellectual ideas
that were almost free to reproduce. Back then
firms were making floppy disks and putting
them in boxes and getting manuals printed and
they were charging 500 or 600 for a product
that had just 30 or 40 worth of materials.
As things moved on, it got easier and easier to
distribute software online where the distribution
costs and the reproduction costs approach zero,
so to then charge artificial amounts on top of
that just seemed like the wrong thing to do.
He hopes that future generations go down the
same path and release open source software.
But first, he says, I think it is crucial that we
just get kids learning how to code. There are
some good moves in that direction and I love
what is being done with the Raspberry Pi.
Suddenly, a school cant say it cannot afford to
buy lots of computers to experiment with. These
are costing 25 each. Its a great time to be in
computing and I feel its good to be putting back
in and helping people learn.
Mike Littles new website is at mikelittle.org
but he also runs his company site, zed1.com.
55 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial MakeextensionsforXBMCwithPython

Current media
selection
List of
installed
plug-ins
Configure
launcher
Makeextensionsfor
XBMCwithPython
Python is the worlds most popular easy-to-use open source
language. Learn how to use it to build your own features for
XBMC, the worlds favourite FOSS media centre
Advisor
KunalDeois a veteran open source developer.
Currently he is leading two open
source projects: WinOpen64 and
KUN Wiki. He is also a KDE developer.
He has contributed to many open
source projects, including KDE-
Solaris, Belenix and Openmoko
Resources
XBMC: www.xbmc.org/download
Python2.7x
PythonIDE(optional)
XBMCisperhapsthemostimportantthingthat
has ever happened in the open source media
centre space. It started its life on the original
Xbox videogames console and since then it has
become the de facto software for multimedia
aficionados. It also has been forked into many
other successful media centre applications such
as Boxee and Plex. XBMC has ultimately grown
into a very powerful open source application with
56 www.linuxuser.co.uk
a solid community behind it. It supports almost
all major platforms, including different hardware
architectures. It is available for Linux, Windows,
Mac OS X, Android, iOS and Raspberry Pi.
In these pages we will learn to build extensions
for XBMC. Extensions are a way of adding
features to XBMC without having to learn the
core of XBMC or alter that core in any way. One
additional advantage is that XBMC uses Python
as its scripting language, and this can be also
used to build the extensions. This really helps
new developers get involved in the project since
Python is easy to learn compared to languages
like C/C++ (from which the core of XBMC is made).
XBMC supports various types of extensions (or
Add-ons): Plugins, Programs and Skins. Plugins
add features to XBMC. Depending on the type
of feature, a plug-in will appear in the relevant
media section of XBMC. For example, a YouTube
plug-in would appear in the Videos section.
Scripts/Programs are like mini-applications for
XBMC. They appear in the Programs section.
Skins are important since XBMC is a completely
customisable application you can change
Rating (only available for
hosted plug-ins)
Localised
description string
Opens
changelog for
the plug-in
the look and feel of just about every facet of
the package.
Depending upon which category your
extension fits, you will have to create the
extension directory accordingly. For example
Plug-ins:
plugin.audio.ludaudi: An audio plug-in
plugin.video.ludvidi: A video plug-in
script.xxx.xxx: A program
In this tutorial we will build an XBMC plug-in
called LUD Entertainer. This plug-in will provide a
nice way to watch videos from Reddit from within
XBMC. Our plug-in will show various content such
as trailers and documentaries from Reddit. Well
also allow our users to add their own Subreddit.
Each video can then be categorised as Hot, New,
Top, Controversial etc. With this plug-in we will
demonstrate how easy it is hook into XBMCs
built-in method to achieve a very high-quality
user experience.
Due to space limitations, we arent able to print
the full code here. You are highly recommended
to explore the cover disc to access the complete
code, which has many other amazing functions.
 Make extensions for XBMC with Python
01 Preparingthedirectorystructure
As we have mentioned previously, each
XBMC extension type follows a certain directory
naming convention. In this case we are building
a video plug-in, so the plug-in directory name
would be plugin.video.ludlent. But thats just the
root directory name we will need several other
folders and files as well.
The following describes the directory structure of
LUD Linux Entertainer:
plugin.video.ludent Root Plugin directory
|-- addon.xml
|-- changelog.txt
|-- default.py
|-- icon.png
|-- LICENSE.txt
|-- README
`-- resources
|-- lib
`-- settings.xml
02 Creatingaddon.xml
An addon.xml file needs to be created in
the root of the extension directory. The addon.xml
file contains the primary metadata from a XBMC
extension. It contains overview, credits, version
information and dependencies information about
the extension.
The root element of addon.xml is the <addon>
element. It is defined as:
<addon id="plugin.video.
ludent" name="LUD HSW Viewer"
version="0.0.1" provider-
name="LUDK">
rest of the content is placed here
</addon>
Here, id is the identifier for the plug-in, so
it should be unique among all the XBMC
extensions, and id is also used for the directory
name; version tells XBMC the extension
version number, which helps in its ability to
deliver automatic updates XBMC follows the
Major.Minor.Patch versioning convention; name is
the English title of the plug-in.
Note: Steps 3 to 5 cover entries that need to be
added within the addon.xml file.
03 addingdependencyinformation
Dependency inside an extension is
managed using the <requires> element.
<requires>
<import addon="xbmc.python"
Use Python to create a new plug-in for XBMC
version="2.1.0"/>
<import addon="plugin.video.
youtube" version="3.0.0"/>
<import addon="plugin.video.vimeo"
version="2.3.0"/>
<import addon="plugin.video.
dailymotion_com" version="1.0.0"/>
</requires>
In the above code we have added a dependency
to a library called xbmc.python version
2.1. Currently it is added as a mandatory
dependency. To make the dependency
optional you will need to add optional="true";
eg <import addon="kunal.special"
version="0.1.0" optional="true" />
In the above example we have added core
dependency xbmc.python to 2.1.0 because its
the version shipped with XBMC version Frodo
12.0 and 12.1 . If you were to add xbmc.python
to 2.0 then it would only work in XBMC Eden 11.0
and not in the latest version.
For the current version of XBMC 12.1, the
following versions of core XBMC components
are shipped:
xbmc.python 2.1.0
xbmc.gui 4.0.0
xbmc.json 6.0.0
xbmc.metadata 2.1.0
xbmc.addon 12.0.0
In addition to xbmc.python we are also adding
some third-party plug-ins as dependencies,
such as plugin.video.youtube. These plug-ins
will be installed automatically when we install
plugin.video.ludent.
04 Settinguptheproviderand
entrypoint
Our extension is supposed to provide the video
content for XBMC. In order to convey that, we
have to set up the following element:
<extension point="xbmc.python.
pluginsource" library="default.
py">
<provides>video</provides>
</extension>
Here, the library attribute sets up the plug-in
entry point. In this example default.py will be
executed when the user activates the plug-in.
The <provides> elements sets up the media
type it provides. This also gets reflected in the
placement of the plug-in. Since ours is a video
plug-in, it will show up in the Videos section
of XBMC.
TUTORIal
05 Settingupplug-inmetadata
Metadata about the plug-in is provided in
<extension point="xbmc.addon.metadata">. The
following are the important elements
<platform>: Most of the time, XBMC extensions
are cross-platform compatible. However, if you
depend on the native platform library that is only
available on certain platforms then you will need
to set the supported platforms here. Accepted
values for the platform are: all, linux, osx, osx32,
osx64, ios (Apple iOS) , windx (Windows DirectX),
wingl (Windows OpenGL) and android.
<summary lang="en">: This gives a brief
description of the plug-in. Our example sets the
language attribute as English, but you can use
other languages too.
<description>: A detailed description of the
plug-in.
<website>: Webpage where the plug-in is hosted.
<source>: Source code repository URL. If you are
hosting your plug-in on GitHub, you can mention
the repository URL here.
<forum>: Discussion forum URL for your plug-in.
<email>: Author email. You can directly type email
or use a bot-friendly email address like max at
domain dot com.
06 Settingchangelog,icon,fanart
andlicence
We need a few additional files in the plug-in
directory
changelog.txt: You should list the changes made
to your plug-in between releases. The changelog
is visible from the XBMC UI.
An example changelog:
0.0.1
- Initial Release
0.0.2
- Fixed Video Buffering Issue
icon.png: This will represent the plug-in in the
XBMC UI. It needs to be a non-transparent PNG
file of size 256x256.
fanart.jpg (optional): The fanart.jpg is rendered
in the background if a user selects the plug-in
in XBMC. The art needs to be rendered in HDTV
formats, so its size can range from 1280x720
(720p) up to the maximum 1920x1080 (1080p).
57 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial MakeextensionsforXBMCwithPython

License.txt: This file contains the licence of
the distributed plug-in. The XBMC project
recommends the use of the Creative Commons
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 licence for skins,
and GPL 2.0 for add-ons. However, most of the
copyleft licences can be used.
Note: For the purpose of packaging, extensions/
add-ons/themes/plug-ins are the same.
07 Providingsettingsfortheplug-in
Settings can be provided by the file
resources/settings.xml. These are great for user-
configurable options.
Partial:resources/settings.xml
<settings>
<category label="30109">
<setting id="filter" type="bool"
label="30101" default="false"/>
<setting type="sep" />
<setting id="showAll" type="bool"
label="30106" default="false"/>
<setting id="showUnwatched"
type="bool" label="30107"
default="true"/>
<setting id="showUnfinished"
type="bool" label="30108"
default="false"/>
<setting type="sep" />
<setting id="forceViewMode"
type="bool" label="30102"
default="true"/>
<setting id="viewMode" type="number"
label="30103" default="504"/>
</category>
<category label="30110">
<setting id="cat_hot" type="bool"
label="30002" default="true"/>
<setting id="cat_new" type="bool"
label="30003" default="true"/>
</category>
</settings>
Here, label defines the language id string which
will then be used to display the label. id defines
the name which will be used for programmatic
access. type defines the data type you want
to collect; it also affects the UI which will be
displayed for the element. default defines the
default value for the setting. You should always
use a default value wherever possible to provide a
better user experience.
58 www.linuxuser.co.uk
The following are a few important settings
types that you can use
text: Used for basic string inputs.
ipaddress: Used to collect internet addresses.
number: Allows you enter a number. XBMC will
also provide an on-screen numeric keyboard for
the input.
slider: This provides an elegant way to collect
integer, float and percentage values. You can get
the slider setting in the following format:
<setting label="21223" type="slider"
id="sideinput" default="10"
range="1,1,10" option="int" />
In the above example we are creating a slider with
min range 1, max range 10 and step as 1. In the
option field we are stating the data type we are
interested in we can also set option to "float"
or "percent".
bool: Provides bool selection in the form of on
or off.
file: Provides a way to input file paths. XBMC will
provide a file browser to make the selection of file.
If you are looking to make selection for a specific
type of file you can use audio, video, image or
executable instead of file.
folder: Provides a way to browse for a folder
Example:
<setting label="12001" type="folder"
id="folder" source="auto"
option="writeable"/>
Here, source sets the start location for the
folder, while option sets the write parameter for
the application.
sep & lsep: sep is used to draw a horizontal line
in the setting dialog; lsep is used for drawing
a horizontal line with text. They do not collect
any input but are there for building better user
interface elements
<setting label="21212" type="lsep"
/>
08
Languagesupport
Language support is provided in
the form of the strings.xml file located in
resources/languages/[language name]. This
approach is very similar to many large software
projects, including Android, where static strings
are never used.
resource/language/english/string.xml
example:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"
standalone="yes"?>
<strings>
<string id="30001">Add subreddit</
string>
<string id="30002">Hot</string>
<string id="30003">New</string>
<string id="30004">Top</string>
<string id="30005">Controversial</
string>
<string id="30006">Hour</string>
<string id="30007">Day</string>
<string id="30008">Week</string>
<string id="30009">Month</string>
<string id="30010">Year</string>
</strings>
As you may have seen in the settings.xml
example, all the labels are referring to string
ids. You can have many other languages as
well. Depending upon the language XBMC is
running in, the correct language file will be
loaded automatically.
Post XBMC Frodo (12.1), strings.xml will be
deprecated. Post Frodo, XBMC will be moved
to a GNU gettext-based translation system;
gettext uses PO files. You can use a tool called
xbmc-xml2po to convert strings.xml into
equivalent PO files.
09
Buildingdefault.py
Since our plug-in is small, it will all be
contained inside default.py. If you are developing
a more complex add-on then you can create
supporting files in the same directory. If your
library depends upon third-party libraries, you
have two ways to go about it. You can either place
the third-party libraries into the resources/lib
folder; or bundle the library itself into a plug-in,
then add that plug-in as the dependency in the
addon.xml file.
Our plug-in works with reddit.tv. This is the
website from Reddit which contains trending
videos shared by its readers. Videos posted on
Reddit are actually sourced from YouTube, Vimeo
and Dailymotion.
We will be starting default.py with the following
imports:
import urllib
import urllib2
import xbmcplugin
 Make extensions for XBMC with Python
Use Python to create a new plug-in for XBMC
TUTORIal

import xbmcgui idFile idPath strFilename playCount lastPlayed dateadded

import xbmcaddon
1 1 plugin://plugin. 2013-08-06 23:47
Apart from xbmcplugin, xbmcgui and 2 2 plugin://plugin. 1 2013-08-07 22:42
xbmcaddon, the rest are all standard Python
3 2 plugin://plugin. 1 2013-08-08 00:09
libraries which are available on PyPI (Python
Package Index) via pip. You will not need to install 4 2 plugin://plugin. 1 2013-08-08 00:55
any library yourself since the Python runtime for 5 2 plugin://plugin. 1 2013-08-08 00:58
XBMC has all the components built in.
urllib and urllib2 help in HTTP communication.
socket is used for network I/O; re is used
for regular expression matching; sqlite3 is
12 Buildinghelperfunctions
In this step we will look at some of the
important helper functions.
The above table is an example of a files table.

addSubreddit(): Our plug-in allows users to add

the Python module for accessing an SQLite their own Subreddit. This function takes the
embedded database; xbmcplugin, xbmcgui and getDbPath(): This returns the location of the Subreddit input from the user, then saves it in
xbmcaddon contain the XBMC-specific routine. SQLite database file for videos. XBMC stores the subreddits file inside the addon data folder.
library and playback information in SQLite DB

10 Initialising
During the initialisation process, we will
be reading various settings from settings.xml.
files. There are separate databases for videos
and music, located inside the .xbmc/userdata/
Database folder. We are concerned with the
Settings can be read in the following way: videos DB. It is prefixed with MyVideos
addon = xbmcaddon.Addon() def getDbPath():
filterRating = int(addon. path = xbmc.
getSetting("filterRating")) translatePath("special://userdata/
filterVoteThreshold = int(addon.getS Database")
etting("filterVoteThreshold")) files = os.listdir(path)
latest = ""
In order to read settings of type bool you will need for file in files:
to do something like: if file[:8] == MyVideos
and file[-3:] == .db:
filter = addon.getSetting("filter") if file > latest:
== "true" latest = file
return os.path.join(path,
We are also setting the main URL, plug-in handle
latest)
and the user agent for it:
pluginhandle = int(sys.argv[1]) getPlayCount(url): Once we have the database
urlMain = "http://www.reddit.com" location, we can get the play count using a
userAgent = "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT simple SQL query. The MyVideo database
6.2; WOW64; rv:22.0) Gecko/20100101 contains a table called files, which keeps a
Firefox/22.0" record of all the video files played in XBMC by
opener = urllib2.build_opener() filename. In this case it will be URL.
opener.addheaders = [(User-Agent,
userAgent)] dbPath = getDbPath()
conn = sqlite3.connect(dbPath)
The following sets the subreddits file location:
subredditsFile = xbmc.
translatePath("special://profile/
addon_data/"+addonID+"/subreddits")
this translates into .xbmc/userdata/
addon_data/plugin.video.ludent/
subreddits
def addSubreddit():
keyboard = xbmc.Keyboard(,
translation(30001))
keyboard.doModal()
if keyboard.isConfirmed() and
keyboard.getText():
subreddit = keyboard.
getText()
fh = open(subredditsFile,
a)
fh.write(subreddit+\n)
fh.close()
This function also demonstrates how to take
a text input from the user. Here we are calling
the Keyboard function with a text title. Once it
detects the keyboard, it writes the input in the
subreddits file with a newline character.
getYoutubeUrl(id): When we locate a YouTube

11 Readinglocalisedstrings c = conn.cursor() URL to play, we pass it on to the YouTube plug-in

As mentioned, XBMC uses strings.xml to (plugin.video.youtube) to handle the playback. To
serve up the text. In order to read those strings, def getPlayCount(url): do so, we need to call it in a certain format
you will need to use getLocalizedString. c.execute(SELECT playCount FROM
files WHERE strFilename=?, [url]) def getYoutubeUrl(id):
translation = addon. result = c.fetchone() url = "plugin://plugin.
getLocalizedString if result: video.youtube/?path=/root/
translation(30002) result = result[0] video&action=play_video&videoid=" +
if result: id
In this example, translation(30002) will return return int(result) return url
the string "Hot" when running in an English return 0
environment. return -1

59 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial MakeextensionsforXBMCwithPython


On the same lines, we can build a function to if spl[i]:
place links as well subreddit = spl[i]
Similarly for Vimeo:
entries.
def addLink(name, url, mode, append(subreddit)
iconimage, description, date): entries.sort()
def getVimeoUrl(id): u = sys.argv[0]+"?url="+urllib.
url = "plugin://plugin.video. for entry in entries:
quote_plus(url)+"&mode="+str(mode) if entry in defaultEntries:
vimeo/?path=/root/video&action=play_ ok = True
video&videoid=" + id addDir(entry.title(),
liz = xbmcgui.ListItem(name, "r/"+entry, listSorting, "")
return url iconImage="DefaultVideo.png", else:
thumbnailImage=iconimage) addDirR(entry.title(),
And for Dailymotion: liz.setInfo(type="Video", "r/"+entry, listSorting, "")
infoLabels={"Title": name, "Plot": addDir("[ Vimeo.com ]",
def getDailyMotionUrl(id): description, "Aired": date})
url = "plugin://plugin.video. "domain/vimeo.com", listSorting,
liz.setProperty(IsPlayable, "")
dailymotion_com/?url=" + id + true)
"&mode=playVideo" addDir("[ Youtu.be ]", "domain/
ok = xbmcplugin. youtu.be", listSorting, "")
return url addDirectoryItem(handle=int(sys. addDir("[ Youtube.com
argv[1]), url=u, listitem=liz) ]", "domain/youtube.com",
Once we have the video URL resolved into the return ok
respective plug-in, playing it is very simple:
listSorting, "")
addDir("[ Dailymotion.com
Based on the abstractions we have just created,
def playVideo(url): ]", "domain/dailymotion.com",
we can create the base functions which will
listitem = xbmcgui. listSorting, "")
populate the content. But before we do that,
ListItem(path=url) addDir("[B]-
lets first understand how Reddit works. Most of
xbmcplugin. "+translation(30001)+" -[/B]", "",
the Reddit content filters are provided through
setResolvedUrl(pluginhandle, True, addSubreddit, "")
something called Subreddits. This allows you to
listitem) xbmcplugin.
view discussions related to a particular topic. In
endOfDirectory(pluginhandle)
our plug-in we are interested in showing videos;

13 Populatingplug-incontentlisting
xbmcplugin contains various routines
for handling the content listing inside the
plug-ins UI. The first step is to create directory
entries which can be selected from the XBMC
UI. For this we will use a function called
xbmcplugin.addDirectoryItem.
For our convenience we will be abstracting
addDirectoryItem to suit it to our purpose, so
that we can set name, URL, mode, icon image
and type easily.
def addDir(name, url, mode,
iconimage, type=""):
u = sys.argv[0]+"?url="+urllib.
quote_plus(url)+"&mode="+str(mode)+"
&type="+str(type)
ok = True
liz = xbmcgui.ListItem(name,
iconImage="DefaultFolder.png",
thumbnailImage=iconimage)
liz.setInfo(type="Video",
infoLabels={"Title": name})
ok = xbmcplugin.
addDirectoryItem(handle=int(sys.
argv[1]), url=u, listitem=liz,
isFolder=True)
return ok
we also want to show trailers, documentaries
etc. We access these using Subreddits. For
example, for trailers it would be reddit.com/r/
Here, the penultimate entry makes a call to
addSubreddit. listSorting takes care of sorting
out the data based on criteria such as Hot,
trailers. For domains we can use /domain; for
New etc. It also calls in Reddits JSON function,
example, to get all the YouTube videos posted
which returns nice easy-to-parse JSON data.
on Reddit, we will call reddit.com/domain/
We have created a settings entry for all the
youtube.com. Now you may ask what is the
sorting criteria. Based on what is set, we go
guarantee that this Subreddit will only list
ahead and build out the sorted list.
videos? The answer is that it may not. For that
reason we scrape the site ourselves to find
def listSorting(subreddit):
videos. More on this in the next step.
if cat_hot:
The first base function well define is index().
addDir(translation(30002),
This is called when the user starts the plug-in.
urlMain+"/"+subreddit+"/hot/.
json?limit=100", listVideos, "")
def index():
if cat_new:
defaultEntries = ["videos",
addDir(translation(30003),
"trailers", "documentaries",
urlMain+"/"+subreddit+"/new/.
"music"]
json?limit=100", listVideos, "")
entries = defaultEntries[:]
if cat_top_d:
if os.path.
exists(subredditsFile):
addDir(translation(30004)+":
fh = open(subredditsFile,
"+translation(30007),
r)
urlMain+"/"+subreddit+"/
content = fh.read()
top/.json?limit=100&t=day",
fh.close()
listVideos, "")
spl = content.split(\n)
xbmcplugin.
for i in range(0, len(spl),
endOfDirectory(pluginhandle)
1):

60 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Make extensions for XBMC with Python
Use Python to create a new plug-in for XBMC
TUTORIal

In the code listed to the left here, we are

def listVideos(url): opening the URL, then based on regular
currentUrl = url expression matches we are discovering
xbmcplugin.setContent(pluginhandle, "episodes") the location title, description, date, ups,
content = opener.open(url).read() downs and rating. We are also locating
spl = content.split("content") video thumbnails and then passing them on
for i in range(1, len(spl), 1): to XBMC.
entry = spl[i] Later in the code, we also try to match the
try: URL to a video provider. With our plug-in we are
match = re.compile("title": "(.+?)", re.DOTALL).findall(entry) supporting YouTube, Vimeo and Dailymotion.
title = match[0].replace("&amp;", "&") If this is detected successfully, we call the
match = re.compile("description": "(.+?)", re.DOTALL). helper functions to locate the XBMC plug-
findall(entry) in based playback URL. During this whole
description = match[0] parsing process, if any exception is raised, the
match = re.compile("created_utc": (.+?),, re.DOTALL).findall(entry) whole loop is ignored and the next JSON item
downs = int(match[0].replace("}", "")) is parsed.
rating = int(ups*100/(ups+downs))

filterRating:
if filter and (ups+downs) > filterVoteThreshold and rating <
15 Installing&runningtheadd-on
You can install the add-on using one of
the following two methods:
continue
title = title+" ("+str(rating)+"%)" You can copy the plug-in directory to
match = re.compile("num_comments": (.+?),, re.DOTALL). .xbmc/addons.
findall(entry) You can install the plug-in from the zip file. To
comments = match[0] do so, compress the add-on folder into a zip file
description = dateTime+" | "+str(ups+downs)+" votes: using the command:
"+str(rating)+"% Up | "+comments+" comments\n"+description $ zip -r plugin.video.ludent.zip
match = re.compile("thumbnail_url": "(.+?)", re.DOTALL). plugin.video.ludent
findall(entry) To install the plug-in from the zip file, open
thumb = match[0] XBMC, go to System then Add-ons, then click
matchYoutube = re.compile("url": "http://www.youtube.com/ Install from zip file. The benefit of installing
watch\\?v=(.+?)", re.DOTALL).findall(entry) from a zip file is that XBMC will automatically
matchVimeo = re.compile("url": "http://vimeo.com/(.+?)", try to install all the dependent plug-ins as well.
re.DOTALL).findall(entry)
url = "" Once you have the plug-in installed, you can
if matchYoutube: run it by going to the Videos Add-ons section of
url = getYoutubeUrl(matchYoutube[0]) XBMC, selecting Get More and then clicking
elif matchVimeo: on LUD Reddit Viewer.
url = getVimeoUrl(matchVimeo[0].replace("#", "")) You can access the settings dialog of the
if url: plug-in by right-clicking the LUD Reddit Viewer,
addLink(title, url, playVideo, thumb, description, date) then selecting Add-on settings.
except:
pass So, you have seen how robust and powerful
match = re.compile("after": "(.+?)", re.DOTALL).findall(entry) XBMCs extension system is. In this example,
xbmcplugin.endOfDirectory(pluginhandle) we were able to leverage the full power of
if forceViewMode: Python (including those magical regular
xbmc.executebuiltin(Container.SetViewMode(+viewMode+)) expression matches) from within XBMC.
XBMC itself also offers a robust UI framework,
which provides a very professional look for

14 Populatingtheepisodeview(listingvideos)
At this point we have the URL in hand, which returns JSON data; now we need to extract the
data out of it which will make sense to us.
our add-on.
As powerful as it may seem, we have only
built a video plug-in. XBMCs extension system
By looking at the JSON data, you can see theres a lot of interesting information present here. For also provides a framework for building fully
example, url is set to youtube.com/watch?v=n4rTztvVx8E; title is set to The Counselor Official fledged programs (called Programs). We will
Trailer. There also many other bits of data that we will use, such as ups, downs, num_comments, cover this in a later issue.
thumbnail_url and so on. In order to filter out the data that we need, we will use regular expressions.
There is one more thing to note: since we are not presenting directories any more but are ready to
place content, we have to set the xbmcplugin.setContent to episodes mode.

61 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Master Vim in easy steps

All the examples

presented in this
article are tested for
Vim version 7.3.547
on Ubuntu 13.04

Just type :help and

Vim displays some Type :help iccf
valuable info for and Vim displays
newbies, such as information
navigation keys and (including weblinks)
keyboard shortcuts related to donations
to enable the for the needy in
mouse in xterm or Uganda as well as for
GUI etc the development of
the Vim editor

Master Vim in easy steps

Take a step ahead, learn some advanced features
and get more productive with the Vim editor

Advisor Thanks to a steep learning curve, many people

Himanshu Arora is a
software programmer, open
source enthusiast and Linux
researcher. His articles have been
featured on IBM developerWorks,
Computerworld and in Linux
Journal. He (along with some
other Linux freaks) blogs at
mylinuxbook.com
either avoid using Vim or use it on a very basic
level. If youre guilty of either of these then youre
really missing out.
Vim, first released in November 1991, is
a command-line-based text editor that was
developed by Bram Moolenaar as an improved
Vi clone for Amiga platform. Besides including
all the features of the popular Vi editor, it also
on the whole some of the prominent pros include
fast text editing (because of little to almost no use
of the mouse) and easy execution from anywhere
on the command line. There are also many GUI
front-ends (like gVim) available for Vim.
Although it is command-line based, Vim has a
loyal following and is extensively used by system
administrators and software programmers.
Though it is hard to learn and understand all the

Resources
contains a lot of new features and so derives
its name from Vi improved. As well as being
Vim: www.vim.org/download.php a text editor, Vim can be used as an integrated
development environment by software
programmers. Vim provides a wide range of
features, but as it is a command-line utility it has
a steep learning curve. Please note that Vim is not
a word processor, which means that you cannot
do layout-related changes with it.
While you will get to know about the real
strengths of the Vim editor once you master it,
features that Vim provides, in order to reap its real
benefits it is essential to master Vim for your day-
to-day work.
Through this article you will learn how to work
with multiple files, how to indent and fold code,
how to search and replace keywords, how to split
the Vim window horizontally/vertically, and many
other related features provided by Vim.
Note: This article assumes that you have some
basic knowledge (opening, editing, saving and
closing a file) of the Vim editor.

62 www.linuxuser.co.uk

01 Work with multiple files
While most regular users use Vim to
edit one file at a time, it can also be used to edit
multiple files in parallel. To open multiple files
with the Vim editor, just provide names of all
these files as arguments to the vim command.
The first file is displayed by default. Type :n to
switch to the next file, :prev (or :N) to switch
to previous file, :bf to switch to first file, :bl to
switch to last file and :bw to close the file.
02 Work with multiple files
Sometimes it is required to open a
new or an existing file while editing an already
opened set of files. Well, this can be done by
typing :e followed by the filename (along with a
complete path if its not located in the current
working directory).
Master Vim in easy steps
Learn some advanced features of Vim
03 Get list of currently opened files
in Vim
To get the list of files currently opened in the
Vim editor, just type :ls. This will display list of
opened files along with other information like
the current line number of the cursor in a file,
file in current active window (represented by
%a), file in previous active window (represented
by #) etc. Switch between current and previous
active windows by typing :b#.
04
Use wildcard characters
Vim also supports wildcard characters
(like *, ? etc) while opening multiple files at a
time. This is especially useful in cases where
multiple log files begin with a common set of
characters like the current date (2013-08-05--
--.log), or where multiple programming source
files have same language extension such as
.c or .cpp.
TUTORIal
05 Copy-paste across the files
Another frequent requirement is to
copy from one file and paste into another. For
this, you need to split the Vim window to open
both files. This can be done either by using
the -o option with the vim command (vim -o
<file1-name> <file2-name>); or by opening
a file with vim <file1-name>, then opening
the second file in split window mode from
within the active Vim window with :split <file2-
name>. To switch cursor control between the
two windows, press Ctrl+w (a couple of times).
Copy-paste operation across the files can
be done as follows: open files in split mode (as
explained above); copy the required text from
one file; press Ctrl+w to switch the control to
the other file; then paste the copied text.
You can also split a Vim window vertically.
All you need to type is :vsp <file-name> from
within an active window.
63 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Master Vim in easy steps

06 Close all files

To close all the opened files in one go, braces of the function definition. For example,

While most
add a to regular close options like :q, :wq or bring the cursor to the first line of the function
:q!. So, to close all the files in a single shot, do body. Once there, just type va}zf. As you type

regular users
something like :qa or :wqa or :qa!. this, you will observe that va is used to activate
visual mode in Vim, while } selects the complete

07 Close files without closing Vim

Normally, when the last open file is
closed, the Vim application also exits. But, if it
use Vim to edit
block including curly braces and zf enables
the fold.

one file at a time,

To open the fold, press zo; to close it, press
is required to close the last open file without zc. Make sure that the cursor is within the block
closing the application, then just type :bd.
it can also be
while performing fold open and close. Typing
This closes the current file and opens an va}zf creates a fold (that is invisible). zo and zc
empty buffer.
used to edit
work only when a fold is created. An existing
fold can be deleted by typing zd.

multiple files 09 Manual indenting

Another important feature that

in parallel Vim provides is code indentation. Software

programmers are required to indent their
code and Vim provides easy steps for code

08 Fold blocks of code

Another frequent requirement which
software programmers usually have is to fold
indentation. To indent a single line of code,
you can use >> or << to indent the line to the
right or left respectively. Multiple lines can
some blocks of code in order to save window
also be indented using [number-of-lines]>> or
space. This helps them to focus on the required
code blocks. Vim does support block folds. For
this, the first step is to bring cursor inside the

64 www.linuxuser.co.uk

For those programmers who want
everything automated, Vim also
provides an auto-indenting feature
[number-of-lines]<<; for example, 10>> or 10<<.
This is a better technique than indenting each
line, but you still need to count the number of
lines to indent. This could prove frustrating,
especially if the number of lines is very large.
Fortunately, there is another trick: to select
the lines by working with Vim in visual mode. In
order to do this, you first need to bring Vim into
visual mode. This (as mentioned previously) can
be done using va. Once in visual mode, use the
arrow keys to select all the lines that you want
to indent in one go. After this, all you need to do
is press > or < and the whole selected area will
be indented accordingly.
Master Vim in easy steps
Learn some advanced features of Vim
10 automatic indentation
For those programmers who want
everything automated, Vim also provides an
auto-indenting feature. For example, to enable
auto-indenting for C code, use :set autoindent
and :set cindent. Now, try writing some C
code and you will see that Vim automatically
produces indentation as you write it.
Sometimes, depending upon the existing
settings of your Vim editor, lines might get
indented to a number of spaces other than
four spaces or any other default value that
you desire. As a solution to this, you can
set the number of spaces to indent using
TUTORIal
:set shiftwidth=<number-of-spaces>. For
example, use :set shiftwidth=4 to indent lines
by four spaces.
11 Search words
To search for a word in the active
window, simply type /[search keyword]. This
will enable Vims search mode and find the
first occurrence of the searched keyword.
Use n (just press n) in order to search more
occurrences of the keyword. Note that you
cannot do a backward search here.
If you need to do a backward search then
just type :?[search keyword]. This will enable
Vims backward search mode. Again, use n to
continue the search, but backwards this time.
Sometimes the keyword is present in the
text/source file and it is desired to find other
occurrences of that word in the current text/
source file. In this case, just put the cursor
below that word and press * (ie Shift+8). This
way, you can search for a word without even
typing it.
12 Replace words
Vim also supports search and
replace operations. To execute a basic
replace operation, just type :%s/[keyword-
to-search]/[keyword-to-replace-with] to
replace keyword-to-search with keyword-to-
replace-with.
This trick is good if you want to replace all
the occurrences of a searched keyword, but
what if it is desired to replace only selected
occurrences? Well, there is a way through
which you can run a search and replace
operation in interactive mode. This means
that Vim will confirm before replacing the
keyword each time. This can be done through
:%s/[keyword-to-search]/[keyword-to-
replace-with]/c.
The first occurrence is always highlighted
and Vim displays a prompt (in green, at the
bottom) where you can input your choice of
whether you want to replace this occurrence
or not. Here, y = Yes, replace this occurrence;
n = No, skip this occurrence; a = Replace
this and all other occurrences; q = Quit the
command; l = Replace this match and then quit
the command.
Use Ctrl+e (^E) and Ctrl+y (^Y) to scroll the
window up and down in this mode. Also, use i
and I (along with /c, for example /ci or /cI) for
case-insensitive and case-sensitive search.
65 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Make a Python Twitter client

Create your own app details by using Access the entire dataset of Twitter via
the Twitter Developer account tools, the Python wrapper, allowing you to grab
either for personal use or for an app timelines, lists and user profiles among others
you intend to release

Create your authentication keys Write your own tweets in Python

for your user and OAuth, letting using the Twython module to access
you tap into the Twitter API components from the Twitter API

Make a Python
Twitter client
Learn the basics of the Twitter API using Python libraries and
create a simple Twitter client to make and monitor tweets
Advisor
Rob Zwetsloot models Python has many strengths, and one of them with Tkinter (from previous issues of LUD). You
complex systems and is a web is the way you can use it to create lightweight can also specify the login details youd normally
developer proficient in Python, desktop software and packages for the ask for from a client and then use it to check for
Django and PHP. He loves to
experiment with computing Internet of Things. One of the services used for specific words on Twitter, retweets, messages
this is Twitter, which has a few Python APIs you received, or if a specific person is sending tweets.
Resources can make use of in a Python script to check and
post the tweets from a specified user.
For this tutorial well be using Twython, which
provides a pure Twitter interface for Python, and
A Twitter account With this you can create a standard Twitter show you how to get your own unique API key to
Python 2: www.python.org/ client in the command line, or make a UI for it use it with Twitter itself.

66 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Make a Python Twitter client
Create a simple Twitter client to make and monitor tweets
TUTORIal

We need to
create a Python
file to hold all our
authentication
details. Start
01 accountability
To create a Twitter app, you need a
by importing
Twitter account. Sign into your account, or
create a separate one if you want to split up
Twython
personal and development accounts on the
service. Once thats done, go to dev.twitter.com
and log in using your desired account.

04 access token

We can now create an access token
for the application to work with your Twitter
account. Go back to the details once the read
and write permissions have been changed,
and scroll down to the bottom. Click Create my
07
authentication file
We need to create a Python file to hold
all our authentication details. Start up IDLE, or a
text editor of your choice, and start by importing
Twython with:

02 New beginnings
Go to My applications and click Create
a new application. Here youll need to enter the
apps name, a short description and a website
where more details about yourself and/or
the app can be found. Names of apps are not
allowed to use the word Twitter in them.
access token to retrieve it. from twython import Twython
05 Install Pip
Well install the latest version of python-
twitter from its website. To do this, first install pip
Make sure you have the keys we created earlier
handy to add in the next parts.
If the output is long, type it to go to the next screen.
on your system, available in repos as python-pip.
As were using Debian, this looks like:
$ sudo apt-get install python-pip
which allows us to set up Python modules.

08 app keys
Add the following to your code:
APP_KEY = 'YOUR_CONSUMER_KEY'

03 Privileges
After this has been created, youll be
brought to the details page of the app. Before
we go any further, click on Settings and select
Read, Write and Access Direct Messages under
Application Type so that we can use it properly
as a Twitter client.
06 Install Twython
Now that we have Pip installed, we
can go ahead and install Twython. To do this,
APP_SECET = 'YOUR_CONSUMER_SECRET'
replacing YOUR_APP_KEY and YOUR_APP_
SECRET with your own consumer key and
continue in your terminal and put: consumer secret respectively.
$ sudo pip install twython
This will get the Twython module, and all the
OAuth packages you need to log into your
account with tokens we created.

67 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Tutorial Make a Python Twitter client

09 Access keys
Now we add the access tokens that we
created to the script with:
OAUTH_TOKEN = 'YOUR_ACCESS_TOKEN'
OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET = 'YOUR_ACCESS_
SECRET'
where again youll need to replace YOUR_
ACCESS_TOKEN and YOUR_ACCESS_SECRET
with the relevant numbers.

10 Verification
Nows a good time to verify if what
youve done so far actually works. Enter the
following at the bottom of the script:
twitter = Twython(APP_KEY, APP_SECRET,
OAUTH_TOKEN, OAUTH_TOKEN_SECRET)

twitter.verify_credentials() twitter.get_user_timeline(screen_name
And run. If it doesnt come up with any errors, its
= 'username')
all working fine.

15 Full timeline
We can access the accounts full timeline
by using the get_home_timeline variable like so:
twitter.get_home_timeline()
If you printed this out, it would display all the

11 Test post unfiltered data from the last 20 tweets on

As it all seems to be working, you could your timeline. You can modify the amount of
try making a test post straight to Twitter. At the tweets by adding the count parameter to the
bottom of our code, enter: get_home_timeline. Well set it to five for now:

twitter.update_status(status='Test')
And then run it again. If its successful, there will
be no errors and it will show up on your timeline.
13
Update twitter.get_home_timeline(count = 5)
To post this, we use the update_status Well need to parse the data to make sure we
bit from before, only it now uses the string from get something coherent and recognisable as
post to update our timeline. Add: a timeline.
twitter.update_status(status=post)
And then save the file. Run it, and test the
code again.

14 Timeline Create a simple

12 Write a post
Lets create a simple way to post tweets
To access the timeline of our account
tweets, we use the following: way to post
tweets to your
to your timeline via our script. Well use human twitter.get_user_timeline()
input like so: This accesses the past 20 posts our account has

timeline
post = raw_input("Write your tweet: ") made. You can specify which timeline to check as
which will store our tweet as a string in post. well by adding the screen_name option:

68 www.linuxuser.co.uk

16 Search tweets
We can search Twitter for specific
keywords using the following:
twitter.search(q='linux')
This will return a mixed result of tweets relating
to the word Linux. You can filter them with the
result_type parameter, by setting it as mixed,
recent or popular.
17 Follow
To follow someone on Twitter, we use the
create_friendships function. We need either the
screen name or numerical ID of the Twitter user
you want to follow youll most likely be using the
screen name, so well write it like so:
twitter.create_friendship(screen_name
= 'LinuxUserMag')
18 Retweeting
As retweets are an integral part of Twitter,
the function for this is simply retweet. We require
the tweet ID for this, the numerical string used for
each tweet and displayed in the URL for a tweet.
We use it with:
twitter.retweet(id = '12345')
Make a Python Twitter client
Create a simple Twitter client to make and monitor tweets
TUTORIal
19 Favouriting
This works very similar to retweets, using
the unique ID for the tweet used in the URL to
determine which tweet to favourite. The function
for this is create_favorite, and is written as:
twitter.create_favorite(id = '12345')
Make sure to use the American spelling (favorite) 22 Trending topics
Everyone knows what everyone else
is talking about thanks to Twitters trending
when doing this.
topics, whether its a young Canadian musician
or important world events. You access the
trends with:
twitter.get_place_trends(id = '1')
An ID of 1 returns global trends. You can specify
different IDs for different locales.
20 Retrieve favourites
All of a users favourites are stored by
Twitter so that you can recover them at any time.
You can either get your own, or specify a user to
get the favourites from. The basic code is:
twitter.get_favorites()
23
which will get your own favourites. As
Retrieve list
before, you can specify the user ID number or
If you prefer to use Twitter by curating
screen name with user_id and screen_name
lists of people, you can get the contents of any
respectively to get a specific list.
list using the get_list_statuses function:
twitter.get_list_statuses(id =
'12345')
Each list has a unique ID, or a slug, that you can
use. You can also call members of any list, or
anyone that subscribes to it.
24 The end
With all these functions, you can start
21 Mentions
You can also access the list of mentions
picking and choosing data and making our code
do a lot more than just post tweets. Getting
for your authenticated account. To do this,
use the get_mentions_timeline function. This
works like the other timelines, allowing you limit
specific attributes from the timeline functions
will allow you to display a coherent timeline, and
it also includes the details needed to follow the
the amount of posts you get from the selection. links to the users and their links.
Limit it to five like before with:
twitter.get_mentions_
timeline(count='5')
69 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review index
Essential kit, software and resources for the open source scene
REVIEWS

An easy way to get

started with wireless
microcontroller
development
Wireless Inventors Kit

Group Test Hardware How we review

Our experts thoroughly test
12 MinnowBoard the kit and grade it using the
72 IDE Has the Raspberry Pi following criteria
super-test really met its match?
Enhance your workflow
with the best dev 79 Nook HD+ Avoid at all costs
environments The perfect mix of low
cost and high performance?

Software A designer/developers bad day

82 Sparky Linux 3.0

Code::Blocks Geany One of the first distros to use Good but could do better
Debian 7.0 Jessie
Books Get this. It wont disappoint
85 The latest Linux
Eclipse Netbeans
reads dissected
Software or hardware nirvana

71 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review Integrated development environment group test

GROUP TEST

Integrated development
environments
We pit four of the best IDEs against each other to find out which is the best
way to streamline and enhance your workflow
The humble IDE can be a very powerful tool for
any coder whether its for hobby programming
or used professionally. With all the various
programming languages one can use, theres
an even greater number of IDEs that can help
you write code in them each with their own
advantages and disadvantages.
In this test, well be looking at the more fully
featured, multi-language IDEs, rather than
specialised single-language environments
or lightweight equivalents. Were also testing
these IDEs for their abilities to be expanded
through plug-ins and add-ons either for other
languages, or different interface effects.
Weve chosen Eclipse, Code::Blocks, Geany
and Netbeans for this review. While theyre
not included, KDevelop and Anjuta are other,
desktop-environment-specific IDEs that are
also great. Weve chosen platform-independent
IDEs for this test, although those two will
generally work fine on other desktops.

72 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Integrated development environment group test
Four of the best IDEs go head to head
REVIEW

Code::Blocks
A relatively new IDE, Code::Blocks was first
A more open IDE originally for C++, but
now able to do a bit more
released in early 2008 after three years
of release candidates. Although a C++ IDE
by default, it has plug-in support to extend its
functionality to allow for building and testing
of other languages. However, for pure coding,
Code::Blocks can be used to write scripts in
various languages thanks to support for syntax
of a variety of different languages. However, you
cannot test these without add-ons.
Unfortunately, the plug-in scene for
Code::Blocks is fairly immature and there isnt
even proper support for Python and other
interpreted programming languages. Plug-ins
are found via the Code::Blocks wiki and are not
particularly well laid out at the moment. Plug-ins
are installed manually, which would be fine
normally, but the other IDEs in the test have some
interesting ways of managing plug-ins that make
this method seem somewhat archaic. There are a few first-party plug-ins available, but not many third-party
While you wont be able to properly debug doesnt always work for all functions and classes; Code::Blocks is a nice piece of software,
test code, the interface for Code::Blocks is still however, it will allow you to perform simple code although due its immaturity it doesnt quite have
very nice for actually writing your code. Projects editing to test elsewhere if you specifically like the best plug-in support of the other IDEs in this
are handled via proprietary projects files which the interface. test especially if you want to use it for multi-
link to specific folders. Projects dont need to be Code::Blocks is also quite customisable, language programming. Its a bit lighter than
created with a specific language in mind and, like allowing you to change the look and behaviour of Eclipse at least, and the interface is well laid out,
some text editors, it will smartly know to highlight the editor, the way the compiler works and even but it may still be a few years before it becomes
the syntax for different languages. Browsing editing the startup script for the application itself. preferable to the others.

Unfortunately, the plug-in scene for SCORES

Code::Blocks is fairly immature Available in repos, but

Installation
binaries and source
code is easily accessible
elsewhere
8
Code::Blocks interface

7
is generally good for
workflow, although
it doesnt support all
Workflow languages properly

7
A great selection of
features that can all be
Features heavily customised

Very limited right now,

Plug-in
support
meaning that not all
languages are
properly supported
4
Code::Blocks has a great

6
interface, and some great
ideas on how to code and
manage projects, but the
plug-in selection needs to
The interface is nice and aids workflow
Overall be improved

73 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review Integrated development environment group test

Geany
A fully featured IDE
thats a little more
lightweight than most
Geany is sometimes mistaken for a glorified
text editor. In reality, its a full IDE, albeit slightly
more lightweight than most.
Geany has multi-language support out of
the box, with easy options to create files that
use different languages as part of the main
interface. Projects are kept in specific folders,
like Eclipse, although there is a file to go with
them that Geany can read to manage the
projects. Multiple projects can be viewed and n Geanys interface is smart and easily breaks down code for workflow purposes

Code is automatically highlighted with

edited at a time, all in different languages. There
are also debuggers and builders for the various

the correct syntax

languages that support them, and you can run
and test stuff like Python that doesnt need
compiling as such.
The rest of the interface for Geany is clean and
well labelled. Code is automatically highlighted
with the correct syntax and theres a smart
tab in the left column that allows you to track
and view the different variables, functions and
classes in the projects and code. Navigation
through the code is fairly simple via context-
sensitive menus and nice options within the
rest of the interface, and the usual code-editing
tools such as commenting out a selection or
indenting are all present.
Sadly, Geanys plug-in support is pretty dire.
Some plug-ins extend the basic functionality for
a few of the languages, but theres not the kind
of depth as Netbeans or Eclipse in the sheer
number of available plug-ins.
There are a lot of ways to customise
Geany with the standard tools and menus,
though. Almost every part of the interface
and workflow is editable, with ways to
even change the characters required for
autocomplete suggestions.
Geany is a very smart IDE, with a low barrier
to getting your project started straight away. It
does lack in some of the features of some of
the bigger IDEs, such as more advanced unit
testing and debugging, although it will let you
browse compile errors. The plug-in selection is
also pretty poor, so it may not be extensible for
specific functions.
SCORES

9
Readily available in
most repos and requires
Installation minimal dependencies

9
Workflow is superb for
the variety of different
Workflow languages included

No proper debugger,

Features
but a great selection
of build and project
management functions
7
Although it doesnt quite

Plug-in
support
need it like the others,
there are very few
plug-ins available
4
Geany is a great,

8
lightweight IDE with
good native support for a
variety of languages, but
theres not much room
Overall for expansion
n The native languages are supported quite well with compilers and such

74 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Integrated development environment group test
Four of the best IDEs go head to head
REvIEW

Eclipse
The ubiquitous
Eclipse is an industry
standard how does
it fare against more
community-run efforts?
Eclipse is one of the most popular development
suites around, and at first glance its easy to see
why. While created mainly for Java development,
Eclipse is highly customisable through plugins.
Thanks to its popularity and community, this
has resulted in a great selection of addons
n Plug-in support for Eclipse is top-notch
that enables Eclipse to work with just about
any language. These plugins allow for more anything that might be inefficient in terms of the select which extensions to install from each of
than that, with a marketplace full of interface code. There are plenty of editing tools too, such the repositories.
and behavioural modifications alongside the as simple indent or dedent options. Eclipse is customisable in other regards, with
language elements. The debug suite in Eclipse is fully featured, an expansive properties and settings menu
Eclipse has great project management with various ways to run, check and unittest that lets you edit a huge amount of the native
tools as well, with a smart tabbed interface, code, although this depends on the plugins to behaviour of the IDE, from the way patches
and pluginspecific menu entries for starting some degree. The tools are there, though, and are viewed to little things like key bindings and
projects in different IDEs if needed. Projects are most of the major plugins seem to use them. other shortcuts. Eclipse is a fairly big suite
located in plain folders in the location of your The plugins are handled by a repository of packages, though, and easily the biggest
choice, allowing for easy access of source code if system, which lets you keep any addons resource hog out of all of the IDEs were testing.
you need it, instead of being inside a proprietary up to date. While there arent a huge amount It does have probably the best extensibility of all
file. The function search ability works well and available by default, its easy enough to add these IDEs, however, meaning it also probably
the interface has plenty of tips and warnings for more to the plugin manager and you can even has the most to offer those who work on a lot of
differing projects.
A great selection of add-ons enables it to SCORES
work with just about any language Eclipse requires a lot of

Installation
dependencies; however,
its available in most
major repos
7
Smart interface design

Workflow
that lets you easily
navigate projects
and code
9
8
A great set of features by
default, although mainly
Features for handling Java

The best support around,

Plug-in
support
with a great repo system
offering a wealth of
add-ons
10
Eclipse is popular for a

9
reason its got a great
selection of features that
are easily extensible to
Overall suit almost any need
n Code navigation and highlighting aids your workflow

75 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review Integrated development environment group test

Netbeans
The Oracle-developed
Java development
platform that multitasks
Netbeans started life as a humble student
project to make a Java IDE in Prague. Within a
few years, a company had been set up around
the IDE, and then had been bought by Sun
Microsystems. The rest is history and after
over 15 years of development, Netbeans is on
version 7.3.
Netbeans has a very similar feature-set to
Eclipse, with debuggers, compilers, unit testers
and the like, although by default Netbeans n Netbeans has a nice welcome screen to start new projects

There just isnt quite the same level of

has support for PHP and HTML as well as its
Java-specific features. Netbeans also has a

customisation as Eclipse or the others

huge database of plug-ins to call from, allowing
you to extend its features to just about any
programming language. These plug-ins are
nicely arranged in a database format on the
Netbeans website, with simple search functions
and a fairly easy way to install the plug-ins to the
system. Theres no repository function for the
plug-ins like Eclipse, but the database displays
enough information to know if youre getting the
latest version of the plug-in.
The interface is a little confusing not very
well streamlined and aesthetically a little dated.
While the splash screen is nice for starting new
projects, the rest of the interface is cluttered
and some functions are hidden away in weird
menu options. The code view is not particularly
well handled, with syntax highlighting a little
sparse. The function navigator is fairly nice,
though, with the sidebar allowing you to track
the hierarchy a little better than some.
Customisation in Netbeans is handled with a
nice-looking options menu, but there just isnt
quite the same level of customisation as Eclipse
or the others. However, for similar customisation
tasks, its a little better laid out than Eclipse.
Overall, Netbeans seems like its a little
behind the times, with an interface that needs
a small overhaul and a better selection of
customisation options. Its by no means a
bad IDE, with a great suite of debugging and
testing options to use on code. On the other
hand, Eclipse is equal or better in almost
every regard.
SCORES
Packages are readily

Installation
available for Netbeans
and it requires a
Java install
8
The interface is a little

Workflow
cluttered and convoluted,
but there are some decent
options to be found
7
7
A similar feature-set to
Eclipse, but not as much
Features customisation

A fairly large selection

Plug-in
support
of plug-ins are available
for it within an easy-to-
search database
8
Netbeans just misses the

7
mark with a slightly dated
interface, but its made up
for somewhat with a good
n The interface is not particularly well laid out
Overall selection of plug-ins

76 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Integrated development environment group test
Four of the best IDEs go head to head
rEvIEW

In brief: Compare and contrast our verdicts

Code::Blocks Geany Eclipse Netbeans
Available in repos and Requires few A big suite of In most major repos

Installation
via binaries on the
website 8 dependencies and
easy to come by 9 packages, but readily
available 7 and doesnt have
many dependencies 8
Good for the Great workflow Project management A nice workflow

Workflow
languages that are
supported 7 ideas, with easy code
navigation 9 is excellent and code
navigation is good 9 view, but the
interface is a
little dated
7
A decent selection of Theres not a proper Eclipse is a feature- A decent debugger

Features
features for C++
7 debugger for Geany
7 full IDE and is highly
customisable 8 and reasonable
customisation 7
Code::Blocks plug-in Geany does not Eclipse has the best A huge database of

Plug-in
support
support is immature
and badly distributed 4 have many available
plug-ins 4 selection of plug-ins in
this test by a long way 10 plug-ins, although
some are a bit old 8
A bit disappointing A great lightweight Ubiquitous for a Netbeans just falls

Overall
as of yet, but
Code::Blocks shows
some potential
6 IDE that may not be
the best, but its still
recommended
8 reason, Eclipse has
a lot of things going
for it
9 short of the other
IDEs with some
missing features
7
AND thE Offers excellent project
WINNEr Is
www.linuxuser.co.uk

management features and a GROUP TEST

Eclipse hugely expansive plug-in list WINNER
We were actually a little surprised that Eclipse
was this good compared to the other IDEs to work any way you want
in this months group test. It offers excellent
project management features, while its hugely
expansive plug-in list means that you can make
it work just about any way you want it to much
more so than Geany or Code::Blocks.
Geany is definitely a close runner-up,
though, and while were not specifically looking
at lightweight IDEs this time, it does have a
great selection of features while being light on
system resources. The only thing that really
let it, and Code:Blocks, down was its lack of
plug-in support.
Code::Blocks still needs some development
time, and more community involvement, to
make it a truly great IDE. Its good to work
with for C++ for now, and wed recommend
it for that, but it just doesnt have enough to
recommend it for multi-language work.
Eclipse, on the other hand, has a great
balance of all the aspects were looking for in a
multi-language IDE and thats why it takes the
editors choice award.
Rob Zwetsloot n Eclipse can be anything you want it to be

77 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Nook HD+
Low-cost Android tablet
REVIEW

The display has a The hole in the

high pixel density corner is a Nook
and is great for trademark. We
reading eBooks and cant say whether
watching videos. it is supposed to be
We would have functional or not
preferred a bit more
brightness to it

The Nook has a fully customised skin, but does have

access to the full range of Google apps, plus the Play Store,
Technical specs
TABLET
Operating system Android 4.0
so you can Android-it-up a bit more Processor 1.5GHz dual-core

Nook HD+ 179

Memory 1GB RAM, 16-32GB storage
Dimensions 240.3 x 162.8 x 11.4mm
Weight 515g
Display size 9-inch
Display resolution 1920 x 1280 pixels
Expansion slot microSD

Is this low-cost, hi-res tablet alternative to the Kindle Fire an

Android hackers dream device?
With the future of the Nook brand looking decidedly murky,
it may not seem like the best time to be investing in one of
its tablets. Or maybe it is. With price drops aplenty, Barnes
and Nobles answer to the Kindle Fire represents perhaps
the cheapest way to get a high-quality tablet hi-res display,
fast performance and full Play Store access. Its also fully
hackable, so even if you dont like the Nooks UI you can
switch it to proper Android.
The Nook HD+, with its 9-inch display, feels pretty good in
the hand with solid construction and weighty feel. The design
is distinctive in good and bad ways. A large bezel around the
screen is not as offensive as it might have been, while the n-
shaped Home button gives the tablet subtle branding. On the
downside is the weird hole in the bottom corner that serves
no apparent purpose. It looks as though youre supposed to
attach a lanyard, but the tablet is far too big and heavy for
that to be practical.
The screen is the Nooks standout feature. With a
resolution of 1920x1280, a pixel density of 257ppi, it is close
to the level of the Retina display on the iPad and is wonderful.
Text is sharp and crisp and it is very easy on the eyes. We did
find the screen to be lacking in brightness, however. Perhaps
this is because the tablet is intended primarily as an eReader
and so needs to have less glare, but for general use we
had the brightness cranked up to the max, and would have
preferred even more.
The software is also built for eBooks. Like Amazons Kindle
Fire series the bulk of the UI is built around encouraging you
Pros
Great screen and
to buy content, but unlike with the Kindle you do get the full exemplary battery life;
quite hackable too
set of Google apps, and Play Store access as well. There
are a number of apps pre-installed, ranging from Spotify
to Pinterest to a crosswords app, and none of these can be Cons
removed. You will need a Nook account before you can start Pre-installed apps cant
be removed; some strange
using the tablet, and will also need your Google account design decisions
details to access the Play Store.
With a bit of work you can get the Nook looking pretty much
like a normal skinned Android 4.0 tablet. We wouldnt count
on getting OS updates, but it is rootable and there are Jelly
Bean ROMs available. Theres a good chance there will be
KitKat (Android 4.4) ROMs in future too.
Sandra Vogel
Summary
The Nook HD+ is a pretty good device. With nice hardware
and a good display, its surprisingly flexible: you can use it as a
casual eBook optimised tablet, for the full set of Android apps,
or open it up to hacks and tweaks.
More
information
www.nook.co.uk

79 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review RasWIK

n There is no pass- n A small chip

through for the Pis spare provides the Pi with
GPIO pins, sadly a radio for wireless
communications

n The small ceramic n While small, the Slice

antenna can be replaced of Radio does block the
with a wire whip to little-used Display Serial
boost range Interface (DSI) connector

PeRIPheRAl

Raspberry Pi
www.linuxuser.co.uk

EDITORS
CHOICE

Wireless Inventors
Kit 49.99 Designed to mate a wireless Arduino microcontroller with
the Raspberry Pi, is the RasWIK what budding developers
have been waiting for all this time?
Pros While its easy to see the Arduino and the Raspberry Pi Getting started couldnt be easier: the kit includes a 4GB
The easiest way
to get started
as competitors theyre both low-cost electronic devices SD card with a customised version of the Raspbian operating
with wireless aimed at the hobbyist market, after all in truth theyre system. Simply slide this into the Pi, pop the bundled Slice of
microcontroller
development using
extremely complementary: the Arduino excels at real-time Radio board onto the GPIO header and apply power.
the Raspberry Pi control and sensing, while the Pi provides cheap network The SD card includes an open source example utility for
connectivity and powerful data processing capabilities. controlling the included Arduino clone, a radio-equipped
Cons Thats clearly been the thinking of Ciseco in designing the microcontroller dubbed the XinoRF. Using this tool, a visual
The LLAP wireless Raspberry Pi Wireless Inventors Kit, or RasWIK: a bundle of representation of the board appears on screen and allows
protocol offers no
encryption; Slice components and accessories, its designed to make working the user to turn outputs on and off, or read values from digital
of Radio blocks with the Arduino on the Raspberry Pi as simple as possible or analogue input pins.
unused pins on the
Pis GPIO header and showing users just what potential is opened up when the With nothing connected to the Arduino, that would
two are connected over a radio link. soon get pretty boring, but the kit also includes numerous

80 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 RasWIK
Wireless microcontroller connection kit for Pi
Review

nMost Technical specs

Operating system RaspianLinux
existing
Dimensions (XinoRF) 70.9x53.3mm
Arduino
weight (XinoRF) 25g
shieldswork  Dimensions
finewiththe (Slice of Radio) 30.3x34.3mm
XinoRF  weight
(Slice of Radio) 7g
 extras 4GBSDcard,USBcable,
  smallbreadboard,5xred,
  yellowandgreenLEDs,
  30xresistors,lightsensor,
  thermistor,piezoelectric
  buzzer,3xpush-button
  switches,25xjumperwires
nTheAtmel
Atmega-328
provides
Also
fullArduino
compatibility consider

nTheXinoRFcanbe nThesamecompact
radioboardisfoundon ARDX experimenters
poweredbyamains Kit 62
adaptororthrough theXinoRFasonthe Anopensourcekit,
SliceofRadio OomloutsARDXisthe
mini-USB bestwaytogetstarted
withArduinodevelopment.
Whileitincludesmore
components and instructions for various experiments and of Radio in particular is a very clever bit of design and sits componentsthanthe
RasWIKincludinga
small projects. Using the bundled compact breadboard, its happily on top of the Pis GPIO port without increasing its mountingplate,servoand
possible to get building simple circuits remote buzzers, dimensions meaning it can be used in conjunction with the motoritdoesnotinclude
anywirelesscapabilities
traffic lights, even a light and temperature sensor in vast majority of non-metal cases on the market. asstandard.Thesecan,
mere minutes. The only real downside for those who enjoy experimenting however,beaddedata
laterdate.
The RasWIK has a serious trick up its sleeve once your with the Pis GPIO hardware is that the Slice of Radio does not www.oomlout.co.uk
device is built: an embedded radio on the XinoRF connects include pass-through connections for the other pins on the
to the Slice of Radio with no effort, allowing you to place header, despite only using power and the UART connection
the XinoRF almost anywhere in the same building as the itself. Careful work with a soldering iron will allow you to fix
Raspberry Pi and still take control of it. The system uses that, but if youre not happy with such modifications and have
the Lightweight Local Automation Protocol (LLAP), which only one Pi, youll soon grow tired of removing the radio board
allows for multiple devices on the same radio network in favour of other GPIO-connected devices you may have.
Gertboard
more XinoRFs, more Raspberry Pis, or some of the LLAP- Gareth Halfacree 31.12
compatible accessories also sold by Ciseco. Oneofthefirstadd-on
boardsdevelopedforthe
Its here where the only real downside of the kit comes to Pi,theGertboardisawired
light, however: LLAP is extremely lightweight, as you might Summary GPIOexpansionmodule.
Notentirelysuitable
expect from a protocol designed for a microcontroller with forbeginnersdueto
AlthoughitwouldbeeasytomarktheRasWIKdownforits
around 32KB of program storage. Accordingly, it includes inaccessiblecodeexamples
insecureprotocol,todosomissesthepoint:itsaneasyway andawkwardhardware,
no protection against intrusion; so if your neighbour buys a to get started with wireless microcontroller development, itsstillanaffordable
RasWIK kit, he or she would be quite able to take control of wayofincreasingthePis
andprovidesagreatplatformforaddingsensorsoractuators
GPIOcapabilitiesbut,
anything you build. toaRaspberryPi.Ifsecurityisaworry,userscanalwaysroll again,hasnointegrated
For the experimenter, though, its a minor point. While the theirownprotocol. wirelesshardware.
uk.farnell.com
kit runs LLAP out of the box, the radio can also be used as a
point-to-point serial connection, and you can write your own
protocol to run over the top if you desire robust security. More
That minor issue aside, theres little not to like about the information
RasWIK kit. The radios offer surprising range, and the Slice ciseco.co.uk

81 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Review SparkyLinux 3.0

New features: Debian 7.0 Linux kernel 3.9.8 GNOME 3.8 compatible

n Customised
desktop
environments
such as LXDE,
Openbox and
MATE are n The preset
available Conky display
gives a lot of
information
about your
system, all of
it relevant

n The SparkyCenter is a nice

little app for controlling your
system, although it could do with
better navigation

diStRo

SparkyLinux 3.0
Minimum Specs: CPU 1GHz i486 RAM 256MB (128MB for CLI Edition) StoRAge 5GB (2GB for CLI Edition) Best for: Home office

One of the first distros using Debian 7.0 Jessie, SparkyLinux is

positioning itself as a lightweight system for any user
SparkyLinux is a relatively new distro, with its first version in most cases, along with a nice custom theme. All of the
Pros only coming out in May of last year. Since then, its gone live images include both a graphical and a command-line
Lightweight distro
based on new through a few major upgrades and number changes and is installer as used in the CLI version. Both work exactly
testing branch
of Debian; nice now on its third iteration. The idea is to create a lightweight the same way with the exact same options; however, the
aesthetic; great distro that computers both old and new can use with command-line version uses cfdisk for partitioning, and the
selection of images
modern aesthetics and graphical features available for those graphical installer used GParted. Its a minor difference that
with high system specs. In case you dont need graphics at can actually cause a unique issue SparkyLinux cant detect
Cons all, though, there is a handy CLI image that reduces the specs partitions on a hard drive that uses GPT. This means that
Doesnt play nice
with all desktops; down further another first for a Debian 7.0-based distro. systems with UEFI may need to be wiped before installing. As
some issues with
Flash and JS on
Graphical images come in several flavours: the standard GParted can work with GPT, you may never know that this is
non-Iceweasel lightweight LXDE image, a purely Openbox-based image, a an issue, as no warning messages or errors are thrown up.
browsers
MATE image and a Razor-Qt running edition. These are all This also means that partitioning for SparkyLinux is
customised to fit the needs of Sparky, with a dock added completely manual. It does explain what it needs to run, and

82 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 SparkyLinux 3.0
Debian 7.0-based lightweight distro
Review

n Unlike a lot of modern distros, the installer has you manually n Synaptic grants you access to the entire Debian repos although we had some issues with
partition the hard drive although there are decent instructions using apps and other packages we installed to it
on how to do it

Partitioning for n Its a rolling release

SparkyLinux is based on testing
Debian, so all the latest

completely manual software is available to

use in Sparky

the Sparky website has some nice instructions to help you
along the way, but the graphical installer could be improved
by having the auto-partitioning of other modern distros.
Other than these issues, installation is quick and relatively
painless and while the majority of people wont face the GPT
problem, its something that will become more problematic
as more and more systems use it.
are featured on the dock with a couple of other apps, and
Synaptic is used as the main package manager. While we
Screenshot
had no issues with Iceweasel on some websites, when we
Gallery
tried using Chromium, Flash or JavaScript, heavy sites would
basically break the browser including even the Chromium
store. Tabs could be exited and reopened; however, the same
problems would happen consistently.

Unique aesthetic it shouldnt happen

The default login manager is very simple: a drop-down list That also wasnt the only extra package we had issues with bit.ly/LUDSL3
for users, and a few options in the corner hidden away that trying to install Cinnamon went terribly, with only a patchy
let you change the locale and desktop session. Nothing
fancy. However, the default desktops each have an aesthetic
black screen showing up when trying to boot into it. This
really shouldnt happen, even if its not available as a default Summary
quality unique to SparkyLinux. A nice use of monochrome desktop. At the very least, the default desktops all work well, There are some
great ideas in
icons and colours class up the desktop, and the dock especially the Razor-Qt offering which is fast becoming one
SparkyLinux, and
included with LXDE increases its usability. Theres also a of our favourite lightweight desktops.
it works very well
preconfigured Conky display that gives a great selection of Being Debian based, the repos are of course full of all the unless you decide
system information. This is also present in the live image, just latest and greatest software. The reason SparkyLinux has to step a bit outside
in case you need to keep an eye on your system. iterated so much is because its considered a rolling release the predefined
SparkyLinux has a great graphical system manager, similar basically updated with snapshots from Debian testing at barriers of apps
to the likes of Mageia, albeit not as well laid out or as deep. specific intervals. This should mean that Sparky is always and desktops. Well
The SparkyCenter gives you access to change the theme and up to date if you like to be on the cutting edge. However, we worth a look, but its
overall look of the distro, software sources, Flash and Java dont think its worth it. Being severely limited to basically the not for everyone.
settings, default applications, hard drive management etc. default applications and desktops, however good they are, is
The interface is presented in icons that move into different not the Linux way. Its worth a look, but dont get your hopes up.
layers and while theres no back button, exiting the window Rob Zwetsloot
will take you back a step. Dowload now
The default app selection was nice, although with no
commitment to truly free software. VLC, GIMP and Iceweasel sparkylinux.org

83 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Subscribe Subscribe today & start saving
Non-USA readers see page 32

USA special offer

Subscribe
today and get
5 free issues*
Exclusive subscriber
benefits
Subscribe today and pay just $122
for 13 issues*
Pay as little as $9.39 an issue
usually $15.99 in stores
Your
exclusive For more information and to order visit
offer code:
USA www.imaginesubs.co.uk/lud
Or call +44 (0) 1795 418661
Imagine Publishing publishes more than 20 monthly magazines, some of which
have been running for over 10 years, reaching over 4 million readers every year

*Terms and conditions: This is a US subscription offer, please dont forget to quote USA when ordering. You will actually be charged 80 sterling for an annual subscription. This is equivalent
84 www.linuxuser.co.uk to $122 at the time of writing, although the exchange rate may vary. Five free issues refers to the newsstand price of $15.99 for 13 issues being $207.87, compared with $122 for a subscription.
Your subscription will start from the next available issue. This offer expires 31st December 2013.
 Book Reviews
Latest Linux books revealed
REVIEWS

Burn Your Portfolio:

Stuff They Dont Teach You in
Design School, But Should
Scala in Action
Fast-paced real-world Scala tutorial
Authors Michael Janda
Publisher New Riders Scala is gaining many new users, attracted by its convenience
ISBN 978-0321918680 (runs on JVM and .NET); OO implementation (modelled on
Price 22.99 Smalltalk and Eiffel); functional programming features (though it
Score does not force any aspect of this such as immutable data on
Sage advice for the coder); scalability (readily extensible, yet suitable for smaller
all creatives scripting jobs); sane concurrency (through Erlang-style Actors
programmers and web implemented in libraries); productivity (say goodbye to ugly Java
designers, not just artists and illustrators boilerplate); type inference; and compatibility with Java libraries.
that should be common sense, but comes Raychaudhuri evangelises these features, but quickly
(if at all) from decades of experience. Its gets you to practical appreciation as in chapter 2 you build
never too late to learn improve your work a command-line REST client, and in chapter 3 you code a
and your workplace with Jandas blog- MongoDB driver using Scala classes and traits. Functional
post-sized bites of wisdom. data structures make a logical stepping stone to functional
Authors Nilanjan Raychaudhuri
programming, and the book stays practical with web apps,
Publisher Manning
databases and concurrent programming.
Vagrant: Up and Running ISBN 978-1935182757
Testing, Java interoperability, and scalable distribution with
Price 28.99
Author Mitchell
Score Akka round off this excellent, fast-paced (if you want good-but-
Hashimoto
Publisher OReilly gentle, try Odersky) tutorial.

ISBN
978-1449335830
Price 22.99
Score
Virtual development
environments the
easy way, with two
commands to get a
virtual machine up, then easy sync of
complex development environments.
Automated provisioning includes Chef,
Puppet and shell script options. Vagrant
creator Hashimoto expounds, explains,
and expands including a section on
writing plug-ins.
Functional JavaScript:
Introducing Functional
Programming with Underscore.js
Author Michael Fogus
Publisher OReilly
ISBN 978-1449360726
Price 22.99
Score
The near-ubiquity of JavaScript in
the web age makes it a good platform
for teaching functional programming
techniques, while applying functional
concepts to JavaScript will improve your
apps in many ways though functional
programming people looking to learn JS
may need an additional guide.
Arduino Adventures:
Escape From Gemini Station
Fun and imaginitive
Arduino inroduction
Authors James Floyd Kelly
& Harold Timmis
Publisher APress
ISBN 978-1430246053
Price 23.50
Score
Framing an Arduino tutorial in a science-fiction
story is a big risk. Fortunately, Timmis and Kelly
have made both story and tutorial work, as their
engaging characters get caught in an adventure
that can only be survived with the help of some
creative, breadboard-based, hardware hacking
something they must learn from scratch, along
with the reader.
An imaginative way of justifying the various
beginner projects which can build knowledge
both of electronics, and of Arduino programming,
this book should carry young minds easily past
some new concepts, and through the acquisition
of a number of skills.
Fiction, theory, hardware and software
through eight challenges, from simple
potentiometer and LED projects, through
temperature and motion detection, to building
your own robot. Rounded off by a comprehensive
parts list for each project, and the advice: Never
stop learning. Recommended for any beginner,
of any age, wanting to start learning Arduino.
Emergent Design:
The Evolutionary Nature
of Professional Software
Development
Improve old code
& professionalise
programming
Author Scott L Bain
Publisher Addison Wesley
ISBN 978-0321889065
Price 38.99
Score
A profession an agreed-upon set of minimal
standards, and a clear path of entry is not a way
of describing software development, but Scott
Bain would like it to be and, with Emergent Design,
sets out his view of the standards to improve our
lot as creators of software.
To make (inevitable) change an opportunity,
Emergent Design leans heavily on Gang-of-
Four patterns and refactoring (with attention
to coupling, cohesion, redundancy, readability,
testability) so Bain concentrates exclusively on
object-oriented languages and techniques.
Missing is the functional programming view
(most G-o-F patterns are unnecessary in FP
languages), but this book is valuable for the
questions it asks, and its (practical) optimism:
An old concept that I used to accept code must
inevitably decay over time fades away in favour
of something more hopeful: code can evolve over
time, getting better and better every time I touch it.

85 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Classified Advertising
 01202 586421

Rock solid protection

for Raspberry Pi.

Machined Aircraft Aluminium

Integrated Camera Option
Anodized Colour Options
Security Features
Passive Cooling

Proto
Armour
TM

www.protoarmour.com
Raspberry Pi is a trademark of the Raspberry Pi Foundation

Read To Advertise In
anything
good lately?
Shop for quality
magazines, books
and DVDs from
Imagine Publishing
Contact Rhian on 01202 586421
rhian.carter@imagine-publishing.co.uk
MAGAZINES BOOKS DVDS DOWNLOADS GIFTS
 Contact us...
Web: www.linuxuser.co.uk
Email: linuxuser@imagine-publishing.co.uk

Questions Facebook: Twitter:

& answers Linux User & Developer @linuxusermag

Your questions
answered
ASK THE EXPERTS
This month your questions
were answered by
Send us your questions and well do our best to answer them!

Russell Barnes has been

a computer and technology
journalist for nearly 15 years

Clonezilla is a powerful disc imaging tool

Rob Zwetsloot studied
aerospace engineering, using
Python to model simulations How do I compile to build the files, and follow up with:

Kunal Deo is a veteran
developer of many open
source projects
Richard Smedley spends
90% of his screen time shelled
into servers in the UK and USA
software?
Compiling software from source code isnt that
difficult all it requires are simple build tools
available in all repos. To make sure you have the
correct build tools installed, do the following in a
Debian-based system:
$ sudo apt-get install build-
essentials
Alternatively, for other systems, use:
$ sudo yum groupinstall
'Development Tools'
Once you have the necessary source code for the
software you want to compile, navigate to the
folder in the terminal and type:
$ ./configure
$ make
.to compile it.
Ghost editing
Hi there. Ive been playing around with my
system recently, and decided to do a small
overhaul of my disc setup. I created a ghost of
my main hard drive, which was not full, and am
now attempting to apply it to a smaller space
than it was originally on.
I figure because the image wasnt full up
anyway (and there was no important data Ill lose
if I start messing about with it) that I can make
some changes to the file and be able to apply it
to the new disc I want it to be on? Hope you have
some answers.
Joe OReilly

88 www.linuxuser.co.uk

Its certainly possible to do this,
and it doesnt require a huge
amount of messing around to
accomplish either. First of all,
boot into a live Linux environment
from a disc or USB storage.
Use fdisk -l and make a note of the
cylinders, heads and sectors, and then edit the
image file sda-chs.sf with these new details.
Next, use:
$ parted /dev/sda 'unit s' print
noting down the first few lines, and then edit
the file sda-pt.parted to match this.
Finally, sync/restart and the restore the
image with Clonezilla and you should be all set.
Next time, you could always shrink a partition
to fit the destination before cloning, which
should make it a little easier.
Converted
Ive been trying to follow a guide on converting an
MKV to an AVI using MEncoder. It seems to work
just fine, but I keep getting problems where it just
plays the audio on some devices. Heres what Im
doing to convert the video, by the way:
$ mencoder abc.mkv -oac pcm -ovc
xvid -xvidencopts bitrate=886 -sub
ITC0101.srt -subfont-text-scale 3 -o
zzz.avi
It works fine on my PC, but on my DVD player,
which has no problem with these codecs usually
as far as Im aware, it just doesnt work.
Am I missing something with my command,
or is there another way I should be going about
doing this?
Tim Daley
No, your command seems to be
fine, its most likely an issue with
MEncoder and the limited codecs
on the DVD player. You might be
better off trying FFmpeg, though,
n Not everything has the latest codecs
Questions & answers
and you can do so with the following commands:
$ ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec
libxvid -qscale 5 -s 640x272 -aspect
40:17 -r 23.976 -g 240 -bf 2 -acodec
libmp3lame -ab 160k -ar 48000 -async
48000 -ac 2 -pass 1 -an -f rawvideo
-y /dev/null
$ ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec
libxvid -qscale 5 -s 640x272 -aspect
40:17 -r 23.976 -g 240 -bf 2 -acodec
libmp3lame -ab 160k -ar 48000
-async 48000 -ac 2 -pass 2 -f avi
outlander-q5.avi
This should give you a little more control over
what youre outputting, and hopefully work a bit
better with your DVD player.
Batch download
Every now and then I come across a website
directory that has a load of individual files I need
to download residing within it. I used to use a
Firefox add-on to select and download them
all in one. However, I wanted to know if theres a
more universal way of me doing it without having
to get extra add-ons for my browser?
Colin Still
wont work with Mint, so the easiest thing to
n Web directories can be easily downloaded
from using wget
Its most likely
an issue with
MEncoder and the
limited codecs on
the DVD player
All your technical problems solved
Q/A
Minty Apple
My parents have finally decided to join this
century and get a proper computer rather
than relying on me or library computers
to get their information. As family tech
support, Ive told them Ill get them set up
with a new system they can use for emails
and such. Because theyve never really used
computers much at all, I wanted to set up a
Linux Mint system for them. However, the
only issue I have is finding spare hardware
to get that going. I did find that I have a Mac
Mini lying around, though so I thought
about putting Linux on that. However, I seem
to recall its not as easy as just putting the
live disc in and installing as I found out.
Im not too bothered about losing OS X,
and would much prefer my parents use Mint
anyway. How do I get it installed on there?
Jeff Vincent
While Mint and its Ubuntu base
have tools to install on Secure
Boot systems that use UEFI, it
requires the use of legacy
modes to get it work normally.
But we dont have that luxury with a Mac, so
you need to do a little more. The main issue is
that it uses a different partition table that
do if you dont mind losing OS X is convert it
to something more Linux friendly.
Make sure any files you want to keep are
backed up, as this method will format the
hard drive. Burn a live CD or DVD of Mint
and put it in your optical drive. Restart the
Mac and hold down the Option key to bring
up the boot selection screen, and of course
select CD. Boot into the live environment by
choosing Try Linux Mint.
When Mint loads up, youll next need to
open GParted. By default it should select the
Macs hard drive, so click Device on the menu
bar and then go to Create Partition Table.
A warning will pop up, and then youll want
to click the Advanced triangle. From here
youll be able to create a new partition table
format, this time as MS-DOS.
After that is done, you can install Linux
Mint however you wish. Wed suggest using
Cinnamon if your parents are more used to
Windows systems, and show them how to
install apps from the Software Centre.
89 www.linuxuser.co.uk
Questions Facebook: Twitter:
& answers Linux User & Developer @linuxusermag

One method wed recommend

using on Linux would be wget, the
standard downloading tool for
the command line. You can
download the contents of a web
directory with something like:

$ wget --mirror -p --convert-links

-P /destination/folder/ http://www.
websitre.com/directory/

You can also use curl as well. This can also

be used with single files if you find yourself
Battery management is not always easy
without a browser to use.

Assault on
battery
I want to have a notification show up in the
event that my laptop battery charge falls below
10%, as I regularly move around when working
on it. I guess that most desktop environments
provide a notification of this sort, but I use
xmonad with a few other programs, so I just
need something like a notification daemon
and front-end. Ive had a few close calls while
working so far, and Id really rather not go back
to a desktop environment if I dont have to.
Can you suggest any notification tools?
I would prefer a lightweight package that
I can extend with other notifications, but
any suggestions are welcome. If there are
any DE notification tools that work well
outside of their environments, that would
Make sure Java knows where itself is located
also do.

Chris Dodd
Theres actually a couple of great
tools you can use on xmonad to
get this type of functionality. You
can use i3, which is a tiling window
manager, which can be used on its
own or in conjunction with twmn. Both offer
tiling notification windows, and i3 is specifically
designed to work with the xmobar as well.
i3 is also very extendable, and it can be used
for a lot more than just battery notifications.
Hope this helps.
Oracle of Java
how do I go about setting up my system to use
the Oracle JDK? Im currently running Ubuntu.
Thanks.
Peter Chan
Okay, so the process for doing this
is a two-step one. Firstly, you
need to download the JDK files
from the Oracle website, which
come in a tarball. Extract these
and this will create a ./jdk.1.7.0_0x directory in
the location of your choosing.
Now create a new directory for it and move into
it with:
Now you need to run some specific commands
to update the system Java info, allowing you to
then switch to it. First of all do:
$ sudo update-alternatives --install
"/usr/bin/java" "java" "/usr/lib/
jvm/jdk1.7.0/bin/java" 1
$ sudo update-alternatives --install
"/usr/bin/javac" "javac" "/usr/lib/
jvm/jdk1.7.0/bin/javac" 1
$ sudo update-alternatives --install
"/usr/bin/javaws" "javaws" "/usr/
lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0/bin/javaws" 1

So I have the OpenJDK installed on my system, Now, correct the file ownership and the
and it turns out I need to use the official Oracle $ sudo mkdir -p /usr/lib/jvm permissions of the executables with:
JDK for a project Im working on. Only, it seems $ sudo mv ./jdk.1.7.0[Current
like I cant just install it and expect it to work Version] /usr/lib/jvm/jdk1.7.0 $ sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/java

90 www.linuxuser.co.uk

n The right drivers dont always produce the right response
$ sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/javac
$ sudo chmod a+x /usr/bin/javaws
$ sudo chown -R root:root /usr/lib/
jvm/jdk1.7.0
Now we need to select the new JDK by running:
$ sudo update-alternatives --config
java
Youll be shown a list with numbers from which
to choose the new JDK from make sure to
choose the one weve been setting up. Now we
can make sure its done properly by checking
the Java version with:
$ java -version
You can now also switch back to OpenJDK, if you
need to, with the config java command.
Graphical Java
Ive just upgraded my box to the Radeon drivers,
and its so far proved to be a good idea. The box
runs smoothly now. There are some issues with
Java OpenJDK, though.
How do I get it to use OpenGL? There may well
be the option to use Suns Java, but it needs
AOSS so, either I tweak the OpenJDK to not
crash and use OpenGL/acceleration; or I use
Suns JRE, but it would involve installing OSS.
Chris Kimpton
Youre going to have to use a little
hack so that Java knows where
its located. Create it with:
$ nano /etc/ld.so.conf.d/
javaworkaround.conf
Questions & answers
and then enter the following into it:
/usr/lib/jvm/java-7-openjdk-amd64/
jre/lib/amd64
/usr/lib/xulrunner-17.0
and run ldconfig as root. Choose /home for
the user and libnpjp2.so file locations. The
Oracle and OpenJDK versions of Java are linked
to PulseAudio, so sound-wise youre better off
using PulseAudio.
Theres some Java OpenGL packages, too,
that you might want to install with:
$ dpkg-query --load-avail -l
'*jogl*'
Hopefully that should fix things up for you.
Terminal trouble
Im experiencing a very weird problem every
now and then I need to do some work in the
terminal on my system. However, whenever I try
and open the terminal emulator, it opens for a
brief instant and then automatically closes.
The system in question is CentOS, which I
have to access remotely via VNC. Its using Xfce
as a desktop environment as well. The weird
thing is, it works just fine if Im logged in as root,
so I can only assume its a problem with the
user type. Obviously, I dont want to make some
of the normal users have full root privileges,
and Id much rather not log in as root every
time I work on this system. Have you heard of
anything like this before? Is there something
fairly obvious that Im missing?
Thanks for any help.
Thomas Reid
All your technical problems solved
Q/A
n When connecting remotely, some settings
are different for displays
Open the
terminal while
logged in as root,
and then change
to another user
As root works, heres a little thing
you can try open the terminal
while logged in as root, and then
change to another user with:
$ su -l <user>
This will allow you to open another shell to log
in with and then try to open the terminal. Any
errors will show up in the root terminal. What
may likely happen is that you cannot even load
into the shell.
This is because the user will not have access to
connect to the X server because youre using it
via VNC. To solve this, you just need to add the
relevant users to the list that are allowed to
make this connection. You can do this with xhost
by typing:
# xhost local:<user>
as root. Give the system a reboot and it should
now be working fine.
91 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Sponsorship opportunity
Hosting listings
Bring attention to your brand by sponsoring this
section. Contact Rhian Carter on +44(0)1202586421

Dedicated server listings

Got a deal
you think we

REMOTE POWER REBOOT

should list?

24/7 PHONE SUPPORT

UPTIME GUARANTEE

NETWORK BACKUP
PERMANENT KVM
1GBPS INTERNET

PRIVATE SUBNET
HARDWARE RAID
CONTRACT TERM
Whether youre a hosting firm or
a happy customer who wants a

CONNECTION
CPU CORES /

DISK SPACE
favourite provider listed, drop us

MINIMUM
COST PER
PACKAGE

STORAGE
NUMBER

a line with the details!

MONTH
PHONE

SPEED
linuxuser@imagine-publishing.co.uk

NAME AND URL

Dual Core
2200DC 0800 061 2801 50 1 month 160GB N/A Raid 1
2.2GHz

Dual Core
3000DC 0800 061 2801 80 1 month 2 x 250GB N/A Raid 1
3GHz

Intel Quad Core

2660QC 0800 061 2801 130 1 month 2 x 500GB N/A Raid 1
2.66GHz

Developer 0800 061 2801 32.89 1 month N/A 1GB N/A

One 0800 061 2801 109.99 1 month N/A 5GB N/A

Netcetera
www.netcetera.co.uk/linux Reseller 0800 061 2801 274.89 1 month N/A Unlimited N/A

Bravo14 (http://bravo14.co.uk) Starter Linux N/A 20 N/A N/A 2,000MB N/A

Bravo14 (http://bravo14.co.uk) Starter Windows N/A 20 N/A N/A 2,000MB N/A

Bravo14 (http://bravo14.co.uk) Business Linux N/A 45 N/A N/A 4,000MB N/A

Bravo14 (http://bravo14.co.uk) Business Windows N/A 45 N/A N/A 4,000MB N/A

Bravo14 (http://bravo14.co.uk) Ultimate Linux N/A 60 N/A N/A Unlimited N/A

Bravo14 (http://bravo14.co.uk) Ultimate Windows N/A 60 N/A N/A Unlimited N/A

12 Dual/Quad 160GB
FlexServer2 01628 777730 From 29 10Mbps 99.90% 10 GB
months Core to 2TB

100
BudgetBox III 01628 777730 36 1 month Intel Xeon 3065 1 x 250GB 99.90% 10 GB
Mbps

Quad Core Intel 120GB Intel 100

SSD 4 01628 777730 60 1 month 99.90% 10 GB
Xeon X3430 520 SSD Mbps

2 x Intel Xeon 2 x 500GB 100

Merlin 01628 777730 199 1 month 99.90% 10 GB
Quad Core SATA II Mbps

2 x Intel Xeon 4 x 1TB 100

DS6.5 01628 777730 295 1 month 99.90% 10 GB
Hex Core SATA III Mbps

Gbit
Cloud Server 01628 777730 52 1 month 2 vCPU (4GB) 40GB shared / n/a 99.90% O
node

Gbit
PoundHost Cloud Server 01628 777730 98 1 month 4 vCPU (8GB) 40GB shared / n/a 99.90% O
www.poundhost.com node

Heart Internet (www.heartinternet. Dual Core Xeon 24/7 Ticket

Linux Dual Core 0845 644 7750 79.99 12 months 160GB 99.99%
co.uk/dedicated-servers) 2.33GHz support

Heart Internet (www.heartinternet. Dual Core Xeon 24/7 Ticket

Windows Dual Core 0845 644 7750 89.99 12 months 160GB 99.99%
co.uk/dedicated-servers) 2.33GHz support

Heart Internet (www.heartinternet. Quad Core Xeon 24/7 Ticket

Linux Quad Core 0845 644 7750 129.99 12 months 250GB 99.99%
co.uk/dedicated-servers) 2.5GHz support

12 Quad Core
Unlimited 0208 123 2730 1.79 Unlimited N/A N/A 99.9% N/A N/A
months Xeon

Zyma Unlimited 0208 123 2730 7.95 3 months

Octo Core
Unlimited 99.9%
www.zyma.com Xeon

O = Option

92 www.linuxuser.co.uk
GET YOUR LISTING HIGHLIGHTED! CONTACT RHIAN
rhian.carter@imagine-publishing.co.uk
+44(0)1202586421 Hosting listings
LISTINGS

Dedicated and Shared server listings

PHONE SUPPORT
SHOPPING CART

EMAIL SUPPORT

SERVICE LEVEL
WEB CONTROL
VIRUS FILTER

AGREEMENT
BANDWIDTH
WEB SPACE

ACCOUNTS

DATABASE

FIREWALL
MONTHLY

SUPPORT
PACKAGE

NUMBER
PHONE

PANEL
POP3
COST
NAME AND URL
Minimus
+44 (0)845 5280242 49.95 10GB 200GB Unlimited
Linux / Windows

Medius
+44 (0)845 5280242 89.95 20GB 400GB Unlimited
Linux / Windows
Blacknight Maximus
+44 (0)845 5280242 149.95 30GB 600GB Unlimited
www.blacknight.com Linux / Windows

eHosting (www.ehosting.com) Starter 0844 999 4100 23.88 1GB 25GB 10

eHosting (www.ehosting.com) Personal 0844 999 4100 59.88 2.5GB Unlimited 50

eHosting (www.ehosting.com) Expert 0844 999 4100 95.88 5GB Unlimited 250

eHosting (www.ehosting.com) Virtual 0844 999 4100 227.88 50GB Unlimited Unlimited

Equiphase (www.equiphase.net) Bronze 0121 314 4865 30 200MB 2GB 10

Equiphase (www.equiphase.net) Silver 0121 314 4865 42 400MB 5GB 20

Equiphase (www.equiphase.net) Gold 0121 314 4865 72 800MB 10GB 100

Equiphase (www.equiphase.net) Platinum 0121 314 4865 114 1,200MB 40GB 200

Eurofasthost.com (www.eurofasthost.com) Email Only 02380 249 823 40 1GB 2GB 10

Eurofasthost.com (www.eurofasthost.com) Essential 02380 249 823 75 2GB 5GB 10

Eurofasthost.com (www.eurofasthost.com) Superior 02380 249 823 140 5GB 10GB 25

Eurofasthost.com (www.eurofasthost.com) Premium 02380 249 823 250 10GB 25GB 100

Evohosting (www.evohosting.co.uk) Starter N/A 29.99 500MB 1GB 3

Evohosting (www.evohosting.co.uk) Home N/A 54.99 2.5GB 30GB 50

Evohosting (www.evohosting.co.uk) Business N/A 79.99 6.5GB Unlimited Unlimited

Evohosting (www.evohosting.co.uk) eCommerce N/A 159.99 30GB Unlimited Unlimited

Personal 0808 168 6777 32.87 5GB Unlimited 50

Business Bronze 0808 168 6777 58.38 50GB Unlimited 500 O

Business Silver 0808 168 6777 76.39 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited O

Business Gold 0808 168 6777 101.89 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

WD Starter 0808 168 6777 149.99 20GB Unlimited Unlimited O O

Fasthosts
WD Advanced 0808 168 6777 199.99 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited
www.fasthosts.co.uk O O

Giacom (www.giacom.com) Business Pro 0800 542 7500 199 100MB 2GB 100
Heart Internet (www.heartinternet.co.uk) Starter Professional 0845 644 7750 29.80 2.5GB 10GB 1,000

Heart Internet (www.heartinternet.co.uk) Home Professional 0845 644 7750 89.99 10GB 50GB 10,000

Heart Internet (www.heartinternet.co.uk) Business Professional 0845 644 7750 129.99 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

Heart Internet (www.heartinternet.co.uk) Reseller Professional 0845 644 7750 299.99 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

Hostway (www.hostway.co.uk) Silver 0808 180 1880 79.50 150MB 3GB 5 O

WebFusion (www.webfusion.co.uk) Fusion Professional 0845 130 1602 107.40 5GB 50GB 1,000
WebFusion (www.webfusion.co.uk) Fusion Business 0845 130 1602 179.40 10GB 150GB 1,500

WebFusion (www.webfusion.co.uk) Fusion Developer 0845 130 1602 227.40 20GB 300GB 5,000

WebFusion (www.webfusion.co.uk) Fusion Reseller 0845 130 1602 329.99 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

Eco Web Hosting (www.ecowebhosting.co.uk) Starter N/A 29.99 200MB 2GB Unlimited

Eco Web Hosting (www.ecowebhosting.co.uk) Standard N/A 54.99 1GB 10GB Unlimited

Eco Web Hosting (www.ecowebhosting.co.uk) Advanced N/A 119.99 20GB 24GB Unlimited

Eco Web Hosting (www.ecowebhosting.co.uk) Reseller Unlimited N/A 199.99 Unlimited Unlimited Unlimited

NameHog (www.namehog.net) Email Only 0845 612 0330 11.75 25MB 1GB 5

NameHog (www.namehog.net) Standard Package 0845 612 0330 35.25 100MB 4.5GB 10

NameHog (www.namehog.net) Professional Package 0845 612 0330 58.75 250MB 8GB 25

O = Option

93 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Your view Your source of Linux news and views
Contact us
Register and post your comments Email us directly
www.linuxuser.co.uk/forum/ linuxuser@imagine-publishing.co.uk

YOUR VIEW

Linux User
Letters
Your opinions about
the magazine, Linux
and open source
Piece of Pisi
I remember a while ago you talked about Pisi
Linux, an alternative to Pardus that was a bit more Pisi Linux is currently in beta
like the original. I was sad to see that DistroWatch reaches stable release theyll add Pisi back to the story, it seems like DistroWatch were duped;
refuses to even list Pisi Linux because someone database, as the older Parduses were some of my however, the folks over at DistroWatch
trolled them, telling them it was not active, favourite distros! havent responded to the Pisi team since their
setting up fake Pisi Linux sites etc. DistroWatch Mark Doyle explanation. The beta for it is out now, but
apparently decided they would remove it from Pisi is not back on DistroWatch just yet. Look
their lists. Very sad and disappointing on the Its a shame that DistroWatch took the out for a review of the full version when its
part of DistroWatch. I hope that when it finally stance. Going by the Pisi teams side of the finally released.

THREAD BARE

Way of the future

Things are heating up in the display server space, as both
Wayland and Canonicals Mir are set to try to replace the
X server shortly. Richard Hillesleys piece on Wayland in issue
127 inspired some debate on the website about replacing X. Join
in the conversation here: bit.ly/LUDWay

Henrik Danielson said:

Wayland was supposed to be that common protocol/API. As far as
I can tell, one problem is that Mir is intentionally incompatible
with Wayland.
Bob Robert said:
I use the network display functionality of X on a regular basis. The
switch to Wayland is fine by me (Im a user, not a programmer) so
long as I can still ssh -Y and launch GUI applications that display on my
local machine. That X did network transparency mainline and Wayland
would do it with a plug-in is actually unimportant to me. What matters is
that it DOES it. It is functionality I use, and want.
bwat47 said
I dont think the situation is quite as bad as it seems. Both Mir
and Wayland have several major similarities in their architecture,
such as using EGL. For drivers, theoretically it should not be difficult to
support both as long as they provide EGL support. For applications
Wayland is intended as a simpler replacement for X
things shouldnt be that bad either, because Mir/Wayland support is at
the toolkit level. The biggest burden will probably be on the toolkits,
though: having to have and support two back-ends in addition to X
(because X will not be totally going away any time soon).
Gene Mosher said:
Keith Packard asks: How many of these applications care about
network transparency, which was one of the original headline
features of X? How many of them care about ICCCM compliance? How
many of them care about X at all? The answer to all of those questions, of
course, is very few. And if we all are among the very few, then what
does the future hold for us, Keith?

94 www.linuxuser.co.uk
 Your view
Pisi Linux, Wayland vs Mir, Specialist distros, Pi projects
LETTERS

Android Magazine
With more and more
Android features being
merged back into
the Linux kernel, its
becoming easier to
develop for one of the
most popular mobile
operating systems
around. With over 25
billion app downloads,
and over 500 million Android devices worldwide,
theres a huge audience ready to consume
apps. For a more Android-driven editorial,
look to our sister mag Android Magazine, the
only publication dedicated to the platform.
Along with news and reviews to keep you
up to date on everything Android, there are
also tutorials and advice on developing and
hacking your hardware. Find out more at
Some specialist distros are more than a selection of apps www.littlegreenrobot.co.uk.

Specialist distros Raspberry Pi projects you had. I tried out a

couple of them and was pleased with the
Were glad you enjoyed the projects, Phillip.
We always love to hear about Raspberry Pi
Okay, I am a little confused with the whole distro results; there are really so many things you projects ideas from all of our readers, even
designed for specific job trend. If I want to run can do with the Raspberry Pi! I now use my just to feature on their own in the magazine.
audio applications in Windows, Mac or any other Raspberry Pi for all my media centre needs and We usually try to get at least one Raspberry
OS, I install the programs I want. havent looked back I even have a spare SD Pi related tutorial or feature in the magazine
Why oh why with Linux do we see this card for using it as a portable access point for every month for example, in this issue you
approach of just install the audio distro for the when I go travelling. Will you be doing another can find out how to turn that portable access
best audio environment. What a waste! Instead feature like this in the future? If so, will I be point into a secure router with our Onion Pi
of customising an existing distro and having a able to suggest some projects? I have a few in tutorial starting on page 46. You can send
nice aptitude/yum install audio-env we get mind which I feel will properly make use of the any ideas to the email address at the top of
all the overhead of maintaining a distro just for Raspberry Pi. this page.
the applications? Thanks again,
Isnt it time we separated the application from Phillip Cordaro
the OS and ignored any attempts by people to
integrate the two? Raspberry Pi projects
Colin McDermott bring out the practical
side of Linux
Theres no specific reason why you cant do
this anyway a lot of people will probably be
fine with a standard Fedora or Ubuntu install
for any of their specialised needs. However,
some distros do more than just come with
a selection of themed default packages
distros like AV Linux go the extra mile and
customise the kernel specifically for AV
software. Not everyone has the skills to do
that in Linux, so these kind of distros do serve
a purpose. The same with some lightweight
distros. Its about choice, and this offers a lot
more choice for people.

More Pi Facebook: Twitter:

Ive just finished reading issue 129 of your
magazine and was very inspired by the ten Linux User & Developer @linuxusermag
Next issue Whats coming up Look out
for issue 132
on sale 24 Oct THE MAGAZINE FOR
THE GNU GENERATION
Want it sooner?
Subscribe
Imagine Publishing Ltd
Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill

today!
Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ
+44 (0) 1202 586200
Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk
www.linuxuser.co.uk
www.greatdigitalmags.com

COMING IN THE NEXT ISSUE Magazine team

Editor Russell Barnes

CLOUD
russell.barnes@imagine-publishing.co.uk
01202 586272
Staff Writer Rob Zwetsloot
Photographer James Sheppard
Senior Art Editor Will Shum
Editor in Chief Nick Jones
Head of Publishing Aaron Asadi

STORAGE
Head of Design Ross Andrews
Contributors
Phil King, Richard Smedley, Jon Masters, Himanshu Arora, Richard
Hillesley, Michael Reed, Gareth Halfacree, Joey Bernard, Simon Brew,
Sandra Vogel, Steve Mumby, Mihalis Tsoukalos, Eden Frankham,
Kunal Deo, Abbi Denney & David Crookes
Advertising

SUPER-TEST
Digital or printed media packs are available on request.
Advertising Director Matthew Balch
01202 586437
matthew.balch@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Head of Sales Hang Deretz
01202 586442
hang.deretz@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Advertising Manager Jennifer Farrell
01202 586430
The ultimate Linux solution revealed jennifer.farrell@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Account Manager Rhian Carter
01202 586421
rhian.carter@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Cover disc
Junior Web Designer Steve Dacombe
ludxtrahelp@imagine-publishing.co.uk
International
Linux User & Developer is available for licensing.
Contact the International department to learn more.
Head of International Licensing Cathy Blackman
+44 (0) 1202 586401
licensing@imagine-publishing.co.uk
Subscriptions
Head of Subscriptions Gill Lambert
For all subscriptions enquiries
0844 249 0282 (UK)
+44 (0) 1795 418661 (Overseas)
Email: LUD@servicehelpline.co.uk
6 issue subscription (UK) 25.15
13 issue subscription (Europe) 70 (ROW) - 80
Circulation
Head of Circulation Darren Pearce
01202 586200
Production
Production Director Jane Hawkins
01202 586200
Founders
Group Managing Director Damian Butt
Group Finance & Commercial Director Steven Boyd
Group Creative Director Mark Kendrick
Printing & Distribution
Printed by William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road,
Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT
Distributed in the UK & Eire by Seymour Distribution,
2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT.
0207 429 4000
Distributed in Australia by Gordon & Gotch,
Gordon & Gotch Corporate Centre, 26 Rodborough Road,
Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086.
+ 61 2 9972 8800
Distributed in the Rest of the World by Marketforce, Blue Fin
Building, 110 Southwark Street, London, SE1 0SU.

Build your own Scrape Wikipedia 0203 148 8105

Disclaimer

Raspberry Pi robot with Python

The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material
lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of
Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced

Make all your childhood Get a taste for Beautiful in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher.
All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose

dreams come true Soup in our coding guide of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured
to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and
availability may change. This magazine is fully independent and
not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein.

Master Git in ALSO INSIDE: If you submit material to Imagine Publishing via post, email, social
network or any other means, you automatically grant Imagine Publishing

>> Master the RasPi camera an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the images across

easy steps
its entire portfolio, in print, online and digital, and to deliver the images

>> LTE Open Phone reviewed to existing and future clients, including but not limited to international
licensees for reproduction in international, licensed editions of Imagine

The worlds favourite version control >> Visualise data with Graphviz
products. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although
every care is taken, neither Imagine Publishing nor its employees,

system isnt as easy as it could be >> Protect your network with FOSS agents or subcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage.
Imagine Publishing Ltd 2013
ISSN 2041-3270m

98 www.linuxuser.co.uk
CONVERT
PRINT
CREATE
COMBINE
& MODIFY

100% Standalone - No Office Automation

many MORE

SCAN FOR
20% SAVINGS