Linux & Open Source Annual 2015

180 Pages·2015·13.856 MB·English

by  Imagine Publishing

NEW 120+ mins of
free video

& Open Source

Annual
645

Everything you need to master open
source software and operating systems expert tips

& tricks

Welcome to
Linux and open source software is, by its very
nature, always changing and evolving. By constantly
updating and improving, it pushes the boundaries of
what can be achieved with software. Whether this
takes the form of updates to the many operating
systems out there, awesome hacks that make life
or computing easier than ever, or new hardware
like the Raspberry Pi 2, there’s always something
groundbreaking on the horizon. We have crammed
as much of the year’s exciting new information
as we possibly can into this annual, from the key
developments in the wide-ranging world of open
source software, to the many practical tutorials that
can help improve your systems and solve network
issues. This collection truly is a treasure-trove of Linux
and open source knowledge, ready for you to jump
right into. So, what are you waiting for?

& Open Source
Annual
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Linux & Open Source Annual © 2015 Imagine Publishing Ltd
ISBN 978 1785 461 835
Part of the
bookazine series
Linux & Open Source Annual
Contents
008 B est free software
All the software you need at home
Open source world

020 Evolution of Ubuntu
028 Get started with Ubuntu Phone 020
032 Plasma Mobile: next-gen Linux phone
036 The future is open source
Enhance

your system

044 Build your own system tools
052 Troubleshoot & Repair Linux networks
058 Turn an old PC into a NAS box
062 Debug your own Linux software like
a pro
058
066 Automate your audio in Linux
070 Set up game controllers to work on
Linux
074 Speed up your system by combining
SSD and HDD
6
Programming

in Linux

080 100 ways to master the
command line
088 Start programming in C#
092 Use your Kinect with Linux
096 Intermediate AWK programming
100(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:47)(cid:68)(cid:88)(cid:81)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:3)(cid:92)(cid:82)(cid:88)(cid:85)(cid:3)(cid:427)(cid:85)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:39)(cid:82)(cid:70)(cid:78)(cid:72)(cid:85)(cid:3)
container
104 Deploy software to Docker
088
containers using Deis
108 Run science experiments on the
ExpEYES kit
112 Program a Parrot AR.Drone’s
(cid:429)(cid:76)(cid:74)(cid:75)(cid:87)(cid:3)(cid:83)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:75)
116 Home automation with your Pi
Harness FOSS
126 How to virtualise Linux
134 How open source giants are changing
the world
138 Running Windows apps with Wine
144(cid:3)(cid:3)(cid:21)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:47)(cid:76)(cid:69)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:50)(cid:73)(cid:427)(cid:70)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:76)(cid:83)(cid:86)(cid:3)
& tricks
148 Bodhi Linux 3.1.0
150 Korora 22
152 OSMC
154 Mageia 5
156 Solus Beta 2
158 KDE Plasma 5
126
168 Code Gnome software
7
Best free software
8
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ALL THE
Using Linux for any kind of computing purpose is
genuinely feasible these days, unlike the dark ages of
the Noughties. With excellent, large communities around
SOFTWARE YOU different distros and software, many apps and programs
have been created that can fi t a wide variety of purposes.
While some of the best apps may rise to the top of the
NEED TO USE AT Wpilieth, ytohua tm ina ym ninodt, awlwe’aveys p buet tloogoektinhge ra at gthuaidt es fpoerc tifih ec vpeilrey.
best Linux apps that you can get for all of the major uses.
From offi ce workers to gamers and even scientists, there
HOME & WORK are plenty of great pieces of software for anyone wanting to
use Linux.
9
Best free software
MULTIMEDIA & ART
Play games, paint, make music – the choice is yours and you have plenty of it
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you can defi nitely use it always had its ups and downs,
CLEMENTINE for digital colouring, Krita is where requiring you to scour the Internet
MUSIC
you can do some really beautiful to fi nd a way to play some obscure
art. The layout and workfl ow is video fi le. On Linux, this sometimes
better optimised for painting than required switching between media
GIMP and also has better tablet decoders, but VLC does away with all
support. Instead of doing fl ats, you of that by having all the codecs built
can actually paint with a full colour in. And we do mean all of the codecs
palette that is easier to select from. In – it will play anything you can throw
addition, there is a better selection of at it. That’s before you get to its full
brush types and effects. network streaming capability.
GIMP
IMAGE EDITING
Our favourite music player and manager is also Photoshop shmotoshop. GIMP may not cost you a kidney, but it can
defi nitely one of the best around. Clementine, as certainly do just about anything Photoshop can. It isn’t exactly fair to
well as being able to simply play music, enables you refer to it as a free Photoshop because it is an image editor in its own
to easily manage your entire media library, playlists and even right, with its own individual workfl ow and interface. It has a great dev team
some content from your online music streaming services. It has behind it and an active community, so it is easy to learn how to use GIMP or move
more features than any other music player and it is the only one over from Adobe’s offering.
we like on Linux that can create smart playlists for you. And, of
course, it plays every type of music fi le you can think of. Here we have the main manipulation Here is your work space – you can
tools – your standard paintbrushes use the layer view for an overall look
and drawing tools, along with a variety at the composition, but you can also
of selection tools along with size, look at the alpha channels, recent
AUDACITY perspective and placement tools documents and action history
AUDIO EDITING
Audio editing may be a bit niche, but Audacity is one of
the best tools for the job. With powerful effects, track
control and a great workfl ow, it is easy and quick to
edit or produce whatever you’re working on, whether it’s music,
podcasts or sound effects. Our top tip is to make sure you know
your way around your sound server on your system for different
microphone confi gurations.
BLENDER
3D MODELLING
A long-running and great piece of software, Blender
is your one-stop shop on Linux for creating 3D models
and 3D animated fi lms. The quality of the Blender-
created shorts over the past few years has been incredible,
Many effects, such as the colour and Use all these tools to make photos
demonstrating that you can do just about anything with it if you
fi lter effects, are kept in separate just that little bit better, with touch-
try hard enough. The dev community includes a lot of people windows so you can modify the ups, white balancing and maybe even
that use it professionally, so it’s in very good hands and has properties and get a small preview of an adjustment layer or two to make
been made with 3D-modellers in mind. how it will change the image them really pop in colour
10