Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 2

I have downloaded the latest Ubuntu 10.04 Beta 2 and install it on VMWare. Unlike the previous Beta, this version works and i can use it without any problem. The first beta couldn't finish the installation and the installer crashed during copying the files.

My first impression about 10.04 is the speed. It loads very fast even on VMWare and i can get into login prompt in less than 5 seconds. If you enable auto login, you will get your desktop in less than 10 seconds. That's very nice of it.
Another thing that is unique in 10.04 is the left-orientation of the window control buttons, such as close, minimize, and maximize button. It's like what we see in Mac OS X. It seems that Ubuntu designers have adopted Mac-like design. I hope users will not complain about this.

How to Pick a Linux Distro (Distribution)

Entering the Linux World
As I have embarked on finding the right Linux distro I have observed a great deal about the Linux world. Where Linux is quite popular in other countries, there is an undercurrent of Linux users in the US. Now, I know there are probably hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people even in the US that use Linux, but compared to the Microsoft Windows users out there, that is a drop in the bucket. Generally, this minority of Linux users are intelligent people that enjoy using Linux for it's power and stability. This great strength of the community is also it's biggest problem. Since there are lots of smart people using Linux (that seem to already know how to use it), good and understandable instructions on using it are often hard to come by, or lack thoroughness at best. So as I searched for the "best" Linux distro, there wasn't much help that was immediately available. (Unlike what you would find for Windows)

Which Linux Distro is the "BEST"?
I was in search for the best distro, and all I could really find is, "There is no 'best.' It comes down to a matter of personal preference." Which is no help to a newb like me... I want some good pros and cons about a particular distro and more importantly, concise and easily "digestible." Give me bullet points dammit! So as I Googled around I stumbled across a really neat site geared for the most ignorant computer user or an experienced Linux user wanting to try something new. When I go into a store and I am seriously comparing some products, I am looking for a sales rep to sell me on a particular brand. Now, that doesn't mean I'm going to buy it, but I want some convincing reasons to buy one product over the other. Of course I will take this info and scour the Internet and read forums and user opinions. But I want someone to tell me what they think I should buy! This site does that for me.

The Linux Distro Test
Zegenie Studios has an easy little test with relevant questions for the most novice Linux user. Answer each question honestly and it will point you to what suites your Linux "skills" the most. I have taken the test numerous times and have massaged the answers a little differently each time. (Which I would recommend) The top three recommendations I received over and over were 1. Ubuntu 2. Mandriva One and 3. PCLinuxOS. There were a few extra distros that almost made the cut including: Kubuntu, Mepis and Xandros. One of my main criteria was FREE. I don't want to pay for what, in my mind, is unproven. Another neat feature that I would suggest is a "Live CD". This is basically a bootable CD that allows you to check out the distro, without having to fully commit a piece of your hard drive to this new (and shall I say foreign) operating system. There are lots of instructions on how to boot your computer with a CD, especially on the individual distribution sites themselves. There are also great differences in how some these distributions work, so take a look and read the FAQ and Wikis at each site. And once you have chosen a distribution read, read, read, read, read.

How to find cause of heavy usage on your Apache webserver

Here's a quick and dirty tips on how to find cause of heavy CPU resources usage on your Apache webserver (especially when running php scripts).

First you need to locate the Apache 2 "access.log" file. By default in Ubuntu, this file is located in "/var/logs/apache2" directory.

Then you need to run this command to find out which IP address accesses your website the most in a short time.

CODE:

1. tail -10000 access.log| awk '{print $1}' | sort | uniq -c |sort -n

The output of the command should contain a list of IP addresses along with the number of hits it made in the last 10,000 access of your website

CODE:

1. 47 117.58.252.98
2. 81 202.124.242.186
3. 84 202.124.245.26
4. 182 194.164.101.217
5. 220 208.101.22.146
6. 225 72.167.131.144
7. 3946 93.135.xxx.xxx

From here you can easily locate the offending ip address and proceed to block it from accessing your website further using .htaccess file or other blocking method.

Here is an example to block certain ip address from accessing your website using .htaccess file

CODE:

2. order deny,allow
3. deny from 93.135.xxx.xxx

Save .htaccess file in the root directory of your web server (example /var/www), and the ip address wont be available to access your site again.

Hope that would help you!

Working hard publishing papers and learning PyGTK

For the last few weeks I've been working hard to finish up my research project, most of it concerning about on mobile phone application usability and context-aware applications. This leaves me with less time to devote for this blog and I started to realise that I might have a 'burn-out' issue at the same time.

I'm still using Ubuntu in my daily work if you are curious (Ubuntu Netbook Remix 9.04 for netbook) and Ubuntu Jaunty Jackalope for my Intel Core 2 Duo Desktop PC. Besides writing those research papers, I've use what left of my time to learn PyGTK to enable me to code RAD app for GNU/Linux desktop environment.

I found out the references around the internet regarding PyGTK is very helpful to aid me in understanding the GTK+ bindings in python, which is not much different from its C counterpart.

Now that I've some time to spare until Hari , I'll try to use that time wisely to fill up this blog with a couple more of fresh new posts. So, keep reading!