Forem: Gautham Prakash

My 3 year Linux anniversary

Gautham Prakash — Tue, 29 Jun 2021 07:15:23 +0000

Hi all,

It's been close to 3 years (newbie in Linux standards) since I've made the switch to full time desktop Linux and I just want to put it out there that I've been really enjoying the whole journey and learned a lot from the community than I ever did from anywhere else. It had helped me understand more about software and computers and also improved my workflow and speed up computing tasks in general and my love for the terminal keeps on reaching newer heights.

I believe that Linux would be very interesting for those people who likes the DIY approach and since Windows 11 doesn't offer decent support for older hardware that can be one of the many reasons for you to change to a much more free and privacy respecting more secure and open operating system build by the people without business intentions (*not all though).

Don't blindly switch to Linux when someone says so! It's not for everybody and I respect that. But for any of you interested in switching to full time Linux. Do watch this: linux-for-windows-users (The guy doing the video is not from a tech background!)

Do check out my blog (some things have improved from the time of writing): reasons-i-switched-to-linux

PS: Neither am I an activist nor trying to stir up any debate here Just the user!. I do respect other people's effort. But I prefer Linux over other operating systems that's all.

Penguin (TUX) image credits:Brian McMahon

Have a nice week.

Brave - The underdog of browsing

Gautham Prakash — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 08:22:37 +0000

As Ted Nelson said:

“What we now call the browser is whatever defines the web. What fits in the browser is the World Wide Web and a number of trivial standards to handle that so that the content comes.”

It’s common in this day and age to use a web browser more than any other application. Being efficient, private and secure is one thing that crave’s the attention of the human brain. I’ve been switching back and forth many browsers throughout my teens and then one day out of the blue I’ve discovered Brave!.

With mixed bag feeling, I hesitated at first and then tried it out, it was similar and different from Chromium (Opensource Fork of Chrome), my Ex, and Firefox, my helper friend, in many many ways. Even though brave is built on top of chromium (Webkit on IOS though), it has inherited few good traits from privacy-oriented Firefox plus more super cool options as well.

Pros

Ad blocking
Close to zero data selling
Phishing protection
Malware protection
Malvertising protection
Per-site Shield settings
Built in torrent client
Built in tor connection
Block Trackers
Get paid for viewing Ads.
Built-in Crypto Wallets
Faster browsing (Better than chrome and firefox)
Ram usage (Better than chrome and firefox)
IPFS – downloading large files more decentralised.
Block social media content embedded on other websites
Secure sync
Opensource
Cross Platform

Cons

Uses Brave sync and no Google sync/password manager (I use opensource password manager – (Bitwarden)[https://bitwarden.com/])
Brave shield could break parts of some websites.
Not the best android browser out there.
Reward program is not very clear at start.

There are many tweaks under the hood, So instead of me talking, just give brave a shot at: https://brave.com/download/

Happy Browsing.

Free VPN for 6 months

Gautham Prakash — Fri, 26 Jun 2020 15:27:58 +0000

Note: This is not a promotion!.

I thought it would be useful to share it these days.

6 months of free VPN from Seed4me.

To avail this offer

Use Promocode: STAYHOME @ seed4.me

Cheers.

Unlimited Google Drive - How to make the most out of it?

Gautham Prakash — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 18:32:06 +0000

What are all the possible use-cases of having unlimited google drive storage other than storing data. Like what all automation can be done with it? For example: Connecting Colab with Google drive to automate stuffs.

Looking forward to hearing some useful hacks and tips.

Easiest way to install Android OS via Linux. No Grub fiddling!

Gautham Prakash — Sun, 07 Jun 2020 08:35:13 +0000

Let's get to business right away. We will be installing an android fork from https://www.android-x86.org/

Step 1 - Download the Android x86 rpm file

Download either of 32bit or 64bit .rpm package of android-x86 from https://www.android-x86.org/download.html

Note : Step 2 is not applicable for (Fedora/Red Hat/CentOS/SUSE) users since rpm package can be installed in those by default. Skip on to Step 3

Step 2 - Installing alien package

Install alien package for your linux distro. 'Alien' is a computer program that converts different Linux package distribution file formats. It supports conversion between Linux Standard Base, RPM, deb, Stampede (.slp) and Slackware (tgz) packages.

Ubuntu/ LinuxMint/ Debian users can do



sudo apt install alien

Arch user can install from AUR - https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/alien_package_converter/

Step 3 - Installing the Android x86 rpm file.

Note :The installation may take around 3-5 minutes depending upon the read/ write speeds.

For (Fedora/Red Hat/CentOS/SUSE) users, as you all know run:



sudo rpm -ivh android-x86-version.rpm

For (Ubuntu/Debian/Linux mint) users, run:



sudo alien -ci android-x86-version.rpm

Volá! 🤩 Now you are ready with android x86 desktop O.S.
Reboot and you will see a boot entry with Android x86 tag. If it doesn't show up, just change the grub timeout using Grub Customizer or manually press Esc while booting up to show boot entries.

Note :

Do remember to enable Native Bridge from android settings to enjoy android desktop to the prime.
You could launch the installed Android-x86 in a QEMU virtual machine if needed.
To uninstall the O.S files and boot entry. Use the usual package uninstalling method of you distribution.

Enjoy your day 💖.

Dockerfile Templates For All Programming languages

Gautham Prakash — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 18:39:06 +0000

Docker templates for most common programming languages.

Project Link: ttps://github.com/gauthamp10/dockerfile-boilerplates

Feel free to contribute.https://github.com/gauthamp10/dockerfile-boilerplates/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md

Reasons why I switched to Linux. Full time!

Gautham Prakash — Wed, 03 Jun 2020 16:39:19 +0000

Hey there. It's my first time on #dev.to community.

The reason why I wrote this blog is to let you all get a glimpse of why using a free and open source operating system is always better for people in the tech domain and also to break some myths about Linux. I have changed as a full-time Linux user a year ago and haven't looked back since.

Operating Systems have always been a fascination to me and I've tried a variety of the same from Macintosh System 1 through MS-DOS to latest version of BSD Unix.The following are some genuine reasons why I switched to Linux as my fulltime operating system.

Reason 1: Updates

Updates are a way of getting the brightest and greatest features and tools to stands out from the crowd. But if we have no control over it, it can break and disrupt your workflow.

Linux stands out in delivering timely stable updates and gives users a choice of either to download it or not so that you can have total control of your updates.

In Linux what's good to see is you could always select what to update and what not. This is very useful when we have limited memory and we only need to update security patches.

Linux selective update

Now when we compare with other operating systems it's not the same. There is little flexibility with updates. Another plus point of Linux is that you can change and swap any new feature and integrate it into your existing configuration. It may not be a single click but you always have that option as well.

Reason 2: Resource Usage

Most proprietary operating systems have their core designed in such a way that the OS can be used only if you have a decent system specification.

Since the internals like the kernel is so lite some (thousand LOC), you could bake up your customized Linux version which only uses RAM of around 400Mb....great right! Think about it, even your smartphone uses around 1.5Gb of ram on average.

Memory Usage

This ultimately translates to the fact that you could run more apps and scripts with the limited specification.

Reason 3: Best for Developers

Linux is and will remain the best ecosystem without debate for developers of the fact that it comes prebuilt with a plethora of suites and apps for the sole purpose of software development and because of the FOSS community that it is backed up by.

via GIPHY

Another thing to consider for developers is because sources can be compiled and executed on Linux much faster.

Package management also plays a key role in making the TUX special for hardcore devs. One could selectively add or remove any packages at will. This is a more flexible way of getting things done much faster and be more productive at work.

😎 Cool Fact : The above statements can be backed up by the fact that the top 500 supercomputers run on Linux and most cloud servers are powered by the TUX.

Reason 4: Get to solve real problems

It is greatly accepted that Linux is much harder for a newbie, it has changed to some extent but deep down it is the same. Linux was intentionally designed so that one can know the ins and outs of the computer system whether it's the software or the kernel interacting with the hardware.

To use Linux full-time or as your primary OS especially for a newbie is tough due to various reasons. For example, in some distribution,you need to write hardware-specific drivers for WiFi, Audio and such basic things. This might look very complex but once you get the hang of it you could solve bigger problems.

Linux is a great way of gaining some troubleshooting experience. It may give up on you but you have the power to always bring it back up if you are willing to do so!.

Reason 5: You have the ultimate control

It's not Apple or Microsoft or even Canonical that are controlling you. You are your 😎 Boss when it comes to Linux even if it's backed up by any MNC.

You have the supreme authority to have all permissions to edit any files as per your liking. File permissions are an entirely humongous topic when it comes to Linux. You can practice, understand and benefit a lot by knowing file permissions.

Know more about Linux file permissions: WikiArchlinux

The whole firewall, VPN, SSH and every other aspect of the network can also be controlled at will.

Reason 6: Endless Customization

Back in the days when Linux was young and tender, one might look at it and say: "An unfriendly dirty command-line O.S!".

Mind you!..those days are long gone.You can have pre-built beautifull linux distributions like Deepin, Elementary, Endless OS etc.. which are very much 21st century and a visual treat.Moreover since you are your own boss here,you could try out different desktop environments(layouts) or a window manager in th same system and select the best that suites you for different moods.You could have:

Gnome
KDE
Unity
Cinnamon
XFCE
LXDE
Mate
Budgie
LxQt
Enlightment
Deepin
Pantheon and many many more...

Tried all and don't like any? - Build your own desktop environemt

Customization of UI doesn't mean that you can only change the theme, fonts, icons, lock screen only. You could change the window buttons, you don't like the taskbar, you could change that as well. You could even change the boot-loader background or logo to say your dog's picture. The options are endless as long as your imaginations don't.

Note: You could emulate the looks of MacOS or Windows if you are that sort of person.

Windows 10 Theme for Linux: Original Soucrce

Mac Theme for Linux: Original Post

Reason 7: Free, Open Source and Privacy oriented

Other than a minute percentage of apps and OS vendors, the whole Linux operating systems and apps are open source and free to use and distribute. This makes it a joy for people like me to test out the best apps and OSs out there and to get inspired.

With the non-open source nature of other OS, it's not clear what's under the hood. The level of transparency even though is documented, but we can't see it. We don't know what all data are being collected but with Linux we know what are dealing with if we are willing to dig deep.

See source code of linux: Linux Repo

You might argue that then why I am using Google. For that my reply is: " Prepare for the worst! and Expect the best!."

Reason 8: Better immunity to viruses

" Virus?.......I don't know you well!" -🐧 TUX says

It's a myth that Linux is immune to viruses. Any computer which is attached to a network is prone to threads and so does Linux. But the risk here is much less when we compare it with the likes of other operating systems because of Linux's Permissions.

The best thing about Linux is that you could always open a virus infected USB from other operating systems and even Linux binaries with malicious code can be copied to your file-system as long as you don't execute or give it necessary permissions, you're OK.

Trade-Offs

Even though Linux is great for many things, it falls short when it comes to the following things.

Support
- Since Linux is open sourced, not every distribution will get customer support like a Windows or Mac. This is true and will remain so for years to come until and unless Microsoft or Apple make their own Linux distros. Hey..why bother when you are your Boss..the responsibility is on you!

Drivers
- Linux won't automatically install all drivers for you. For instance, my laptop the Acer Swift 3 comes with a fingerprint sensor (vendor- EgisTec). Windows has the driver for the sensor but EgisTec doesn't provide any Linux drivers or source. So now I have to figure out a way to build a driver for the sensor without any source.It seems tough going! and It is.... but I love it.

Games
- Gaming is an area of heated debates between Linux and Windows fans. One might say Linux supports games through Wine Emulation or you could always use Steam. But it is not practical everywhere.
- Even though ProtonDB , Lutris and PlayOnLinux are worth a try, but it’s felt quite buggy and unstable for the long run and even the setup is pretty tiresome. Trust me I’ve gone through the chaotic crashes.
- But things will change since cloud gaming is the future where we don’t rely much on hardware or software but the network only.

Windows and Mac-specific application
- One of the main reasons why every professional cannot switch into Linux is due to the proprietary application suites like MS Office, Adobe etc..they use for their work which is not available on Linux. Even though alternatives are available for Office productivity, image manipulation, and video editing. The Windows and Mac counterparts are much better.

Folks that's the end of this blog. I hope you like it and feel free to contact me.

mailto
Website
Github