LibreOffice is the most reliable tool for command-line document conversion, offering robust support for Microsoft Office formats. Install it on Ubuntu/Debian/Linux Mint: sudo apt install libreoffice On Fedora/RHEL systems: sudo dnf install libreoffice For minimal headless-only installations without GUI dependencies: sudo apt install libreoffice-writer libreoffice-calc libreoffice-impress Converting .docx/.doc to .odt LibreOffice runs in headless mode…
Insync is a third-party sync client that fills the gap left by Microsoft’s lack of native Linux support for OneDrive. It handles both personal OneDrive and OneDrive for Business accounts reliably and integrates cleanly with your desktop environment. Installation Debian/Ubuntu/Linux Mint sudo apt-key adv –keyserver keyserver.ubuntu.com –recv-keys ACCAF35C sudo add-apt-repository “deb http://apt.insync.io/debian $(lsb_release -cs) non-free…
MATE Desktop provides a traditional GNOME 2-style interface that many users prefer over modern GNOME Shell. Here’s how to install it on Linux Mint 17 Qiana. Install MATE Desktop sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment For the full MATE experience with extras: sudo apt-get install mate-desktop-environment-extras This adds additional applets, themes, and utilities not…
Firefox ships with several search engines pre-configured, but the default varies by region and Mozilla’s partnerships. If you want Google as your primary search engine on Linux Mint, the process is straightforward. Access Firefox Search Settings Open Firefox and navigate to about:preferences#search in the address bar, or go through the menu: ☰ (hamburger menu) →…
Managing a cluster of servers, you’ll want to be notified when they come back online after restarts or unexpected reboots. Email notifications on boot let you track infrastructure changes and catch potential issues early. Using crontab @reboot The simplest approach is a crontab @reboot entry that runs once at startup. This executes before most services…
Listing active services is essential for system monitoring and troubleshooting. Whether you’re investigating a hung process, checking if a daemon started correctly, or auditing what’s actually running on your system, knowing how to query service status quickly saves time. Basic Command The standard way to list running services across all modern Linux distributions is: systemctl…
Making firewall rules persistent across system reboots is essential for any production Linux system. While the original iptables-persistent approach works, modern systems typically use ufw (Uncomplicated Firewall) or firewalld, but understanding the underlying iptables mechanism is still valuable for lower-level control. Using iptables-persistent The iptables-persistent package automatically saves and restores your firewall rules during boot….
musl libc is a lightweight C library implementation that’s useful for creating statically-linked binaries, containerized applications, and embedded systems. It’s the standard C library in Alpine Linux and increasingly common in production environments. Installation from distribution repositories The simplest approach is installing musl from your distribution’s repositories: sudo apt update sudo apt install musl musl-dev…
When managing packages on Ubuntu or Debian systems, knowing what versions are available—and which one will be installed—is essential for dependency management and system stability. The aptitude command provides several ways to inspect package versions. Check all available versions of a package The most straightforward approach is to use the versions subcommand: aptitude versions package-name…
When you run cat /etc/resolv.conf on a modern Linux system, you’ll often see nameserver 127.0.0.1 or 127.0.1.1 pointing to localhost. This doesn’t mean you’re actually using your ISP’s DNS directly — it usually means your system is running a local DNS stub resolver or caching service like systemd-resolved or dnsmasq. To find out which actual…
A USB drive that’s mounted as read-only is frustrating — you can read files but can’t write, delete, or modify anything. This usually happens due to filesystem issues, hardware problems, or missing drivers. Check the Current State First, identify how the drive is mounted and what filesystem it uses: lsblk -f Look for your USB…
Linux Mint’s Cinnamon desktop automatically mounts removable media like USB drives and external hard drives by default. If you prefer manual control over when and how storage devices are mounted, you can disable this behavior through Nemo, the Cinnamon file manager. Disable Auto-Mounting via Nemo Preferences The simplest approach is to configure Nemo’s mounting behavior…
[md] When you need to inspect what files a .deb package contains or will install, dpkg is your primary tool. This is useful for understanding package contents before installation, checking what files a package added to your system, or troubleshooting file conflicts. ## Listing Files in an Installed Package If the package is already installed…
Distribution repositories often lag behind Calibre’s latest releases. If your package manager shows an older version and you need current features or bug fixes, installing directly from the official installer is straightforward. Official installer method Calibre provides a dedicated Linux installer that works across distributions. This is the recommended approach for staying current: sudo -v…
GitBook is a tool for building documentation and ebooks from Markdown content. Here’s how to set it up on a Linux system. Prerequisites You’ll need Node.js installed first. On Ubuntu/Debian: curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash – sudo apt-get install -y nodejs On Fedora/RHEL: sudo dnf install nodejs Verify the installation: node –version npm…
When you need a command or library file but don’t have the package installed, you need to search for which package provides it. On Red Hat/Fedora systems, yum provides or dnf provides does this. On Debian/Ubuntu, the equivalent is apt-file. Red Hat, Fedora, and CentOS (DNF/YUM) Use dnf provides (or yum provides on older systems):…
Node.js installation on Ubuntu and Linux Mint has evolved significantly. The approach depends on your use case — whether you need the latest stable version, multiple Node versions for different projects, or just a quick setup. Using the NodeSource Repository (Recommended) The NodeSource repository provides current, well-maintained Node.js packages. This is the best approach for…
When you need to see what versions of a package are available in your Ubuntu repositories, there are several approaches depending on how much detail you need. Using apt-cache showpkg The most direct method is apt-cache showpkg, which lists all available versions along with their repository sources: apt-cache showpkg thunderbird This output shows version numbers,…
The primary tool for iPhone backups on Linux is libimobiledevice, a cross-platform library that communicates with iOS devices without iTunes. It works with modern iOS versions (iOS 7 through current releases) and supports encrypted backups. Installation On Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install libimobiledevice6 libimobiledevice-tools On Fedora/RHEL: sudo dnf install libimobiledevice libimobiledevice-devel On Arch: sudo pacman -S…
Linux Mint’s Driver Manager makes installing proprietary wireless drivers straightforward, but the process varies depending on your hardware and kernel version. For older HP Mini 110 netbooks with Broadcom BCM43xx chipsets, the bcmwl-kernel-source driver remains the most reliable option. Check Your Wireless Hardware First, identify your wireless adapter before installing drivers: lspci | grep -i…