LXF151 ON Mandriv CA YO The UK’s biggest* and best Linux mag IN *132 fact-packed pages. Fact! E, UR tu a2 to 01 SHIN ria 1, LXF l co Flig YD December 2011 de + ht GeaVD mo r, re! Issue 151 The #1 source forLinux Conquer the command line $ conquerthe\ Mandriva 2011 >command line Be the boss of your computer Also inside… XBMC Diagnose andfix problems LibreOfficevsWord Recycle old hardware Expand your Linuxskillset Get them to play nicely together p80 Rig a Linux router Get real work done fast Turn anymachine into an internet gateway and say farewell to fiddly firmware p96 LibreOffice vs Word Making Mandriva TheRussianshavesaved it forthe users –so IS YOUR what’s the story behind the new release? p56 FREE DVD XBMC from scratch MISSING? Parse perfect Perl Speak to yo ur Buildamedia centre that plays newsagent Where we’re going, we don’t need SQL p102 everything – thanks, Microsoft! p92 now! RigRigaLinuxrouter a Linux router PLUS! 16-PAGE MaMandrivandriva20201111 CODING The distro that started a DoDoNotTrack Not Track SECTION Even mor thousand users is back p22 eprojects in ourCoding Academy ProtectProtectyourselfatalltimes yourself at all times ChaseDouglas We have to deal with backwards compatibility issues X: thetechthatwon’t die p48 Printed in the UK Core skills Android Arch Linux www.TuxRadar.com Encrypt your files Build an MP3 player Packageapps LXF151DECEMBER2011£6.49 Keep them secret, Hackphonesthe ethical Compilepackages inted in the UK keep them safe way – code on Android like the cool kids Pr Welcome The #1 source forLinux What we do We support the open source community by providing aresourceofinformation, anda forum for debate. We help all readers get more from Linux with our tutorial section – we’ve something for everyone! We license all the source code we print in our tutorials section under the GNU GPLv3. We give you the most accurate, unbiased and up-to-date information on all things Linux. Who we are This month we help you to conquer your fears of the command line. We asked our team: what part of Linux are you most afraid of? Shellshock If youask someone who knows very little about Linux whytheyhaven’ttried it,inmyexperience, they’ll often say something like: “Oh, it seems far too complicated. I’dnever be able to remember all those commands.” They’re referring to the command line,and I’m alwayssurprised they think of this when talking about Linux, and not rotating cubes, Mike Saunders Andrew Gregory Efrain Hernandez- The letterX.There’s My neophobia means Mendoza community development and penguins. too much of it. Linux, that I’mstill running Who is Colonel Panic, The command line has become synonymous with Linux, and Firefox,The X Window Turbolinux 8. What’s and whydoeshewant manypeople still seem to think youneed to masterittoget a System, Xfce, Latex... this KDE 3 thing people to fsck my drive? are talking about? working system. We all know this isn’t true.You can use Linux justasyou would OS XorWindows, and there’sabsolutely no need to resort to typing fdisk unless youwant to.I’veforgotten how many people I’ve needed to say this to, and they all seem to leavelooking unconvinced, as if taking the command line from Linux removes some of its mythical allure. But maybe I shouldn’t be so apologetic, and maybe the shell deserves to be lauded as our operating system’s best Neil Bothwick Mayank Sharma Jonathan As a leet Gentoo user, Starting LibreOffice.I Roberts feature rather than a relic from a bygone era. Yo u can still do I’mafraid of installing always know I’ll regret Seeing aBSOD. No things quicker, more efficiently and more effectively with just binary packages, it, 15 minutes into wait, a row of bombs. a couple of commands than you ever could from the desktop. rather than using my staring at that splash No wait, aguru And with consumers losing more control over their hardware 3,927-character long screen. meditation error... CFLAGS settings. with every new shiny product they buy, the CLI represents the true nature of Linux – an operating system to play with, to experiment on, to tear apart and put back again. All thanks to a couple of commands. Graham Morrison Editor [email protected] Andy Channelle David Cartwright Nick Veitch Someone telling me I fear the day my VAX I’mnot scaredof that my choiceof 11/780 stops running, Linux. Truth be told, distroiswrong. Don’t and Ihavetopay Linux is scared of me. you know that digs into £12,000 for a 256k Mwahaha! my soul? Boo hoo... stick of RAM. Susan Linton Shashank Sharma Bob Moss I’mscaredthat RMS Spheniscidaeaphobia. I’mgenuinely scared will condemn my If Iget that, I’ll just that Gnome 4will just favouritedistroas have to move overto have asingle button non-free.Nooooooooo! BSD. Or MikeOS. that saysLog Out. You Subscribetoday know, as part of the drive for simplicity. and get five issues FREE! www.tuxradar.com December 2011 LXF151 3 Contents The world is at your fingertips. Command and conquer. Reviews Mandriva 2011 .................. 22 Can anew direction turn the distro’s fortunes around? $ conquer the\ Seen this somewherebefore? FlightGear 2.4................... 25 > command line Chocksawayfor the latest instalment of the classic indie flight sim. TaTakekechchargeargeof Qt Creator 2.3....................27 Nokia deliversamajor updatetoits your computer p40 development environment. Creator’s clever application window. RawTherapee 3.0............. 29 Transform your RAWimages with this scarily feature-packed photo converter. Books................................. 36 Awesome algorithms and free tool tipsfor messing with your images. WhatWhatOnEarthEarthiis...s... Roundup: Email clients p30 Do Not Track? p60 Talking heads Thebiggest challenge with Xisthatitdefined a protocol and said we all must conform to this. ChaseDouglas on bringing multi-touch to Ubuntu p48 4 LXF151 December 2011 www.linuxformat.com On your free DVD Mandriva 2011 CAINE 2.5 FlightGear 2.4 Subscribe today Puppy 5.2.8 and getfive PLUS: Games, tools & guides... p126 issues FREE! p66 Don’tmiss... Recycle old kit..................... 50 Breathe new life into old computers. 18 data security tips.......... 54 Hang on to your valuables. Inside Mandriva.................. 56 A year in the life of a troubled distro. Coding Academy Tutorials Perl...........................................................102 Beginners Keep track of your books with a simple database. Encryption..........................76 The secret world of file security. Coding Concepts..................................106 Conditionals – the ifs and buts of coding. Python.....................................................108 Make custom tooltips for a new music player. Android ....................................................112 Build your own MP3 player. Regulars at aglance Create an encrypted virtual disk. News............................. 6 What on Earth is? ....60 Answers ....................118 Compatibility LibreOffice & MS Word ...80 Releasecycle madness and Microsoft Do Not Track: keep those pesky YOUR PROBLEMS SOLVED Word processors working in harmony. moves to lock out Linux. advertisers off your tail. Grappling with Grub?Need softphone solutions? Help’s at hand. Package management User groups................14 Sysadmin...................62 Arch Linux ......................... 86 Barcamp MediaCityreport and find Server setup made simple and all you Next month............. 124 Get to grips with the user repository. a friendly LUG near you. need to know about virtualisation. LikeaRoman haruspex, we study the entrails and tell you what’s in store. Electronics Mailserver...................16 Subscriptions ...........66 Arduino .............................. 88 Custom build your own. Vent your spleen and if it’snot too Fivefreeissuesand they’re all rude we’ll put it in print. delivered to your door. Media centre XBMC................................. 92 Roundup ....................30 HotPicks....................68 Tu rn a spare PC into a media centre. Fiveofthe best email clientsgo Hotter than Death Valleyonavery head-to-head. sunny day. Hardcore Build a firewall .................. 96 Distrowatch...............38 Back issues.............. 117 Protect your system with aLinux-based installation that does what you want it to. Anew Mandriva, the latest Arch and Missedatutorial? It’snot toolateto Oursubscriptions team is a look at how Fedora 16’s shaping up. get your hands on an old mag. waiting for your call. www.tuxradar.com December 2011 LXF151 5 9000 THIS ISSUE: Ubuntu Google KDE RedHat Patents MS Lockdown ReLeAseCYCLes Ubuntu to go monthly? Canonical devsuggestsrevitalisingdistro’sreleasecycle. member of the Ubuntu At the moment, Ubuntu releases business-oriented long-term support Te chnical Board, the body come twiceayear, in April and October, (LTS)releases, which Canonical Aresponsible fordeciding the and this predictability–along with an continuestosupport forthree yearson direction that Canonical’sdistroshould up-to-dateimplementation of the takewhen it comestotechnical matters, Gnome desktop–isone of the key has proposedthat the distroabandon its features that made it such asuccess “Monthly distro current six-monthly development cycle when it launched as aDebian spin-off in updatescould be too and switch to amonthly releaseinstead, October 2004.These releases are as used by Firefox. supported for18months,except forthe much hassle for some.” Arch Arch Ubuntu (proposed) Intrepid Ibex JauntyJackalope Karmic Koala Lucid Lynx (LTS) Maverick Meerkat Fedora Cambridge Leonidas Constantine Goddard Laugh OpenSUSE OpenSUSE