Installing a newer version of a package on Debian stable

I wanted to install Wireshark a network packet sniffing program today but when I checked the version available in the Debian stable repository I noticed it was several versions behind the latest available on their website.

This is a common occurance on Debian as they prefer stability over cutting edge software but sometimes you need the latest version of a software package so how do you get it when it’s not in the repos? The answer is app pinning.

Debian has several repos, stable of course as well as testing and unstable. Many people use the testing repo as their main package repository on a daily basis without major dramas. Unstable is the very top of the tree where the latest packages are introduced to the package tree and they are often the least stable as a result.

So to begin with we need to alter several files. These are /etc/apt/sources.list & /etc/apt/preferences

It’s good to get into the habit of creating a backup of any file you edit in Linux so I started by doing sudo mv /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.nfo & sudo mv /etc/apt/preferences /etc/apt/preferences.nfo

This way if you totally screw something up it’s easy to boot your system with a live cd (I recommend the System Restore Cd) and delete the modified config file, rename the backup and you’ve got a working system again.

Also you might be wondering why I used .nfo as the extension well I forget where I read it now but someone suggested using your initials for the extension so that’s what I do.

To start with open your start menu and click “Run Program” then enter "gksudo [editor]" (I use gedit)

Now we need to know what repositories to add. I added

## Testing
deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free

## Testing Security updates
deb http://security.debian.org/ testing/updates main contrib

I just added these to the bottom of the list already there. Also i realised I mentioned unstable earlier in this post but I don’t really want to mess with that on this machine so I stayed with testing only. I also changed the existing repos from “squeeze” to “stable” just to keep everything the same.

Now we open /etc/apt/preferences and add

Package: *
Pin: release a=stable
Pin-Priority: 700

Package: *
Pin: release a=testing
Pin-Priority: 650

Package: *
Pin: release a=unstable
Pin-Priority: 600

As you can see the Pin-Priority numbers decrease from stable to unstable this is because apt prioritises the highest number so you don’t end up upgrading every package on your system only the one you actual want.

Right so save that and return to your terminal.

Now I ran sudo apt-get install wireshark/testing but that returned errors due to incompatible version numbers of dependant libraries.

Just when I was about to pull my hair out I found this little gem sudo apt-get -t testing wireshark I ran that and it installed perfectly. So I had to check out the man page to find out what this magical -t flag actually did.

Trying to install wireshark with the first command wireshark/testing was only going to install the wireshark package from the testing repos and none of the dependancies but using -t testing means it gets everything it needs to install wireshark from the testing repo in other words the main package and all the dependancies.

Very nice and definately one to remember for future use.

How I automated setting the wallpaper on my custom Debian Eee pc install

Setting wallpaper in openbox

subheading: doing it via the cli using minimal resources

apps used: feh, nano

autostart.sh in $HOME/.config/openbox
sh ~/.fehbg &

.fehbg in $HOME
feh –bg-scale ‘/home/becker/Downloads/debian_wallpaper1.png’

Firstly I set the background using “feh –bg-scale /home/becker/Download/debian_wallpaper1.png when you do this feh automatically creates the file .fehbg in your $HOME folder containing the command you’ve just run. At this stage if you reboot your wallpaper will be lost and you’ll have to set it again manually.

If you want it too be set automatically each time you reboot you need to add a line to your autostart.sh file in $HOME/.config/openbox/. If like me the file isn’t already there you can create it by opening a terminal and typing nano autostart.sh then enter the command “sh ~/.fehbg &” save the file and exit. Now when you reboot the wallpaper will be set automatically everytime.

Before anyone asks here is the wallpaper I used

Using Gnu Screen

To start a session in Screen for the first time open a terminal and type “screen”. You should now get the standard start up message simply press the space bar and it will take you to the next screen which is your basic shell prompt. Now you can start an application by simply typing the name of it as you would normally do in a terminal.

I’ll use Mutt my cli based email client for this example.

becker@crunchbang:-$ mutt

Now I have mutt running but my status bar at the bottom of the window which shows me all the windows I have open doesn’t reflect that. The problem is by default they all say (x$bash) where x is a number starting at 0. Now that’s not very helpful if I forget what window I opened something in so the easiest way to remedy this is to set a window title. To do that we use the key combination

C-a A. this means you press the Ctrl key at the same time as the “a” then you release both keys and press shift (to get capitals) & “a” again. This allows you to set the window title which in this case I’ll call Mutt although email would work as well.

Another command that you need to know to get the most out of Screen is

C-a c This is how we create new windows inside of Screen. You’ll remember from the previous example that the C-a means press Ctrl and “a” together then release and then press “c”

Now we have a few windows open obviously we need a way to move through them. The easiest way to do that is using the “Previous” & “Next” commands C-a p & C-a n respectively

Now the final tip for now. What do you do when your girlfriend wants to quickly check her email and you’ve got 3 or 4 different programs running inside your screen session? The easiest way to protect it from any unplanned interaction is to use the command C-a x. What this does is lock the screen session and require your user password before it can be accessed again making sure nothing changes whilst your away from the keyboard.

If you spend any time at the command line I’m sure you will see the value in learning and using the Screen program. It cleans up your desktop by getting rid of those multiple terminal windows you used to have open and putting them all into 1 window. Having everything controlled by keyboard shortcuts means you leave your hands on the keyboard instead of always moving away to grab the mouse making you more productive.

Edit: I made reference earlier in this post to the status line at the bottom of your Screen window. What I failed to mention is that Screen doesn’t have a status line by default but you can add one yourself. Now I must confess I didn’t write this myself and in pure code form I really have no idea what it all means but when it’s up and running it gives me my system load averages in the bottom left corner, the window titles of all open windows in the centre of the screen and the time and date in the bottom right corner. So as you can see it is actually very useful.

Here is the code:
hardstatus alwayslastline
hardstatus string ‘%{= kG}[ %{G}%l %{G}%H %{g}][%= %{=kw}%?%-Lw%?%{r}(%{W}%n*%f%t%?(%u)%?%{r})%{w}%?%+Lw%?%?%= %{g}][%{B}%Y-%m-%d %{W}%c %{g}]‘

To use this code you simply add it too your .screenrc file. If you don’t already have one just create it then paste in the code and save it to your home directory.

Crunchbang #!

I’m a bit of a distro hopper. Ever since I discovered Linux thanks to my best mate Craig and installed Ubuntu on my desktop pc I’ve been hopping from 1 flavour of Linux to another. In that time I’ve tried Ubuntu 8.04, 8.10, 9.04, 9.10 & 10.04 not always consecutively,  Linux Mint, Crunchbang, Fedora twice and now back to Crunchbang.

Anyway I’ve settled on Crunchbang 10 otherwise known as Statler for the time being and I have to say on many levels it’s a really good fit for what I want in a distro. It’s lightweight. Meaning it doesn’t use a ton of ram just to run the wallpaper, taskbar, startmenu, icons etc. Being lightweight also means it’s fast or snappy. You don’t find yourself waiting after clicking an icon or menu entry for the program to start which is always nice.

I like the dark theme that is the default in all Crunchbang releases. It’s actually quite difficult I have found to create your own black theme and have all the little bits of it usable all the time. There will always be 1 program or menu that’s not coded according to some standard or another that is unusable requiring you to switch back to a lighter color at least till you’ve finished whatever it was you were doing at that time. With Crunchbang everything just works. I chuckle a bit as I write that because I’m sure it has taken Corenominal otherwise known as Philip Newborough the founder and sole maintainer of Crunchbang quite some time to get the theme and all the other parts of the system working together properly but isn’t that the mark of a good product? All the hours you pour into it culminate in a product that once shipped to the end user “Just Works!”

I should just mention especially if Philip should ever read this that Crunchbang comes with no warranty whatsoever and if you’re not comfortable with a system that could quite possibly go CRUNCH BANG! Then you shouldn’t use it at least not on a production / always on machine. You can read more on the Crunchbang About page

When I installed it I didn’t have to connect to the internet. With other distros I have tried very early on in the install process they are searching for a network connection as they have to download something or other during the install. With Crunchbang the install was fast, simple and painless. It was only once the install finished and I’d rebooted that I was asked if I wanted to go online to install other not included programs but again this was optional and could be run again later if that was more convenient.

Another point on how light Crunchbang is, the menu’s aren’t cluttered with program after program that I’ve never seen before and am never likely to use. Take the Multimedia section of the menu for example. There is a media player, VLC in this case which can handle all your media playback needs such as video, audio and streaming content live from the internet. There is an obligatory volume control and XFburn for burning CD’s & DVD’s. Awesome, 3 programs that basically cover any need that could arise. The only thing I added was a podcast client to keep track of all the podcasts I listen to each week and again they all play in VLC.

Finally I should point out that Crunchbang actually comes in two flavours or desktop variants. XFCE which is a great lightweight choice similar to Gnome & KDE in that it offers an integrated user experience whilst being lighter on cpu and ram requirements & OpenBox which is the option I’ve chosen. Openbox could be a whole other post in itself but suffice to say it’s a very lightweight desktop that allows you to control all aspects of how it looks, works and feels. If you want a panel or taskbar to the windows folk you have to choose which one you want and install it and configure it how you want it to run, same as wallpaper if you want to set a background then you need a program to do that for you.

This might seem like a lot of unnecessary work to some people but for those that are prepared to put the effort in they are rewarded with a system set up just for them and that works just the way they want it to.

I should point out that Crunchbang does come with a fully functioning desktop with a panel and wallpaper so don’t think if you install the Openbox version that you will be left with a blank screen.

The last thing I will mention is the level of detail that has been put into the menu. Sure it has the standard text editor, web browser and file manager but it also has links to all the documentation you’ll need to really get stuck in and learn what makes the different parts of your desktop tick. Plus it has links to the config files should you want to edit them. Sure we could find them ourselves but it’s a nice touch.

Before I waffle on anymore I think it’s time to finish this post

• Crunchbang
• Crunchbang forums
• Crunchbang release announcement & download links

U – bollards. Time to go

I had a problem yesterday on my way to work. It wasn’t a major problem more of an inconvenience but the more I thought about it and talked to others about it, the more it annoyed me to the point that I’ve decided to do something about it. Here’s the problem in a nutshell.

I ride a Greenspeed recumbent trike and as such when I encounter a cycle path with an inverted U shaped bollard used in offset pairs to create a chicane I’m unable to pass through them. Yesterday I had to get off my bike, remove the safety flag I have mounted behind my seat and wheel my trike under the bollard. Like I said it’s not the end of the world. However I’m not the only person who uses these paths and this path in particular isn’t the only one in Greater Metropolitan Perth that uses these bollards and that’s when I started thinking.

I have been on these paths before as a father with my child in a pram and I also can’t pass through these bollard chicanes. I either have to tip the pram right back to pass underneath or and only possible because I’m a big strong bloke, grab the pram and lift it over the stupid damn things. I’m not being sexist here. Mums would generally have a harder time lifting a pram high enough to clear a bollard. The point is anyway that they shouldn’t have to. Nor should I have to dismount my bike and mess around taking bits off it so i can pass through.

It’s time we took a stand and told the local government authorities it’s not good enough.

Mum should be able to get her pram through a laneway or shared path without mucking around. I should be able to ride whatever bike I choose and not have to dismount to get through obstacles put in my way in an attempt to slow cyclists down and prevent motorists from taking a short cut. Many paths have a single bollard positioned in the centre of the path for this purpose and while I’d rather it wasn’t there i understand the reasons why and as I can pass it easily I accept it and move on.

Bollard chicanes on the other hand. It’s high time they were removed from paths and given a decent burial.

Free Browser Plugin check

I’ve just found out today that the Plugin checking service Mozilla was offering for it’s Firefox browser has now been made available to all the Non-Mozilla browsers. That’s Safari on both Mac & Windows, Opera, Google’s Chrome and of course Microsofts Internet Explorer.

This is great news.I guess I should explain why this is so good.

The easiest way for your pc to become infected by a virus, trojan, script exploit etc is for you to run old or outdated software but previously you had to visit the Adobe website to check if you had the latest Flash player and the Sun page to check if your JRE (Java) was up to date and the same for every plugin you had installed on your browser. Who wants to do that? Nobody! I hazard a guess that if you asked around at work on Monday morning “What plugin’s are you running in your browser?” Most people would have no idea at all and the closest answer you might get although still miles off the mark would be someone referring to a Firefox add-on they recently installed!

Okay so now we understand that it’s important and that the new Mozilla service is going to make it a ton easier for us to do it where do we go?

Mozzila.com/plugincheck

Just click that link and it will take you to a page that checks what plugins you have installed and then reports back to you their status either If any are listed as not up to date then simply click the button on the right and the relevant files will be source & installed for you.

Once all that is done, simply close and restart your browser and your right to go. If you want you can go back to the plugincheck page to verify that everything installed correctly.

n.b. Make sure if you run multiple browsers that you run the check in each browser seperately. Running it in 1 browser and updating everything in there doesn’t mean your other browser(s) are safe as well.

Who’s number is this?

Many times we do business with a company on a once of basis. As a result we don’t add the number to the list of  contacts in our phone, but along comes the end of the month and your going through your phone bill (you do go through your phone bill right?) and we see a number we don’t recognise. Did we actually call it? Unless we can put a name to the number how can we tell?

Well now we can. There is a cool new feature built in to Google Maps. It’s called “Reverse number lookup” just point your browser at http://maps.google.com.au/ and enter the unknown number.

How cool is that?

You’ll be pleased to know this doesn’t work on private home phone numbers. I just tried a bunch of private numbers from my phone and all results came back with unknowm.

What are your thoughts on this?? Like it, hate it? Let me know in the comments.

Tsunami Alert – Pacific

There is a Pacific wide Tsunami alert current following a devastating 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the Chile coast.

Australia is on alert, find out more at the official Bureau Of Meteorology

I’m currently following CBS via Ustream they have the live feed

Also Twitter has it as a trending topic so head over to twitter.com

My thoughts are with everyone having to deal with this atm.

Facebook – home page change

Well I logged into Facebook today and saw the new homepage design for the first time. Is it just me or did they not even tell anybody they were going to redesign it?

Right off the bat the first thing I noticed was the three icons next to the Facebook logo in the upper left hand corner. I don’t particularly like them for 2 reasons. Firstly they are very dark and easily missed. Secondly and partly because they are so dark it’s not immediately understood what they are for. You have to mouse over them and wait for the tool tip to pop up to know what they do.

Next the sidebar. It’s very wide and the font size is rather small. I would prefer they increase the font size to make it more readable and/or have icons on the top section for the menu items that don’t change ie: news feeds, messages, events etc.

I don’t know what the deal is with the applications either. They included a game in the list that I haven’t played now in almost 8 months and it was above 1 I played just last week. They aren’t sorted by alphabetical order either from what I can see so I really don’t know how they are sorting it at this stage.

I clicked on the messages link expecting they had simply renamed the status updates option and was instead taken to my email inbox. Now I don’t know about anyone else but I have a gmail account and a yahoo account and to be honest I don’t even think about using my facebook mail so this really isn’t a big feature for me. I’d rather have the status updates option, YMMV. I don’t want to see the whole news feed when I first log into facebook. I want to check everyone’s status and reply if I choose to and only after doing that am I interested in reading the news feed. So that’s a -1 for me.

Now I’ve just clicked on the Facebook chat box in the lower right of the screen and it has opened up a large pop-up window that takes up well over 75% of my screen and stops me from being able to do anything else whilst chatting. Am I the only person who likes to actually use the computer whilst chatting? Having to constantly Alt+Tab between the window I’m reading and the chat window is rather annoying.

The main section of the screen is at first glance the same as it has been for a while now so I wont go into it here You should be familiar with how it works by now.

Finally logging out. It isn’t immediately obvious how you should log out of Facebook and whilst I was able to work it out in a few seconds I can see other people being stumped by it and getting rather frustrated.

Well that’s all from me at this stage regarding the latest changes to Facebook. I will have more of a chance to explore the new interface tomorrow and may put up another post when I have done that.

Let me know your thoughts, opinions etc in the comments below

Cheers

IceCat browser

I’ve just this week discovered the Gnu projects IceCat browser.

Here is a snippet from their web site to better explain things

GNU IceCat is the GNU version of the Firefox browser. Its main advantage is an ethical one: it is entirely free software. While the principal source code from the Mozilla project is free software, they distribute and recommend non-free software as plug-ins and addons

So basically I chose to use it because it is promoting the free software ideals that I believe in and because it is still at it’s core the browser that I love and have chosen to use above all others, free or otherwise.

n.b as a side note being free also means I am able to contribute to the development of the product and/or the promotion of the product or in any other way that I see fit. As can anyone else that chooses to.