Linux Tips, Tricks, and How-Tos

Transform Your Wireshark Workflow with Brim on Linux

Wireshark is the de facto standard for analyzing network traffic. Unfortunately, it does become increasingly laggy as the packet capture grows. Brim solves this problem so well, it’ll change your Wireshark workflow….

Dave McKay Sep 16th

How to Run a Linux Program at Startup with systemd

Need to launch a Linux program at boot? The systemd software provides a way to do it on any Linux distro with systemd—which is most of them these days, including Ubuntu. We’ll walk you through the process of creating an in…

Dave McKay Sep 9th

How to Manage Startup Programs on Ubuntu Linux

Many applications automatically set themselves to start when you sign into your Linux desktop. You might want to add your own favorite programs to the startup process, too. Here’s how to control what Ubuntu starts when you si…

Chris Hoffman Sep 7th

How to Launch a Terminal Window on Ubuntu Linux

If you’re using Ubuntu Linux, you’ll often see articles recommend you run commands. To do this, you need to type these commands into a Terminal window. Here are several ways to open one—including a quick keyboard shortcut…

Chris Hoffman Sep 3rd

Remember BBSes? Here’s How You Can Visit One Today

These days, social media gets all the attention, but the Bulletin Board System (BBS), a relic from a kinder, gentler time in computer communications, persists. Each BBS is its own retro-flavored community with messages, text-…

How to Encrypt Files with gocryptfs on Linux

Do you want to encrypt important files, but not your Linux system’s entire hard drive? If so, we recommend gocryptfs. You’ll get a directory that, essentially, encrypts and decrypts everything you store….

Dave McKay Aug 27th

How to Use a Raspberry Pi as a Proxy Server (with Privoxy)

A Raspberry Pi proxy server allows you to control the websites people can visit. It can also remove trackers and other unwanted junk from those web pages. Follow these simple steps to set it up.

Dave McKay Aug 13th

How to Use the Hugo Static Site Generator on Linux

Static websites are easy to create and blazingly fast to use. If you learn to use Hugo, you can generate theme-based static websites on Linux. Creating websites is fun again!

Dave McKay Aug 11th

How to Display man Pages in Color on Linux

If you want color highlighting in your man pages similar to the syntax highlighting in an editor, there are two simple ways you can achieve it. We’ll show you both!

Dave McKay Aug 6th

How to Create a man Page on Linux

Want your new Linux program to look professional? Give it a man page. We’ll show you the easiest, and fastest, way to do it.

Dave McKay Aug 4th

How to Do OCR from the Linux Command Line Using Tesseract

You can extract text from images on the Linux command line using the Tesseract OCR engine. It’s fast, accurate, and works in about 100 languages. Here’s how to use it.

Dave McKay Jul 30th

How to Use the fd Command on Linux

On Linux, fd is an easier alternative to the find command. It has a simplified syntax, uses sensible defaults, and has built-in common-sense behavior. Let’s take it through its paces.

Dave McKay Jul 28th

How to Use the ss Command on Linux

The ss command is a modern replacement for the classic netstat. You can use it on Linux to get statistics about your network connections. Here’s how to work with this handy tool.

Dave McKay Jul 21st

How to Use BleachBit on Linux

Want to safely delete unnecessary files from your Linux operating system, reclaim hard-drive space, and protect your privacy? BleachBit does all of this for you!

Dave McKay Jul 15th

How to Use the whois Command on Linux

A whois lookup will tell you a lot of information about who owns an internet domain. On Linux, you can run whois lookups from the command line. We’ll walk you through it.

Dave McKay Jul 9th

What’s the Difference Between Linux and Unix?

Linux took its inspiration from Unix, but Linux isn’t Unix—although it’s definitely Unix-like. We will explain the major differences between these two famous operating systems.

How to Use Wireshark Filters on Linux

Wireshark is a world-class packet analyzer available on Linux, Windows, and macOS. Its filters are flexible and sophisticated, but sometimes, counterintuitive. We’ll explain the “gotchas” you need to be on the lookout for….

How to Use pandoc to Convert Files on the Linux Command Line

You can use pandoc on Linux to convert between more than 40 file formats. You can also use it to create a simple docs-as-code system by writing in Markdown, storing in git, and publishing in any of its supported formats….

Dave McKay Jun 30th

How to Host Your Own VPN with Algo and Cloud Hosting

Companies all over the world sell VPN services to secure your online activity, but can you really trust a VPN provider? If you want, you can create your own virtual private network with the open-source Algo software, and the …

Ian Paul Jun 23rd

Why Desktop Linux Still Matters

The fabled “Year of the Linux Desktop” has never materialized, and it likely never will. Does that mean Linux on a desktop PC is irrelevant? Not at all! Desktop Linux is still awesome.

LINUX IS CONFUSING. THESE ARTICLES SHOULD HELP.