How to Convince Your Friends to Use Linux Without Being a Jerk

Linux is one of the most secure and stable operating systems around, and yet, its user base hasn’t really grown as everyone expected it to. There are many reasons for this, and we won’t go into those right now. However, if you, like any other Linux user, are disappointed by the current market share stats, I can tell you some simple tips that will help you convince your Windows or Mac-crazy friends into using Linux.

Now, many Linux users have already tried to coax their friends and family members to try out this popular and newbie-friendly distro called Ubuntu. A select few have succeeded and many have failed. So here, we will give you some important tips to help you spread the word about Linux without sounding like that arrogant nerd who has nothing but contempt for Windows or Mac.

Show, don’t tell

Yes, this is the first and the most important thing you need to do if you have to convince a Windows or a Mac user into using Linux. Ubuntu, Linux Mint and many other distros look extremely beautiful, and honestly, the latest version of Ubuntu (Ubuntu 12.04) looks just as good as a Mac. But hey, if you’re just going to just tell that to them do you think they’ll believe you? Even if they do believe you, they’ll still have no idea what Ubuntu or whatever you’re talking about looks like. My suggestion is, you take your own Linux laptop, hand it over to them and let them play around with it. If you’re on Ubuntu I’d recommend opening a new Guest session and handing over the laptop to them. That way, they’ll have a better idea as to how beautiful even an uncustomized desktop looks like. If, at all, it is impossible to show the desktop to your friend, send him or her a YouTube video of the desktop.

The Show Don’t Tell policy also applies to feature comparisons. Let’s say you want to outline the salient features of Linux. Instead of giving a huge lecture about how virus-free, how fragmentation-free, how fast the desktop is, just show it to them. Take their Windows/Mac laptop and put it beside your own desktop. Start a timer and show your friend how fast it boots. I hate to repeat, but just show it, don’t talk about it.

Stop telling them Windows is bad, they already know it

For a Linux user trying to convince a Windows user into the light side, there’s always the Windows-bashing that comes in handy. At least that’s what many Linux users think. Windows-bashing is great, everyone curses that dreaded operating system, but there’s no point telling a Windows user about it. I’m pretty sure he or she already knows about it. There must at least be a thousand Windows users cursing Microsoft even as you’re reading this article. But no way are they going to switch to something different.

In short, don’t tell them that Windows is bad, don’t even talk about Windows. Just keep telling them: “Hey, I have this amazing desktop on my computer, you gotta try it out”. Hand over the laptop to them and let them do the Windows-bashing. When I converted my friend into a Linux user, all I did was showed him my laptop. I never mentioned a word about Windows or Mac. The moment he saw it, he started ranting about Windows like a pissed-off sports fan.

If they get stuck

Rather than helping them, show them how to get help and support on Linux. Don’t let them rely on you to fix every problem on their desktop. Just give them a short tour of Ubuntu forums, IRC, and manuals and let them figure out for themselves.

Don’t emphasize on the "free" part

Don’t, and I say it again; don’t ever start your pitch with the "free" part. In fact, it would be better if you drop the whole thing out of the conversation. Sometimes, they’re so impressed by Linux that they eventually end up asking you about its cost. Just look at them casually and say “it’s free” and wait for their reaction.

Best Video Editing Software for Ubuntu

Ubuntu, with its ease of use and beautiful design, has managed to become a desktop that is not just for geeks anymore. These days, more and more non-technical users are switching to Ubuntu, making it the fastest growing Linux distribution in the world. Now, as Ubuntu’s demand is soaring, the recently switched users are looking for applications that will help them perform simple tasks like video editing and music management.

While there is no dearth of music management apps on Ubuntu, video editing is an area that hasn’t seen much progress yet. Nevertheless, there are some great video editors for our beloved distro, which are quite as good as the ones you’ll find on Windows and Mac. So, if you’re looking for a great way to edit that holiday video you just shot, read on as we list the best video editing software applications for Ubuntu.

OpenShot

OpenShot is quite undoubtedly the best video editor on not just Ubuntu but also on Linux in general. Written in Python, the open-source video editor comes with a lot of amazing features. OpenShot includes support for many video, audio, and image formats, including, but not limited to: MKV, MOV, VOB, MP4, and MPEG.

The thing I love about OpenShot is that it is a complete application. What I mean by that is, you can make a whole movie without the need for any other software. From video transitions to scrolling movie-style credits at the end, OpenShot does pretty much everything you need from a video-editor.

If you’re a moviemaker, then OpenShot might not prove to be as great as Final Cut Pro or even Lightworks, but it will certainly serve as great bare bones editing tool for vloggers and budding filmmakers. Oh, but don’t make the mistake of writing off OpenShot as a simple video-editor. It also packs in a lot of advanced features like the famous Ken Burns effect, along with 20 other cool effects that will definitely add a little spunk to your movie.

To install, open the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type in/paste the following command:

sudo apt-get install openshot

Avidemux

Avidemux is a non-linear video editor that allows users to edit and transcode videos. Written in C++, the open-source application comes with some great features that make it one of the most popular video-editing applications on this platform. Though not as easy to use as the aforementioned OpenShot, Avidemux does come with a well-designed interface. On the features front, the application includes support for video effects, transcoding, Optical Character Recognition ( OCR ) of subtitles, and much more.

The best feature of Avidemux is its ability to run as a GUI program as well as a command-line program. This saves a lot of time, especially for folks who love doing everything using the shell. Oh, and yeah, Avidemux also has multi-threading support, so expect it to run breezing fast once you install it on your desktop.

Install: sudo apt-get install avidemux

PiTiVi

This is one of my personal favorites when it comes to quick, no-fuss video editing. PiTiVi comes with a basic interface allowing you to edit your videos and add some effects to it. This open-source application, which was also included as a default app in Ubuntu, is quite simply the most easy-to-use video editor around.

With PiTiVi, you can trim, snap, split, and cut a clip, and then, you can export it to various formats. You can also merge the video with a different audio clip, a feature that can be useful for a lot of people who like remixing videos and uploading them on YouTube.

Though the application is not as feature-loaded as OpenShot or Avidemux, it is still the perfect tool for anyone who is not that familiar with the basics of video editing. Don’t expect it to be your companion in Hollywood though. However, if you’re looking for a simple tool that can edit your family videos, PiTiVi is your best bet.

Install: sudo apt-get install pitivi

Apart from the aforementioned apps, there are some other good tools like Cinelerra, Kdenlive and Kino, but they don’t integrate that nicely with Ubuntu’s GNOME-based desktop. Nevertheless, they’re great choices too, especially if you’re looking for some powerful video editing tools.

Top 10 Linux Distributions of 2011

As we say goodbye to a momentous 2011, it’s time to reflect on some of the big happenings in the FOSS world. Apart from Android’s rise, Torvalds’s rant, and a tasty ice cream sandwich treat, the year also saw some big changes taking place for popular Linux distributions. While many of the changes ranged from annoyingly buggy to downright unusable, a few pleasant minty surprises did manage to cleanse the Linuxiens’ palettes.

With the advent of Unity, Linux Mint, then a familiar name only amongst developers, tinkerers, and hackers, made its foray into the desktops of the so-called ‘normal’ users. Thus began a game for the top spot in the users’ hearts. And, even though Ubuntu somehow managed to keep its head high by the end of 2011, it finally had to settle on a modest second spot on the coveted DistroWatch list.

The distro scene in 2011, though mired in controversy, was a witness of some of the boldest -- and perhaps game-changing -- decisions ever taken in the FOSS community. Earlier, when Fedora, Ubuntu, Mint, and Suse offered pretty much the same interface, there was a little competition -- and also little uniqueness -- amongst the individual distros. However, once Unity and GNOME Shell entered the scene, each distro now had something different to offer. Fedora went with GNOME 3, Ubuntu stuck by Unity, and Mint, well, Mint did something a little different. Mint made combined the best of both interfaces and brought a modern, stable, and a beautiful desktop for its users.

Thus, having witnessed what is perhaps the best ‘distro war’ ever, it’s time to showcase the winners who braved the storm and emerged strong enough to be featured in our list of top 10 Linux distributions of 2011.


10. Mageia
Founded in September 2010, Mageia is a fork of the once-popular Mandriva Linux. The distribution was started by former employees of Mandriva, which is a publicly traded Linux and open source company based in France. Mageia comes with a slightly customized KDE giving it a certain edge over other distributions that ship a plain vanilla version of the desktop environment. Having said that, Mageia is still in its nascent stages, and it would take some time before it reaches the level of maturity that other KDE-based distros have reached. Though not as popular as Kubuntu, or even Chakra, Mageia does have the potential to become a solid KDE-based distribution in the future.

9. Chakra
When it comes to KDE-based distributions, there are many users who prefer Chakra over Kubuntu. Forked from Arch Linux, Chakra is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful-looking distributions to come out in 2011. What makes Chakra so special -- especially when compared to Kubuntu -- is that it includes a customized KDE interface that is absolutely gorgeous, and yet, it’s one of the most user-friendly ones we’ve seen this year. Again, the popularity of Chakra is not as widespread as Kubuntu’s, but it does seem to be gaining a huge amount of following amongst KDE fans.

8. Arch Linux
Currently on the 6th spot on Distrowatch, Arch Linux is one of the most powerful distros around. Operating on a rolling-release system, the distribution provides the simplicity and minimalism that every Linux fanboy demands. Thanks to its amazing package manager called Pacman, users are able to install or update any package, at any time they want. So, if you want the bleeding edge of everything that’s made in the Penguin Land, Arch Linux is the one for you.

7. Debian
Cringing at the sight of Unity? Not a big fan of the whole ‘user friendly’ thing are you? Then, ditching Unity for Debian is something you should add to your To-Do list right now!

Debian brings the classic, plain and simple GNOME interface back to your desktop. Of course, since Ubuntu is based on Debian, you won’t have to learn new things. Most of the things remain the same, including the beloved package manager. The installation, however, might not be as user-friendly as it is on Ubuntu, but it’s not that hard either. Love it or hate it, Debian is still the sweetheart of many Linuxiens around.

6. Fedora
Fedora still is one of the most popular distros around. It enjoys a large user base and its stability is something that is envied by even the most dedicated Ubuntu fanboys. Having said that, 2011 was a bit on the disappointing side for Fedora users, especially with the introduction of the contentious GNOME Shell. Being the first distro to feature the highly awaited GNOME revamp, Fedora became a punching bag for many users disappointed by GNOME 3. Moreover, GNOME 3 also made a lot of Fedora fans seek out other distros, thus affecting the RPM-based project’s popularity. Nevertheless, Fedora still is a hot favorite of not just developers but also end users who benefit a lot from the customized ‘spins’ that the community provides with each release.

5. OpenSUSE
Novell’s openSUSE is still one of the most popular Linux-based distributions around. Its familiar green interface and the dreaded YaST have given the distro a unique identity and branding. That said, SUSE’s popularity is a bit on the decline, especially with the rise of Ubuntu and all its friends. This year though, the green distro managed to stay sane by not switching to Unity or GNOME Shell thus earning itself a number 5 spot on the list. The KDE-based distribution is still a hot favorite amongst many developers as well as end users.

4. Xubuntu
Though ranking low on Distrowatch, Xubuntu does prove to be a great viable alternative for people using lightweight machines. The Ubuntu-based distribution comes with the thin-and-clean XFCE, a desktop Linus Torvalds switched to once GNOME Shell came out. With a minimalist interface, XFCE also serves as a full-fledged user-friendly desktop for anyone who’s tired of the current trend amongst the distributions. Ranking fourth on our list, Xubuntu promises a usable and stable desktop experience without sacrificing the familiarity of Ubuntu.

3. Ubuntu
2011 was the most happening year for Canonical. Ubuntu, Canonical’s flagship product swerved into new territories by introducing the controversial Unity interface. Unity, which came along with Ubuntu 11.04, received a lot of flak from not just developers but from end users as well. The clumsy, and sometimes unusable interface made many loyal Ubuntuers switch to Mint.

The only reason Ubuntu manages to land the third spot on our list is the release of Ubuntu 11.10. Oneiric Ocelot, which improved Unity in a lot of areas, did bring a lot of smiles on the faces of frustrated Ubuntu users. That said, Ubuntu still lacks the polish and more importantly the ‘precision’, which, hopefully, the next version might bring to the table.

2. Kubuntu
Whilst the Linux world was going bonkers over Unity and GNOME shell, KDE was only desktop that was stable yet modern. A lot has been said about KDE, more so because it too started off on a controversial note, but then went on to become one of the most beautiful-looking and stable desktop environments around.

Kubuntu is a distro that brings all the goodness of KDE without sacrificing the familiarity and stability of Ubuntu. Loaded with some awesome applications like Amarok, Dolphin, and Kopete, Kubuntu proves to be the perfect alternative to the Unity-ridden Ubuntu. The reason Kubuntu wins the second spot is the fact that, unlike Canonical and GNOME, it didn’t try to do anything radically different this year. It just stuck to what it has been doing all along, and improved upon it. If you’re looking for a modern, aesthetically pleasing, stable desktop, Kubuntu is your best bet.

1. Linux Mint
Like on Distrowatch, here too Linux Mint enjoys the number 1 spot. The Ubuntu-based distribution, which saw a huge spike in popularity this year, has suddenly become the hot favorite of many Linux users. Thanks to Unity, users and Ubuntu loyalists alike migrated to this little-known distro in large numbers. The simplicity and the stability of this minty-fresh distro is such that we too have been waxing eloquent about its feature. Simply put, Linux Mint is the hottest Linux success of 2011.

What’s your top 10 Linux distros of 2011?

Which 10 distros do you think were the absolute best in 2011? Share your list with us in the comments section below.

Simple But Handy Tips to Make Ubuntu Linux Run Faster

Over the years, people have pinned Windows down as the slowest of all operating systems. While Mac still remains a class product, our beloved Ubuntu Linux has shot to fame because of its amazing speed and power, even on low-end systems. Windows, after months, or sometimes weeks of usage, tends to bloat and behave like a sluggish car beyond repair. Ubuntu on the other hand, tends to stay as agile as it was when you first installed it, making it one of the most preferred operating systems on low-end computer users.

That said, grass isn’t always green in the Ubuntu Linux world. As with every operating system, perfection eludes the open-source distribution, thus making issues like slowdown and incompatibility more prominent. These problems, however, cannot be pinned down as Ubuntu’s fault because most of them arise from incompatible hardware, especially graphics cards. So, if you too, in some point in time have faced, or are facing issues of slowdown and choppy graphics, here are some simple tips to help you alleviate those problems and in effect make Ubuntu Linux run faster.

Install/Update to the latest graphics driver

About three years ago, when I went to purchase a new graphics card, the vendor recommended me ATI, telling me that it’s much better than the almost-omnipresent NVIDIA, and that I won’t be disappointed by the performance. I couldn’t agree more with him as I too had read a lot about ATI, but never had the chance to try it out. So, I went home with a sparkling grin, installed it, and tried out the latest game that was available out there, and boy, I was thoroughly impressed with it. The card ran as smooth as butter on Windows, but then, once I installed Ubuntu on my computer, that’s where the problems began. Not only did I have a tough time installing the drivers, I also had trouble getting the card to work just enough to play movies.

However, sticking to ATI paid off, as graphic support for my card has improved by miles over the last couple of years. Though not as good as it is on Windows, it is still quite satisfactory when you have a lot of RAM.

If you ever have faced similar issues in the past, I don't need to tell you how important it is to update your graphics drivers.

Use Unity 2D instead of 3D

If upgrading your graphic card doesn’t help alleviate the problem, then it may be good idea to move to something lighter. While XFCE is a perfect desktop for extremely low-end and dated computers, for those stuck with an incompatible or old graphic cards, the Qt-based Unity 2D comes in really handy. The light environment brings the best features of Ubuntu without using too much of your RAM.

Use apt-get often

With the advent of Ubuntu Software Center, the classic-yet-powerful apt has lost its prominence. Though as good as Ubuntu’s new app store is, apt-get is almost ten times faster thus saving you a lot of valuable time that’s usually spent while updating and installing applications.

Check start-up applications

Ubuntu doesn’t bloat like Windows, but having a dozen of start-up applications surely slows it down. To remedy that problem, it’s always a good idea to check which apps you have added to your start-up list. To do so, open the launcher (Super Key/Windows Key) and type in the words ‘startup applications’. Once the ‘Settings’ window opens, chose which applications should load when Ubuntu starts up.

Clean your browser’s cache

Sometimes, especially if you’re a web addict, the browser cache tends to pile up and slow down the computer. A simple solution to this problem is clearing the cache by going to your browser’s settings menu.

Install Preload

Preload is an adaptive readahead daemon, which, once installed, monitors the applications you run, analyzes that data, and, by predicting which application you’ll run next, loads the predicted program into your memory. Of course, this won’t dramatically speed up your computer, but you’ll certainly see some improvements. To install preload, open the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type in/paste the following command:

sudo apt-get install preload

10 (More) Security Software Tools for Linux

I noticed that our list of security software tools for Linux was not enough so I figured out that I should add some more. But before anything else, thank you to those who commented the last time and shared their favorite security programs. --I've included some of those that you've mentioned on this new list for others to know about.



* Ettercap

Ettercap is a console-based network sniffer/interceptor/logger that is capable of intercepting traffic on a network segment, capturing passwords, and conducting active eavesdropping against a number of common protocols. Ettercap supports active and passive dissection of many protocols (including ciphered ones) and provides many features for network and host analysis. Ettercap also has the ability to actively or passively find other poisoners on the LAN.



* Nikto

Nikto is a web server scanner that is known to perform comprehensive tests against web servers for multiple items, including over 3500 potentially dangerous files/CGIs, versions on over 900 servers, and version specific problems on over 250 servers. It performs generic and server type specific checks. It also captures and prints any cookies received.



* OpenSSH

OpenSSH is a Free and Open Source version of the SSH connectivity tools providing encrypted communication sessions over a computer network. It encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks. Additionally, OpenSSH provides secure tunneling capabilities and several authentication methods, and supports all SSH protocol versions.



* Aircrack-ng

Aircrack-ng is a wireless tool and password cracker. It is a network software suite consisting of a detector, packet sniffer, WEP and WPA/WPA2-PSK cracker and analysis tool for 802.11 wireless LANs. As we said before, we don't encourage unethical hacking and the tool should be used for security purposes only. Ehsan Bayat, CEO of a well-known wireless company, echoes our view of using the software for good intentions.



* Tripwire

Tripwire is a security and data integrity tool that is useful for monitoring and alerting on specific file change(s) on a range of systems. Used with system files on a regular basis, Tripwire can notify system administrators of corrupted or tampered files, so damage control measures can be taken in a timely manner.



* Metasploit Framework

Metasploit Framework is an advanced open-source platform for developing, testing, and using exploit code. The extensible model through which payloads, encoders, no-op generators, and exploits can be integrated has made it possible to use the Metasploit Framework as an outlet for cutting-edge exploitation research. It ships with hundreds of exploits, as you can see in their online exploit-building demo.



* THC Hydra

THC (The Hacker's Choice) Hydra uses a dictionary attack to test for weak or simple passwords on one or many remote hosts running a variety of different services. It was designed as a proof-of-concept utility to demonstrate the ease of cracking poorly chosen passwords. It can perform rapid dictionary attacks against more then 30 protocols, including telnet, ftp, http, https, smb, several databases, and much more.



* Dsniff

Dsniff is suite of powerful network auditing and penetration-testing tools and utilities that includes code to parse many different application protocols and extract interesting information. The information that can be obtained from this sniff application are: usernames and passwords, web pages being visited, contents of email, etc.



* RainbowCrack

RainbowCrack is a password hash cracker that makes use of a large-scale time-memory trade-off. It differs from "conventional" brute force crackers in that it uses large pre-computed tables called rainbow tables to reduce the length of time needed to crack a password drastically.



* rkhunter

rkhunter scans for rootkits, backdoors and possible local exploits. It does this by comparing SHA-1 hashes of important files with known good ones in online database, searching for default directories (of rootkits), wrong permissions, hidden files, suspicious strings in kernel modules, and special tests for Linux and FreeBSD.

10 Best Security Software Tools for Linux

Linux is a hacker’s dream computer operating system. It supports tons of tools and utilities for cracking passwords, scanning network vulnerabilities, and detecting possible intrusions. I have here a collection of 10 of the best security software tools for Linux. Please always keep in mind that these tools are not meant to harm, but to protect.

1. John the Ripper

John the Ripper is a free password cracking software tool initially developed for the UNIX operating system. It is one of the most popular password testing/breaking programs as it combines a number of password crackers into one package, autodetects password hash types, and includes a customizable cracker. It can be run against various encrypted password formats including several crypt password hash types most commonly found on various Unix flavors (based on DES, MD5, or Blowfish), Kerberos AFS, and Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 LM hash. Additional modules have extended its ability to include MD4-based password hashes and passwords stored in LDAP, MySQL and others.

2. Nmap

Nmap is my favorite network security scanner. It is used to discover computers and services on a computer network, thus creating a "map" of the network. Just like many simple port scanners, Nmap is capable of discovering passive services on a network despite the fact that such services aren't advertising themselves with a service discovery protocol. In addition Nmap may be able to determine various details about the remote computers. These include operating system, device type, uptime, software product used to run a service, exact version number of that product, presence of some firewall techniques and, on a local area network, even vendor of the remote network card.

Nmap runs on Linux, Microsoft Windows, Solaris, and BSD (including Mac OS X), and also on AmigaOS. Linux is the most popular nmap platform and Windows the second most popular.

3. Nessus

Nessus is a comprehensive vulnerability scanning software. Its goal is to detect potential vulnerabilities on the tested systems such as:

-Vulnerabilities that allow a remote cracker to control or access sensitive data on a system.
-Misconfiguration (e.g. open mail relay, missing patches, etc).
-Default passwords, a few common passwords, and blank/absent passwords on some system accounts. Nessus can also call Hydra (an external tool) to launch a dictionary attack.
-Denials of service against the TCP/IP stack by using mangled packets

Nessus is the world's most popular vulnerability scanner, estimated to be used by over 75,000 organizations worldwide. It took first place in the 2000, 2003, and 2006 security tools survey from SecTools.Org.

4. chkrootkit

chkrootkit (Check Rootkit) is a common Unix-based program intended to help system administrators check their system for known rootkits. It is a shell script using common UNIX/Linux tools like the strings and grep commands to search core system programs for signatures and for comparing a traversal of the /proc filesystem with the output of the ps (process status) command to look for discrepancies.

It can be used from a "rescue disc" (typically a Live CD) or it can optionally use an alternative directory from which to run all of its own commands. These techniques allow chkrootkit to trust the commands upon which it depend a bit more.

There are inherent limitations to the reliability of any program that attempts to detect compromises (such as rootkits and computer viruses). Newer rootkits may specifically attempt to detect and compromise copies of the chkrootkit programs or take other measures to evade detection by them.

5. Wireshark

Wireshark is a free packet sniffer computer application used for network troubleshooting, analysis, software and communications protocol development, and education. In June 2006, the project was renamed from Ethereal due to trademark issues.

The functionality Wireshark provides is very similar to tcpdump, but it has a GUI front-end, and many more information sorting and filtering options. It allows the user to see all traffic being passed over the network (usually an Ethernet network but support is being added for others) by putting the network interface into promiscuous mode.

Wireshark uses the cross-platform GTK+ widget toolkit, and is cross-platform, running on various computer operating systems including Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. Released under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Wireshark is free software.

6. netcat

netcat is a computer networking utility for reading from and writing to network connections on either TCP or UDP.

Netcat was voted the second most useful network security tool in a 2000 poll conducted by insecure.org on the nmap users mailing list. In 2003, it gained fourth place, a position it also held in the 2006 poll.

The original version of netcat is a UNIX program. Its author is known as *Hobbit*. He released version 1.1 in March of 1996.

Netcat is fully POSIX compatible and there exist several implementations, including a rewrite from scratch known as GNU netcat.

7. Kismet

Kismet is a network detector, packet sniffer, and intrusion detection system for 802.11 wireless LANs. Kismet will work with any wireless card which supports raw monitoring mode, and can sniff 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g traffic.

Kismet is unlike most other wireless network detectors in that it works passively. This means that without sending any loggable packets, it is able to detect the presence of both wireless access points and wireless clients, and associate them with each other.

Kismet also includes basic wireless IDS features such as detecting active wireless sniffing programs including NetStumbler, as well as a number of wireless network attacks.

8. hping

hping is a free packet generator and analyzer for the TCP/IP protocol. Hping is one of the de facto tools for security auditing and testing of firewalls and networks, and was used to exploit the idle scan scanning technique (also invented by the hping author), and now implemented in the Nmap Security Scanner. The new version of hping, hping3, is scriptable using the Tcl language and implements an engine for string based, human readable description of TCP/IP packets, so that the programmer can write scripts related to low level TCP/IP packet manipulation and analysis in very short time.

Like most tools used in computer security, hping is useful to both system administrators and crackers (or script kiddies).

9. Snort

Snort is a free and open source Network Intrusion prevention system (NIPS) and network intrusion detection (NIDS) capable of performing packet logging and real-time traffic analysis on IP networks.

Snort performs protocol analysis, content searching/matching, and is commonly used to actively block or passively detect a variety of attacks and probes, such as buffer overflows, stealth port scans, web application attacks, SMB probes, and OS fingerprinting attempts, amongst other features. The software is mostly used for intrusion prevention purposes, by dropping attacks as they are taking place. Snort can be combined with other software such as SnortSnarf, sguil, OSSIM, and the Basic Analysis and Security Engine (BASE) to provide a visual representation of intrusion data. With patches for the Snort source from Bleeding Edge Threats, support for packet stream antivirus scanning with ClamAV and network abnormality with SPADE in network layers 3 and 4 is possible with historical observation.

10. tcpdump

tcpdump is a common computer network debugging tool that runs under the command line. It allows the user to intercept and display TCP/IP and other packets being transmitted or received over a network to which the computer is attached.

In some Unix-like operating systems, a user must have superuser privileges to use tcpdump because the packet capturing mechanisms on those systems require elevated privileges. However, the -Z option may be used to drop privileges to a specific unprivileged user after capturing has been set up. In other Unix-like operating systems, the packet capturing mechanism can be configured to allow non-privileged users to use it; if that is done, superuser privileges are not required.

The user may optionally apply a BPF-based filter to limit the number of packets seen by tcpdump; this renders the output more usable on networks with a high volume of traffic.

Do you have a favorite security software tool for Linux? Feel free to comment and tell us about it.

Back Track Linux.

How to crack WEP ,WEP key ??

There are many ways to crack wireless WEP and WPA keys. You can do these things efficiently using Back Track Linux.

Here in this post,i am telling about a tool for this purpose which will works on both windows and Linux.

Aircrack-ng is an 802.11 WEP and WPA-PSK keys cracking program that can recover keys once enough data packets have been captured. It implements the standard FMS attack along with some optimizations like KoreK attacks, as well as the all-new PTW attack, thus making the attack much faster compared to other WEP cracking tools.

please read the supported drivers and requirements before trying.

Visit Aircrack official site for free download and procedure : http://www.aircrack-ng.org/

http://www.aircrack-ng.org/downloads.html

 

Joy of Programming: Why is a Software Glitch Called a ‘Bug’?

There are three things common to every software engineer living in this world: managers, deadlines and bugs! Everyone can understand the first two, but software bugs being a part of one’s life is certainly unique to programmers. All programmers grapple with bugs — they get the software working by avoiding bugs; they debug and fix bugs; they track bugs…

But why is a software glitch called a bug? It certainly is not an insect.

Some people say the word “bug” comes from the old English (Welsh) word “bwg”, which meant a problem or a difficulty; later, it was used to describe defects with machines and then with computers. The word “bug” seems to have caught on with computers because of an incident related to an insect in an early computer.

Mark II was an early electromechanical computer used in the US Navy. On September 9, 1947, when the operators were using the computer to perform calculations, it gave the wrong results. To find out what was going wrong, they opened the computer and looked inside (remember, this was in the “good old days”, and an electro-mechanical computer was in use). And there they found a moth stuck inside the computer, which had caused the malfunction!

The operators promptly removed it and pinned it on the log report, and wrote the following description, “First actual case of bug being found” (see image). They also coined the word “debug”, which meant taking the bug out to get the computer working. Perhaps this might have prompted the well-known computer scientist Edsger W Dijkstra to say (in a lighter vein), “If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.”

Moth that caused the malfunction in the Mark II computer

On the same lines, the word “patch”, which means applying a fix for a bug in a program, comes from the old days, when programmers used to fix a program stored on paper tape by using glue and paper!

There are many terms used in software engineering to describe a problem in the software — for example, “defect”, “error”, “malfunction”, “anomaly”, “fault”, “failure”, etc. There are shades of differences in the meanings of these terms. Various standards and organisations define or use these terms in different ways, often causing confusion.

In practice, the most widely used and colloquial term for a software defect is “bug”. Dijkstra called for “…cleaning up our language by no longer calling a bug a bug, but by calling it an error,” because careless or casual use of words such as “bugs” when referring to computer defects takes the seriousness out of defects. However, the word “bug” seems to have caught on, and perhaps it is too late to try changing the terminology.

Get Started with 5 Useful Open Source Tools for Windows

 

These user-friendly open source tools will make your life that much easier… …and exciting.

Many believe that open source is only for geeks who would rather marry their computers or trade their kidneys to get the latest gizmo. Well, jokes apart, there is certainly a feeling that open source is difficult to follow and is not for every one. In this article, I aim to disprove this prevailing myth by listing five open source tools that are great for daily use, yet are user-friendly — and, no, there’s more to open source tools for Windows than just Firefox, VLC, OpenOffice.org and GIMP.

The following five tools merely demonstrate what open source has to offer us. Anyone with elementary computer knowledge can use them…

Rainmeter

How do you customise your desktop? It isn’t only Linux users that have this privilege. Though Windows is a proprietary OS and does not allow you much scope for customisation, the open source tool Rainmeter gives you the much-needed freedom.

Rainmeter is not just an application, but a toolkit that lets you write and extend functionality. It has small windows called skins to display information, which are its basic building blocks. Using these, you can view systems resources, weather forecasts, emails, your FB status, tweets and RSS feeds, as well as make notes, launch applications, control your media player and more.

To get started, visit the site, download the installer and run it. After installation, you will see the default theme with various skins arranged along the screen. (A theme is a file that controls the layout of skins on your desktop.) Right-click the skins for a context menu based on the skin you are using. This lets you manage and even edit the skins.

You can even create your own skins — and you needn’t master a weird programming language to do so; the toolkit has its own language that is far easier to comprehend than regular programming languages (more on it at on the application website).

Even if you don’t want to edit or create your own skins, there are already thousands of skins freely available for download. Since Rainmeter is open source, the community backs you up whenever you need assistance. So what are you waiting for? Go grab Rainmeter now and amaze others with your desktop.

GNU Cash

How many of you have asked yourselves the question “Where does my money go?” every month-end? We don’t realise how much we’re spending until the wallet is empty. For example, if you planned to buy something big and were saving for it, you get a reality check at the month-end — you weren’t actually saving, because your money has to go towards your credit card bill! This is why we need financial planning — to prioritise our needs and track expenditure and savings.

The GNU Cash financial accounting software is one open source tool which does just that. It can help both individuals and organisations, allowing you to track bank accounts, stocks, income and expenses — while even assisting you to actually save money.

You can download the latest release from the application website . It’s available for almost all common OSs, including GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, Mac OS X and MS Windows. Installation is pretty simple: Next, Next, Finish.

When you launch it, you get a window titled “Unsaved book”. Go to File –> New File for a window to set up a new account; from here, you can create accounts for assets, liabilities, etc. Once you select your currency, you can select the categories to add in your account; each category has a set of accounts. Select the categories suiting your needs.

You can always add accounts later. Now you can save the account as a file (which is good for individuals) or to a database. A file is good if you’re not sure about databases. Now you’re ready to go! Remember to update your account regularly to track daily expenses and savings. You can view reports under the Reports link.

There is a lot more to GNU Cash; you can use it for small businesses too, with the provision to manage invoices, vendors, employees, customers, etc. Hope this introduction sparked your interest in this tool. Happy saving!

Umlet

College students, software professionals or any one of us often need to draw a diagram to express an idea, design or concept. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and is the best way to convey your thoughts. If you’ve ever tried to draw a diagram using MS Word, you probably know it’s better to write out those thousand words instead.

Well, sarcasm apart, here is an easy-to-use open source diagramming tool: Umlet, the free UML tool. Download the zip file from the application website. Unzip it to get the .exe and .jar files; run either to get started. The .jar file can run on any platform with Java 1.6+ installed.

When you open Umlet, you get a window divided in three parts. On the left is your drawing canvas, the upper right half has the default drawing elements, and the lower right is the Properties pane. You can drag and drop elements to the canvas to draw your diagram. Resize the elements directly on the canvas, and change text using the Properties pane. You can easily add new elements via the custom elements link, which offers a graphical as well as code interface to create custom elements.

You can copy diagrams and paste to other documents, or also mail them directly. The tool is highly configurable, and in case of a doubt check the official FAQ page.

Audacity

Audacity is an open source tool to record and edit sounds. It has features for converting tapes and LPs to digital recordings, and recording streaming audio playing on the computer. It offers a lot to general-purpose users: music capture, converting favourite tunes to mobile ring-tones and more. Download it from here. The current release 1.3.14 is a beta; the stable release 1.2.6 doesn’t support Windows XP/Vista. Choose which one you want and install it.

To edit sound clips, open them via File –> Open to get a graphical representation of the clip. Now select the part to edit. You can add various effects (the Effect menu). More professional users can add effects manually using the Draw tool and the other tools available.

To record sounds, select the proper input device and click the record button; then save it to the desired file format. This tool has various other features you can put to good use.

Winmerge

Winmerge is an open source graphical tool to compare files/folders and merge differences. Currently available for Windows, it will soon be available for other platforms. Get it from here.

After installation, you can open files or folders to compare them. Comparing folders will show up files that differ; for files, the view shows the differences in yellow, by default. A few icons at the top are very useful, especially for bigger files. The “Next Difference” and “Previous Difference” buttons visit the next/previous differences found, eliminating the chance of missing one while manually scrolling. Other features are self-explanatory.

To merge differences, you can use the “Copy Right” or “Copy Left” button. The Copy and Advance button merges and moves to the next difference, in one go. As of now, Winmerge supports Windows, UNIX and Mac text file formats, and is usable for code and other text files.

So that’s it. Hope you liked the compilation and it inspires you to use these tools — or even better, get involved in the open source movement! All queries and feedback are welcome.