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Cyndi: My open source story — Linux, the loyal friend

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How to remove a stuck kernel from GRUB

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What USB device is that?

June 11, 2025June 4, 2025
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How to selectively apply updates

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Straight quotes from pandoc

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Viewing PDF documents in console mode

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AI Terror: The struggle to stay alive

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Loving the command line with the Raspberry Pi

June 4, 2025May 31, 2025
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The Linux Philosophy for SysAdmins, Tenet 21—There is no should

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Category: Tips and tricks

Bash Documentation Text Editors Tips and tricks Tools

Create a patch from differences in a file with the diff and patch commands

When you collaborate on a digital project with someone, it's a guarantee that eventually someone's going to need to send you changes they've made to...

Seth Kenlon
March 24, 2025March 24, 2025
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Linux Tips and tricks

Resurrecting a Windows laptop

Recently, a friend gave me a recent model of a Hewlett-Packard Pavilion laptop. He said, “It turns on but goes off almost immediately. Maybe you...

Don Watkins
February 27, 2025February 24, 2025
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Command Line Linux Tips and tricks

How to get a clean screen — on the command line

After some time using terminal sessions they can get a bit cluttered with previous commands and their output data streams. At other times, I want...

David Both
January 18, 2025January 16, 2025
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Linux Tips and tricks Upgrades

How many releases of Fedora can I upgrade from?

Upgrades are an important part of a SysAdmin's job, whether you know you're one or not. If you think about updates and upgrades, then you...

David Both
December 13, 2024December 10, 2024
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Linux Tips and tricks Vim

A little Vim trick I learned today

I learned a neat new trick today that greatly improves my work with Vim when I'm editing code. I like to copy and paste snippets...

David Both
September 22, 2024September 22, 2024
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Linux Terminal Tips and tricks

Setting the status line for the screen program

In my recent article about the Screen program, I mention that one of the best things about the Screen program is that it gets out of the way and lets you just do your work. As a result, there may be no on-screen indication that you’re in a Screen session. That can cause a bit of bother.

I decided to investigate. What I found is interesting.

David Both
September 4, 2024April 18, 2025
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Curiosity Programming Tips and tricks

3 ways to read files in C

There’s the simple way, and there’s the fast way. Let’s compare.

Jim Hall
May 17, 2024May 15, 2024
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Linux System Administration Tips and tricks Tools

Serial communication on Linux

Learn to use the ancient serial communications hardware and software methods that are needed even today in many data centers.

Alan Formy-Duval
March 25, 2024March 16, 2024
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Bash Command Line Tips and tricks

Using ‘if’ in a Bash script

Writing a short Bash script can save typing lots of instructions at the command line.

Jim Hall
March 15, 2024March 15, 2024
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Linux Tips and tricks

Transfer files between your phone and Linux

Are you looking for a way to quickly copy files from your iPhone or Android mobile device to your Linux computer or from your Linux...

Don Watkins
February 24, 2024February 15, 2024
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Linux Tips and tricks

Make swap better with zram on Linux

The ideal swap configuration depends on your use case and the amount of physical RAM in your host computer. Zram is a compressed RAM disk...

David Both
December 22, 2023December 19, 2023
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Linux Open Source Software Tips and tricks

Cronopete: A graphical backup utility for Linux

Cronopete is a graphical backup utility for Linux that is modeled after Apple's Time Machine. It aims to simplify the creation of periodic backups by...

Don Watkins
December 15, 2023
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Command Line Linux Tips and tricks

Wordsmith on the Linux command line with dict

Check your spelling with the dict command.

David Both
December 14, 2023December 14, 2023
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Linux Tips and tricks

Inxi: Unleashing the Power of Linux System Insights through Command Line Mastery

In the world of Linux, where power and flexibility reign supreme, one of the most valuable tools at a user's disposal is the command line...

Don Watkins
December 13, 2023December 13, 2023
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Desktop Tips and tricks

My Laptop Has No Numlock LED

Note: The tool described in this post worked on Fedora 33 but no longer works with Fedora 34. Because this code is no longer maintained...

David Both
March 29, 2021May 8, 2021
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Fedora Problem Solving Tips and tricks

Fedora name resolution fails

Image by: Opensource.com: CC-by-SA 4.0 I installed Fedora 33 on October 27, 2020, the first day it became available. One of the major changes, a...

David Both
October 27, 2020January 25, 2025
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Random Quote

On Linux you’re an admin
On Mac you’re an end user
On Windows you’re a victim

— @sudoku.bsky.social

“systemd for SysAdmins” Now Available

May 13,2025

My latest book — a #1 New Release on Amazon — “systemd for Linux  SysAdmins” is now available from my publisher, Apress, and on Amazon.

Interesting Links

  • Replace Kubernetes with systemd

Links: Moving to Linux

  • 7 Reasons Fedora Might Be a Better Windows Replacement Than Linux Mint
  • Best Linux distros to try before Windows 10 support ends
  • KDE for W10 Exiles
  • Why I Switched to Linux From Windows

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2nd Edition now Available

All three volumes of this best-selling second edition of my Linux Self-Study course are now available from Apress and Amazon. See the details of this 3-volume self-study course.

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Technically We Write is a community of technical writers, technical editors, copyeditors, web content writers, and all other roles in technical communication.

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