Installation

  • Swapless setup is not a good idea, even if you have a 64 bit system. It is not needed but it is preferred since hard drives are so big and inexpensive these days.
  • Use smartctl -a /dev/sda (or whatever your drive is) to see how it’s doing. If it’s failing, when_failed column would show something.
  • You can find the kernel in /usr/src/linux.

Bootup

/etc/rc.d/rc.local ## You may add custom initialisation below this ulogd -d ipkungfu

Hardening

  • encrypt everything
  • force everything to use encryption if possible, even if weakest is the only option you can use
  • remember, your privacy is a different issue
  • protect yourself from your isp / government / commercial and local / physical threats
  • security is a process
  • don’t use multiple sign-in unless needed like msn for x-box account
  • Set passwords to change every so often.
  • Disable unneeded services.

Logs

Check:

  • /var/log/secure
  • /etc/passwd
  • /etc/shadow

Packages

As a quick reference:

tar zxvf package.tar.gz
mv package-version.tar.gz package/
cd package
sudo ./package.SlackBuild
installpkg /tmp/package.SBo.tgz

After installing slackbuild packages, delete everything in /tmp/sb0 and anything with sb0 in /tmp. When slackpkg ask about what I should do with “excess” files, I prefer using “overwrite.”

  • AIDE
  • chkrootkit
  • clamav
  • cryptoki
  • fail2ban
  • keepassx
  • rkhunter
  • TrueCrypt
  • wxGTK
  • lynis
  • tripwire
  • tiger
  • bastille
  • snort
  • samhain

Services

To stop it from booting up:

chmod -x /etc/rc.d/rc.sshd
chmod -x /etc/rc.d/rc.inetd

Reboot the PC after doing so.

  • ssh = 22
  • X11 = 6000
  • bootp = 68

I don’t think I would worry about 68 or 6000.

“For example, to turn off nfs, enter: # /etc/init.d/nfs stop”

NVIDIA

Stick with NVIDIA’s package. Anything else and you risk errors. Use glxinfo if you run into any problems.

If you run into unfixable issues, reinstall:

chmod +x
./NV [tab]

Do what it says and install and reboot at the very last step.

If composite does not work, do: nvidia-xconfig --composite

If your flash videos turn blueish or something similar, right click on the video and turn off hardware acceleration.

My old video card issues..

KDE

If you have a screen-configurations.xml in ~, you can safely delete it.

If you run into a problem with Pidgin, do this:

removepkg pidgin
./configure --disable-gtkspell --disable-gstreamer --disable-meanwhile --disable-avahi --disable-nm

If this error is seen:

pidgin: error while loading shared libraries: libpurple.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Do this: sudo ldconfig

There is a bug mainly in KDE 4.4. When I set my desktop to consider each page a different activity, it allows me to move my desktop. However I don’t like that, so if you’re experiencing something similar and need to set KDE straight:

  1. Right click -> “Desktop Activity Settings”
  2. Go to activity then set it to “Folder View.”
  3. Then back to “Desktop.”
  4. Exit X/KDE.
  5. Voila, no more moving the desktop.

Repeat if you have to with however many desktop you have.

Compiz Fusion

I think future Slackware / KDE will have a lot of the Compiz stuff built in. But in the event that you are building Compiz Fusion from grounds up, you need to install the following in this order:

  1. compiz-bcop
  2. libcompizconfig
  3. compizconfig-backend-kconfig
  4. compizconfig-python
  5. ccsm
  6. simple-ccsm
  7. compiz-fusion-plugins-main
  8. compiz-fusion-plugins-extra
  9. compiz-fusion-plugins-unsupported
  10. emerald
  11. emerald-themes
  12. fusion-icon
  13. kicker-compiz
  14. taskbar-compiz

The reason for 13 and 14 is because neither KDE taskbar or pager support viewports. Add ShowAllWindows = false to [General] in /home/sif/.kde/share/config/ktaskbarrc after installing.

If you run into problems, try this first: compiz --replace --sm-disable --ignore-desktop-hints ccp &

Make sure desktop icons are enabled.

When KDE+Compiz-Fusion just doesn’t want to work..

Alt+F2 then paste in kwin.

Enabling Cube

  • Open CCSM
  • General Options -> Desktop Size tab
  • Horizontal virtual size = 4, the other two settings = 1
  • Hit “Back” -> Go “Desktop” category
  • Make sure Desktop Cube, Rotate Cube, Show Desktop, Viewport Switcher, and Widget Layer are all enabled
  • Hit “Rotate Cube” and push up “Zoom” slider to about 1.000
  • Go “Effects” category -> Enable animations add-on if there is
  • Enable Cube Reflection and Deformation, Fading Windows, Windows Decoration, and Wobbly Windows
  • Go “Utility” category -> Enable Crash Handler, Dbus, Resize Info, Regex Matching, Video Playback, and Workarounds
  • Go “Window Management” category -> Enable Applications Switcher, Move Window, Place Windows, Put, Resize Window, and Scale
  • Hit CTRL+ALT+hold down a left mouse button and drag
  • Go to “Rotate Cube” to adjust zoom slider
  • Will need the Wallpaper plugin in order to use different backgrounds for different virtuals and get KWin to stop writing the desktop

Wine

If you ever download any DLL, this is where you should place your DLLs. I’ve only ever needed DLLs in this location:

/home/sif/.wine/drive_c/windows/system32

Uninstalling winetricks - So.. you delete the ~/.wine directory to uninstall everything you got winetricks to install for you. Just a tip since I have not seen any instruction anywhere on how to uninstall what winetricks installed.

Firefox & Thunderbird

To access the profile manager with Firefox or Thunderbird, type this:

firefox -profilemanager
thunderbird -profilemanager

The profiles are stored in: ~/.mozilla/

VLC

I don’t know if this “trick” still works but..

  1. Open VLC.
  2. Ctrl + N.
  3. Type in screen://.
  4. Hit play.

Enjoy.

Preferences -> Show All -> Video -> Disable “Show media title on video”

CLI

If you want something relatively random.. a quick generator for your password or something, here it is: dd if=/dev/random bs=1 count=16 | xxd -ps

If you want to mount asap: mount -o loop image your_folder

Remember, it’s cfdisk /dev/sda, not cfdisk /dev/sda1.

To archive: tar cfv "file.tar" file

To compress: tar cjpv "file.tar.bz2" file

Speaking of tarball, in order to preserve symlink, use –preserve.

updatedb was useful for slocate, not sure if still is.

To clear bash: history -c && history -w

One way to see the checksum: md5sum <file>

To add a user to the sudo file: visudo

last
lsof
lsof | egrep 'ESTAB|LIST'
w
who
fuser
netstat -pant | grep LISTEN
netstat -tap > listening.services | less listening.services
sudo
freshclam
clamscan --exclude-dir=^/mnt --exclude-dir=^/sys --exclude-dir=^/dev --exclude-dir=^/proc --detect-pua=yes --log=/home/sif/.Desktop/clamlog.log -ri /

Version History

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  • 13.1
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