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Meet Univention: Linux Alternative To Windows Domain Controller

Univention Corporate Server (UCS) is a Linux-based solution to manage your IT infrastructure. It is close in concept to a Windows Domain Controller or a NIS server. While all the building blocks (OpenLDAP, Kerberos, Samba and so on) are largely available and already deployed on countless networks, UCS aims at lowering the entry barrier for switching to a Linux-based network infrastructure.

Instead of tweaking configuration files and handling interoperability issues by yourself, UCS provides a Web-based interface to manage your domain, including computers, users, shares and many other entities.

We talk about UCS here because this is an open source solution based on Debian. You can checkout the sources from the SVN repository here. Not only Univention promotes the use of Linux server-side, but client-side too, since they provide very mature Ubuntu support including image rollout and remote administration.

Discovering Univention Corporate Server

The core functionality of an enterprise server is to manage users and groups, devices (computers, printers) and network (DHCP, DNS). UCS aims at being much more than that because of its pluggable architecture. Simply said, you can add “modules” or “apps” that will add extra services to your server.

UCS is designed to operate as well as in a Linux-only environment and in a heterogeneous Linux, MacOS X, and Windows environment through Samba and Active Directory support.

For Linux on the desktop, Univention provides customized Ubuntu images that can be remotely installed and maintained on the client via PXE. I didn’t test that, but apparently, you can build your own custom images, which is a must to tailor the users’ environment to their needs.

Modular design

As part of their solution, Univention UCS supports what they call “Apps” whose goal is to add services on top the core UCS infrastructure.

Some apps are provided and supported by Univention. Some other by third parties. Through apps, you can add to your UCS server support for common enterprise services such as email handling with Fetchmail and AV Mail or printing with CUPS as well as a couple of business-oriented CMS.

Other apps may be used to improve Windows integration (Integrate UCS in existing Active Directory or Office 365 single sign-on). Finally, task-oriented apps are available too, notably to support developer tools (JIRA, Jenkins) and VM or cloud users.

Surprisingly enough I didn’t find any Database-related app. As of today, you cannot manage MariaDB or MongoDB through UCS. But this will surely come as third party Apps.

Who is behind Univention?

Univention Gmbh is a Germany-based enterprise. Behind Univention, there is Pr. Peter Ganten who is as of 2017 the chairman of the Open Source Business Alliance— a German lobbying group promoting the open-source movement.

How much does that cost?

The Univention system is based on open-source software. And you can use the “Core Edition” free of charges. Business users will probably turn toward a yearly subscription through in order to have business-class support.

The subscription includes fixed yearly fees for the server and per-client license fees after the first 10 clients.

Pricing details are available on Univention website.

First experience with UCS

In order to have the first taste of UCS, I’ve set up a small virtual network made of one server and a couple of client hosts. UCS is only available for Intel/AMD 64-bit environment. And I used Qemu/KVM virtual machines on an Intel Core i7 host for that test.

My test UCS server was installed from the just released UCS-4.2 DVD ISO. For the clients, I used the Univention Corporate Client (UCC) module to roll out the Univention-customized Ubuntu image on them. Except for one client which was a newly installed genuine Debian Jessie system.

I reserved 2GB of RAM for the server and 1GB for each client.

Server installation

The server installation went flawlessly and the process should be familiar to anyone already having installed Debian or a Debian-derivative in graphical mode.

While setting up the server, you can install a couple of modules (CUPS, Fetchmail, Sendmail, RADIUS, Squid, Nagios, … ) In addition, you can install the KDE desktop environment if you want to access the web-based administration interface from the server itself rather than remotely. I didn’t use that later option myself, as I intended to access the web interface using my standard browser running on the VM host. Given the limited resources of my test system, I performed a rather minimal UCS installation.

I must say the UCS server installation and usage was incredibly easy— once I fixed a couple of initial misunderstanding:

• The administrative account is “Administrator” — not “root”
• Despite its name, the Univention Corporate Client (UCC) is not the client software, but a server module used to manage clients.

Could you believe it, I had to contact the Univention support to understand that! I take that occasion to thank them all— as, while not being a paid user, the people at Univention were incredibly supportive and pointed me to the right direction.

Worth mentioning for core (aka, non-paying) users, there is a community support through a forum— but it was down when I started testing UCS. It was back online a few days later and has proven to be a great source of information from there— even if many threads are written in German.

UCC client installation

Once I finally understood what UCC was, installing the Ubuntu client machine was a formality. Through the UCS administration interfaces you “create” your computer by registering their name, MAC address, and subnet (for IP address assignation)–and choose the image to install on the next boot.

You then have to ensure your client will boot on PXE–et voila. At the next client startup, it will get a DHCP address and boot image from the server, and after confirmation, the configured disk image will be installed onto the client hard drive.

Few minutes after that you will have a working Ubuntu client, having joined the domain and you can log into that system using the credential for users created in the UCS administration console. No need to say you can install several clients at the same time.

Genuine Debian Jessie integration

Here, I must admit thing weren’t as flawlessly as before. And to be totally honest, I didn’t manage to join my Jessie system in the domain (http://ift.tt/2p2JnIx)

I think I was very close to do it, but I missed something and didn’t have enough time to pinpoint my exact mistake. What is certain is it can work. UCS is based on standard technologies well supported by any Linux flavor. I’ve probably made some configuration mistake or I didn’t read the right documentation.

Speaking of that despite its apparent simplicity, UCS remains a complex beast and you just cannot jump into that solution before reading some of the docs available on the Univention website. In addition, at least some basic understanding of the core administrative concepts is required. So, if you are looking for a no-thinking solution for your domain management, UCS is probably not for you.

But if you have some prior experience in domain administration, Univention Corporate Server is really an option to consider. In fact, while not knowing Univention a few weeks ago, as of today if I had some new domain to setup, I would seriously consider using UCS.

My opinion

I will not pretend the product is perfect. You’ve seen I had some issues. But I can say I’m rather seduced by what I saw. Because of its open source nature, because it is based on standard and interoperable technologies, because of the support and because of the great people behind that project. For me, those are really important considerations when investing in a solution.

Maybe it’s just a philosophic matter? Anyway, I hundred times prefer a software allowing me to investigate a bug, and to work with the team and community to solve my issues rather than an opaque process where I submit some “incident report” and then have to pay or cross my fingers for “someone” to dare consider my problem for the next “service pack”. It always feels to me like the difference between a long term vs short term collaboration. But let’s close that parenthesis for now.

To summarize, no doubt I will add UCS to my tool chest! But maybe you have some different opinion? Or some feedbacks? As always, don’t hesitate to use the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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Setting Up Python Environments In Linux and Unix Systems

Brief: This guide shows you how to set up Python environment on Linux and other Unix-like systems.

If you’ve ever tried to set up a Python development environment in Windows, you know how challenging it can be. Recently, Python released a new version of their installers that have made that process nearly painless, but that doesn’t mean you get the best development environment out of the box, so, in the spirit of a recent post on It’s Foss about setting up a C++ environment, here’s how to do the same for Python.

Great news, Python’s already there

As a *nix user (because this applies to OsX as well) you already have some version of Python installed on your system. In fact, it’s probably a large part of how your package installer works. The real issue is finding out which Python version you have installed by default, and which Python version you are planning on programming with. So open a terminal and check what you have:

python --version

will return either:

Python3.x.x

or

Python 2.x.x

depending on what you get back, I’d also suggest trying the other release as well, by appending that number to the python command. In my case, the default Python install is 2, so I type:

python3 --version

and get back the appropriate Python 3.x.x response.

This will be important because it will determine how we run our Python code from whatever interpreter we end up using. There’s a whole different article to be written about changing your default Python install, so I’m going to avoid that discussion here. Just remember which one your machine defaults to, and which one you are wanting to target.

If you are missing one or the other, or if you find you are running an older version, just install the newest:

sudo apt-get install python *or* python#

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Environments matter

One of the great things about Python is that it is fantastically simple to get working; this simplicity is also one of the pitfalls. Setting up a proper environment for working is going to be important, and can be confusing at first, because you might think you are ready to write with it simply installed on your machine.

You have to remember that for any version of Python, you are going to need to deploy that same setup to your production environment. Any of the packages you get from the package index, for example, will need to be installed on your production machine as well. It’s a good idea to keep track of these in a text file that can be used by pip to install them later.

The first thing to do is set up a virtual environment.

Python 2

In Python 2 you’ll want to install virtualenv using pip:

pip install virtualenv

if you get an error here, saying that you need to install pip first, go ahead and do so. Pip’s the most reliable way to manage packages, and like the link above says, it’s the recommended way to do it also. (hint for OS X users that got here, try sudo easy_install pip, you might have to use the command as pip2 instead of pip, just check for the –version)

With virtualenv installed, you can just cd to your project directory, and then make a new environment:

virtualenv [name_of_your_project]

this makes a bin of python files inside the current directory called my_project. That’s it, jump down to “Using your virtual environment” to see what to do next.

Python 3

In Python 3, the virtual environment module may need to be installed.

sudo apt-get install python3-venv

Once you have it, just cd into your project directory and run this command:

python -m venv [name_of_your_project]

this makes a bin of python files inside the current directory called my_project.

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Using your Python virtual environment

With your environment installed, the procedure is pretty much the same in both versions of Python. I’ve included the working directory in the following commands for clarity.

me@path/to/my_dir$ source my_project/bin/activate
(my_project) me@path/to/my_dir$

Basically, what this command is doing is using that local, clean install of Python in your virtual environment to run your commands. To test this, you could run your python interpreter from inside the environment and try to import a module (numpy for example) you know you have on your main install of python.

To get back out of the environment:

(my_project) me@path/to/my_dir$ deactivate

me@path/to/my_dir$

Whenever you are in your project as source, remember that you are going to be changing that source environment, but not your main environment, so anything you do to that Python is limited to that environment.

Making your Python environment worthwhile

While you are working, you’ll occasionally want to export a list of the environment packages, to be able to install the same environment packages on your production machine.

(my_project) me@my_dir$ pip freeze > requirements.txt

Doing this will create a text file inside your project directory which will act as a list of all the Python packages you have installed in that environment. This way, when you put your project on your production machine, you simply have to run:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Run Python programs in Linux

Now that we’ve got the development environment setup properly, we can test it by writing some simple python code. I use vim to write code, so that’s where you’ll see me start this next bit of Python3 code, then run it. Keep in mind that django isn’t installed on my main machine, just on the source.

import django
print("Got here")

So basically, you just need to use the command in below fashion to run a Python program in Linux:

python program-name.py

Sorry, I had to change environments for this last gif, but you get the picture. Note that I’m in (my_project) as source when I run this the first time, and then I get the failure when I’m out of (my_project) as source.

There are a bundle of IDEs out there, and most of them handle this kind of thing well, if you pay attention to what you are doing. Just remember that the install of python inside of your project is the one you want to use to run your code.

Big Caveat

Since I made the mistake, at a younger age of doing *nix stuff, I’m going to impart some wisdom here. Do not run any of the pip commands as sudo. You’ll mess up your main install of Python, and that will mess up your Linux package manager… and basically, it will ruin your day. I lost a whole Mint install to this once, so just remember not to sudo this stuff.

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System76 Galago Pro: Specs, Price And Release Date

Brief: System76 has announced a new Ubuntu-powered ultrabook: Galago Pro. Looking at the design and specification, it surely looks like a premium laptop competing with Dell XPS 13 Ubuntu edition.

System76, a US-based computer vendor, is known for its exclusive Ubuntu based laptops and desktops. In addition to that, System76 also deals in Linux servers.

Galago Pro is the latest offering from System76 and this ultrabook has everything (at least on paper) to make it the best Ubuntu laptop you can buy.

System76 Galago Pro specification

Here’s a quick look at the technical specifications of Galago Pro:

• Processor: 7th Gen Intel i5/i7 CPU (Kaby Lake)
• Display: 13” HiDPI display (3200×1800)
• Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 620
• Memory: up to 32GB of RAM
• Storage: up to 6TB
• Networking: Ethernet port, WiFi
• Webcam: 720p HD
• Weight: 2.87 lbs (1.3 kg)
• Expansion: SD Card, Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, two USB 3.1

Unlike its previous notebooks, Galago Pro ditches plastic body for aluminum alloy. It’s sleeker than the rest as well. Weighing just 1.3 Kg, Galago Pro have everything you would expect in an ultrabook.

Pricing and release date of Galago Pro

The price for the basic model starts at $899. The price will increase if you select higher configuration.

Pre-orders will start on 11th April but only for those who have signed up for Galago Pro exclusive email alerts. In addition to that, pre-orders will have special deal prices as well.

If you haven’t done it yet, you can subscribe to Galago Pro email alerts on the page below:

System76 Galago Pro

Excited for Galago Pro?

Galago Pro has the latest processor, aesthetic design and is lightweight. It has everything an Ubuntu Linux user would ask for. In fact, this is what System76 aimed here. As Ryan Sipes, Community Manager at System76 told It’s FOSS:

“This is what our customers, and frankly what most developers and engineers, have been asking for. The Galago Pro is powerful with up-to-date hardware, has a bunch of ports, and a beautiful design. We look forward to delivering the best laptop out there for creators, makers, and builders.”

What do you think of Galago Pro specs and pricing? Do you think it is something you would consider buying? Do share your views in the comment section below.

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Canonical Shuts Door On Unity, Ubuntu Phone And Convergence

No, this is not an April fool joke.

Mark Shuttleworth, the founder of Ubuntu and Canonical (parent company of Ubuntu), has just announced the shocking news.

Unity 8 development will be stopped. Ubuntu Phone project is going down and so is the convergence dream.

Mark wrote on official Ubuntu blog:

…we will end our investment in Unity8, the phone and convergence shell. We will shift our default Ubuntu desktop back to GNOME for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Writing on the wall

Ever since Ubuntu introduced Unity in 2011, it disrupted the Linux world. Many die hard Ubuntu users either opted for another distribution or chose other flavors. Unity became the most hated desktop environment.

Later in 2013, Canonical tried to create Ubuntu Phone on its own but despite raking up over $12 million in crowdfunding project, it failed to meet the objective of $32 million.

Nevertheless, it found partners in bq and Meizu and Fairphone to launch Ubuntu phones in 2015. It met lukewarm success inside the Linux world and failed miserably in the real world.

We all had the feeling that sooner or later, Canonical would announce the demise of Ubuntu phone. But shutting down Unity is a complete shocker.

It’s all converged

But if you look at the bigger picture Unity and Ubuntu Phone, both were part of the grand plan of convergence.

Unity had a purpose. It was meant to bring Ubuntu Phone in existence. With curtains down on Ubuntu Phone, it makes no sense to put resources in the development of Unity. GNOME is a thriving project supported by several Linux distributions. Naturally, Canonical chose to fall back on it.

What happens to Ubuntu GNOME, Mir and Unity user?

As Mark Shuttleworth said, Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will have GNOME. That brings another question. What will happen to Ubuntu GNOME project? Will it remain a standalone project or does it mean the end of Ubuntu GNOME?

There are more questions. Canonical was developing Mir display server for the sake of Ubuntu Phone and convergence. As Unity 8 development stops, does it also mean closure of Mir project?

What will happen to Unity users? Will they have to migrate to GNOME starting Ubuntu 17.10 or 18.04?

So many unanswered questions.

Your thoughts?

I have always liked Unity and this news has come as an absolute shocker to me. I like GNOME but I preferred Unity.

What are your thoughts on it? Do you think it was about time that Canonical stopped running after convergence mirage and focused on stuff that mattered such as desktop Linux? Do share your views.

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UbuntuShop Now Provides Tails Live Session Option By Default

Brief: Belgium-based Linux laptop vendor, UbuntuShop.be now provides the option to boot into Tails live session by default.

Remember when I talked about privacy-focused Linux distributions? Tails is one of the most prominent names when you want to ensure complete privacy.

Tails got famous when privacy activist Edward Snowden mentioned it. It is not your regular Linux distribution. You can only use it as a live session, mostly via a USB stick. Your entire session is erased once you log out of the system.

While using such a system can be a pain, but it could be good to have as an option when you want to be discreet. And this is what UbuntuShop is providing.

A few words about UbuntuShop and its products

UbuntuShop.be is an e-commerce based in Belgium that sells Linux laptops, mainly focused around Ubuntu. There are also options for Linux Mint and elementary OS laptops.

Don’t confuse it with the official Canonical shop. It’s not affiliated with Ubuntu. However, they do have license agreement with Canonical over the use of term Ubuntu.

They mostly use Clevo notebooks built by BTO. Some additional tweaking is done to run the notebooks only with opensource drivers. The notebooks also have reinstall option in the grub.

With the revenue generated, UbuntuShop supports not only Canonical but also other distributions such as Debian and Tails.

Default Tails boot option for all the systems

Recently UbuntuShop announced the inclusion of Tails OS in all of its notebook range. So, apart from tyour favorite Linux distribution (be it Ubuntu, Mint or elementary) and reinstall option, you also have the option to boot into Tails OS in the grub.

You can also boot into Tails OS from inside your regular Linux system thanks to a handy shell script. You can find the details here.

Frankly speaking, when I bought Dell XPS 13 Ubuntu edition, I didn’t even know about UbuntuShop. I might have considered it over an enterprise like Dell because small businesses dedicated to Linux need our full support to grow and to thrive.

If you are planning to buy a laptop sometime soon, I would advise you to go for a Linux Laptop and keep UbuntuShop in mind.

UbuntuShop

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[Review] CHIP: The Little ARM Computer that Tries

When the Raspberry Pi was released in early 2012, it touched off an ARM computing revolution. Millions of computer boards have been sold and a new industry grew up around small ARM powered computer boards. There were many copycats because others wanted to get in on the new technological gold rush. One of those groups was named Next Thing Co and launched a product named the CHIP.

What is the CHIP?

The CHIP first appeared on a Kickstarter campaign which was launched on May 7, 2015. Their goal was to raise $50,000 to build the boards. The campaign ended with over $2 million raised.

To give you an idea of what the CHIP has to offer, I created the table below to compare the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi 2 (which was released before Kickstarter campaign) and the most recent Raspberry Pi 3.

	C.H.I.P	Raspberry Pi 2	Raspberry Pi 3
Released	May 2016	February 2015	February 2016
Price	$9	$35	$35
CPU	1 GHZ	900 MHz	1.2 GHz
Memory	512 MB	I GB	1 GB
Bluetooth	Yes	No	Yes

As you can tell by looking at this chart, that the CHIP had slightly more processing power than the Pi 2. It also had half the RAM of both. With that in mind, let me tell you about my experiences.

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My Journey to the CHIP

I had heard about the CHIP when it first came out but didn’t take part in the Kickstarter campaign. As months went by, I read articles about shipments being delayed and backers stuck waiting for their devices to arrive. Because of that, I kept the CHIP in my mental wishlist but didn’t take the plunge. Then a year later in July of 2016, I took another look at it and eventually purchased one. Frustratingly, the delays were not over. My CHIP didn’t arrive until the middle of November.

I recorded an unboxing video for you people. Have a look at it and subscribe to our YouTube channel for more such updates.

The CHIP as a Desktop

Before powered up the CHIP for the first time, it was recommended that I update it first. Since the CHIP has built-in storage (unlike the PIs which use MicroSD cards), I had to plug it into my computer to flash it. I used my Windows 7 desktop to do that job because Chrome was already installed. However, it took quite a bit of fumbling to get the flashing software to recognize the device.

After about ten attempts and a couple browser restarts, I successfully flash the CHIP to the latest OS. Since I also purchased the VGA adapter, I was able to plug it into my existing monitor. The CHIP only has one USB port, so I used a Logitech wireless mouse with a Unifying dongle and a Bluetooth keyboard. The mouse worked right away, which made me very happy. I had to do some setup to get the keyboard working, but that is normal.

The CHIP runs Debian and version 4.4 of the Linux kernel. If you plug it into a monitor, you are using a XFCE desktop. When I ran screenfetch, it said that I was using a little over 200 MB of RAM out of 500. That doesn’t seem like much room to open multiple applications.

I tried to run IceWeasel (Debian’s rebranding of Firefox). It ran, but very slow especially with more than two tabs open. The same was true for LibreOffice.

The team from Next Thing Co included a nice little application to install new software. Available packages were listed by category and some were listed by desktop environment, like MATE and KDE. I was surprised to see the second one listed on a system that only has 500 MB of RAM.

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The CHIP as a Server

After being disappointed with the CHIP’s performance as a desktop, I decided to run it as a server. Before redoing so, I reflashed it for headless use (which took several tries to work). The main reason I reflashed it was to see if it freed up any extra space. It didn’t. I guess a desktop environment does not take up as much space as I thought.

The major problem I had getting going headless was connecting to it with my PC. Accord to the documentation, all you need to do is use ssh to connect to chip@chip.local. I tried this on both Windows 7 and Linux but was unable to connect. For some reason, the zero configuration networking feature wasn’t working.

Next, I tried using a serial connection via a USB cable. Unfortunately, the documentation on how to do this was very short and confusing. Even people I asked on the forum said it was confusing. Thankfully, they were very helpful.

Once I logged into the CHIP, I ran screenfetch again. This time it was only using 62MB of RAM. I tried to install NextCloud to how it ran as a personal cloud. but I was unable to get it to run. So, I decided to install Apache and use it as a local server to practice web development on. It might be slow for WordPress and other CMSs, but it should work pretty well.

Final Thoughts

Before proceeding, keep in mind this is the opinion of one guy, who’s more comfortable with Manjar (Arch) than Debian. Also, I’m not exactly as sysadmin level user.

Not surprisingly, the CHIP did not have a great desktop experience. It was slow, but it was stable. It didn’t crash once, as you would expect from Debian. Getting the CHIP flasher to work was a major headache, but they recently updated and improved it so maybe that problem is fixed already. The documentation was confusing and hard to follow. I wish they had more distro or even OS choices. I’d love to try FreeBSD on this thing.

The CHIP worked a lot better as a server that you could just plug in and forget. In this use case, 500 MB of RAM is not an issue. It had both wifi and Bluetooth, which can’t be said for a bunch of ARM boards. There is a great community built up around this board, which makes it easy to get help on the forum.

I was to do a star rating of this board, I’d give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

If you want to buy your own CHIP, you can get it here.

If you have any experience with the CHIP or any other ARM boards, let us know in the comments.

If you found this article interesting, please share it with your friends and family on your favorite social media sites.

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6 Free Linux Training Courses For Everyone

When I last discussed free books to learn Linux, some readers asked for my advice about video courses to learn Linux online.

And thus I compiled this list of free Linux training courses. Some of these are just basic to introduce you to Linux while some can help you build a career with Linux.

These courses are available worldwide without any charges. All you need is a decent internet connection and the determination to learn Linux.

Free Linux training courses

Some of these are Linux training for beginners while some focus on slightly advanced and job-oriented topics such as DevOps, open stack and cloud infrastructure. You can choose the one which is appropriate as per your needs and skills.

1. Introduction to Linux

This free online course is designed by The Linux Foundation and promoted by Linus Torvalds himself. Consider it as the official Linux course.

However, this course is for the people who have no idea what is Linux and how to use it. You’ll learn the following things after the course:

• Working knowledge of Linux
• Navigate through major Linux distributions
• System configurations and graphical interface of Linux
• Basic Linux command line operation
• Most common applications of Linux

Introduction to Linux

A similar course is available at our online shop as well. If you could spend a few bucks, you should take this extremely useful Linux course for beginners.

2. An Intro to the Basics of Linux

This free Linux course is created by the networking giant Cisco. Like the previous offering, this course too focuses on absolute beginners. You don’t need any prior knowledge to Linux for this course.

You’ll learn the following thing in this online video course:

• Basics of the Linux Command Line Interface (LCI)
• Hands-on using a Linux virtual machine (provided free of charge)

The course runs for 8 hours. You can get the details on the page below:

An Intro to the Basics of Linux

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3. Linux Essential

If you think that the previous course from Cisco was too basic, you can try your hands on another Cisco course. Linux Essentials course requires you to have some fundamental knowledge of Linux command line and then it builds up the foundation on top of that.

You’ll learn the following in this course:

• Learn entry-level open source concepts
• Enhance your understanding of Linux command line
• Learn how Linux is used
• Hands on using a Linux virtual machines

This is rather detailed course and it runs for around 70 hours. It is self-paced so you can use the course at your own comfort. These Cisco courses also include lab activities so you get to do some practice instead of just reading/following the videos.

Linux Essentials

4. Introduction to DevOps

This is another free course offered by the Linux Foundation. This course is focused on DevOps activities. DevOps is somewhat similar to SysAdmin role, if not exactly the same. You’ll need to have some basic knowledge of Linux command line for this course.

You’ll learn the following stuff from this course:

• Why we need DevOps.
• Understanding the foundations, principles, and practices of DevOps
• Understand, analyze, and map value streams.
• Explaining and implementing the deployment pipeline.
• Illustration of the concept of Continuous Delivery.
• Creating a problem solving culture.
• Understand the concepts of blameless postmortems.
• Monitoring meaningful infrastructure and business metrics.
• Change management coverage
• Understand how resilience engineering and safety culture are critical to DevOps success.

The course is over 40 hours long and makes you acquainted with the DevOps processes. If you want to build a career in DevOps, perhaps you should start here. It doesn’t cost a dime after all.

Introduction to DevOps

A similar course is available at our online shop as well. If you could spend a few bucks, you should take this extremely useful course for learning SysAdmin activities.

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5. Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies

Know one knows better than The Linux Foundation about what kind of Linux skills are in demand. Cloud computing is everywhere and this course helps you with the fundamentals of building and managing cloud technologies.

You’ll learn the following in this course:

• Basics of cloud computing
• Different cloud technologies characteristics
• Knowledge on how to choose the right technology stack for your needs

The course runs for about 30 hours. You can get more information on its website:

Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies

6. Introduction to OpenStack

Cloud computing is not the buzzword in the IT industry anymore. It has become the necessity.

OpenStack enables you to build and manage cloud computing platforms for public and private clouds. OpenStack is considered the future of cloud computing and considering that the job market has doubled for OpenStack, I would say you must learn it if you are looking for career in Linux.

You need to have some basic knowledge of Linux before you could attend this course. I would also suggest completing the previous course on Introduction to Cloud Infrastructure Technologies. It will teach you the following:

• Cloud computing compared to virtualization
• Deployment of virtual servers
• Installation of OpenStack with automated tools
• Command line management tools
• Scaling out an OpenStack Cloud

The course runs over 30 hours. You can get enrolled on the page below:

Introduction to OpenStack

Suggested Read

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[Bonus] Linux Survival

Unlike the other entries in this list of best Linux training courses, Linux Survival is not a video course. It’s an online website that teaches you Linux command line in an interactive and relatively fun way.

You don’t have a login here so there is nothing to keep track of your progress. You’ll have to remember on your own where you last left at. Nevertheless, it’s free and worth a try.

Linux Survival

Anything else?

Well, that was my list of free Linux online courses that would help you to learn Linux, become a Linux SysAdmin and help you get jobs in Linux domain.

Do you know of some other reputable institute offering free online courses to build a career in Linux or with Linux basics? Have you already taken any of the courses? How was your experience? Share it with us in the comments below.

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5 Best Linux Distributions For Progammers

Can there be a best Linux distro for web developers? Or, more generically, let’s say can there be a best Linux distro for developers?

We have covered SemiCode OS, a Linux distribution for programmers. But SemiCode OS is still in beta so I thought I would compile a list to answer your question: which Linux distributions should I use for programming?

A lot of things like the programming language, tools used, support, availability of packages and speed of their update in the repositories and a host of non-functional requirements like the desktop environment, stability come into play to determine the best Linux distro for coding.

A programmer comes into contact with the OS particularly to a higher degree than anybody else. For a programmer, an operating system must turn him/her on. And by ‘turn on’ I mean create a burning passion to code and make the world a better place.

Best Linux distributions for programming

Anyway, let’s begin. We’ll be having a look at the package managers, availability of packages, stability, release models and desktop environments of distros in particular.

1. Ubuntu

Ubuntu gives 3 concrete reasons for programmers to use it.

Ubuntu has grown so much that it has become quite of a premier desktop Linux. I see almost all software vendors that produce for Linux platform offer a .deb package. Today Ubuntu gets the maximum support from vendors than any other distro.

This means that any IDE, tools that a developer will need will have a .deb installer ready for download. All you have to do is click. This also has a huge benefit when your project depends on a specific version of a software. It also has a huge repository of stable software.

Ubuntu provides an LTS version which will be supported over a period of 5 years and a never non-LTS version supported for 9 months. The non-LTS version having much never packages (as the LTS version ages). This facilitates an unmatched stability. The core components of the operating system and the kernel will not change as in the case of rolling release OS. This provides programmers and developers, a dependable and stable work base which is not going to give out any inconsistency.

Thirdly, I want to discuss the desktop environment of Ubuntu that is Unity. Although this is a matter of subjective preference, I’d like to bring about the pros of Unity for a programmer.

Unity features a simple interface. The launcher is a simple stack where you place all your favourite and most used applications. You launch apps and switch between apps using the same launcher. This, I felt was drastically less invasive compared to Gnome. It facilitates a faster switching between apps. Also, Unity is easily customizable. The dash is also highly accessible and helps you navigate around the OS quickly. Honestly, the launcher is a great productivity booster.

Ubuntu is a polished operating system. Ubuntu is also available in flavours and there are some great distros based on Ubuntu. Do check them out too.You can download Ubuntu here.

2. openSUSE

openSUSE is one of the most sophisticated Linux distributions out there. It has a great community, a solid development sector and a completely professional attitude. Although I use Arch Linux on my computers, I’ve always had a high opinion about openSUSE.

openSUSE is much more suited for developers in particularly because of the freedom it allows. openSUSE comes in 2 variants.

Leap comes with a life-cycle of 6 months after the next version comes out. So currently, if you install openSUSE Leap 42.2, it will be supported up until 6 months after the release of openSUSE Leap 42.3. It comes with stability guaranteed software set, so any tool you need for development work will be running bug-free throughout and beyond your project.

openSUSE Tumbleweed, on the other hand, follows a rolling release. You can say it’ll be supported forever. The software will be updated on a regular basis. All the IDEs, your favourite open source code editors and other tools will be updated to the newest version, always. Although the updates are well tested and they almost never cause any issues that come with bleeding edge distros, there is one thing you must consider. More than often, your project might depend on a particular version of a software, like the JDK. You must be careful during accepting upgrades in such cases.

Leap or Tumbleweed, openSUSE has an absolutely amazing software delivery method. Just go to software.opensuse.org, search for the package you need and just hit “Direct Install” and done. No repository, commands and dependency hassle. I think this is a major selling point for openSUSE. This will save a lot of time when you just want to install stuff and get to coding.

Finally, openSUSE is a great Linux distribution for programming and coding because of its robustness, stability and a huge repository of well-maintained software. No wonder, even many enterprise use it for their developers. Definitely check it out.

3. Fedora

Linus Torvalds himself uses Fedora. Need more reasons?

Fedora is fast. Even the Gnome version of Fedora runs quicker on my PC. Faster than other distros running on Gnome. I love it when I don’t have to stare at the screen when Chrome is taking forever to start.

Fedora has a release cycle of 6 months. This is great for developers who can’t afford to be left with an older version for too long.

A prime reason to choose Fedora lies in something more than just the package manager or the desktop environment. Fedora is an orthodox advocate of open source principle. Everything Fedora is open source. There are no proprietary drivers and stuff available in the Fedora repos (You can install proprietary drivers, but it’s a little complicated than running a couple dnf commands). So if you are an open source enthusiast, Fedora is definitely for you.

Fedora is the sister project of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, the original programmers’ operating system. There is a mutual relation between Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux that gives both of these an advantage as far as technology and innovation are considered.

Fedora might get sponsorship and professional feedback from RHEL, but it is driven by a community of enthusiastic developers and RHEL professionals who are passionate towards Fedora. This directly leads to Fedora being a superior setting for developers. And to add Fedora is one of the most stable Linux distros, on every version.

Fedora is available in your favorite desktop environments too. Check them out here. You can download Fedora Gnome here.

4. Arch Linux

Ok, so this one will require a fair amount of time and patience on your part just to set up. But it’s worth it.

Arch Linux comes with just the Linux kernel and the package manager, Pacman. You don’t even get a graphical interface. You build on the base, picking components as per your preference. The result of this is a highly personalised operating system which contains everything you need and nothing that you don’t.

Arch Linux is known for it’s bleeding edge, up to date repository. Every package in the official repositories is always on the highest version number but, still gets there only after extensive testing. So the operating system itself is completely reliable. The rare issues regarding stability creep in when you install unsupported packages from the Arch User Repository (which can be avoided by being cautious while dealing with AUR). This too affects only the software in question and not the OS itself.

Every debug info and instructions are well documented in the Arch Wiki which honestly is the best documentation any Linux distro has. So any issue you may face can be repaired easily by following very beginner-friendly instructions provided in the Arch Wiki.

Arch Linux comes with zero maintenance as the OS keeps itself updated. Dependency issues and orphaned packages are handled efficiently by Pacman. The latest and the greatest of everything Linux is always available in the Arch User Repository.

Building a personalised operating system with Arch Linux is the way to go if you ask me. Check out Arch Linux here.

5. Antergos

Antergos is an Arch-based Linux distro. Many people consider Arch based distros to be just Arch installers, something that helps install an Arch system using a graphical user Interface. Well, that’s not the case here. Antergos uses Arch repositories yes. But it comes with its own twist.

Antergos follows a rolling release so you don’t have to worry about the end of life. It is available in every major language. Antergos, although based on Arch, is not a barebones distro. It comes with a good number of software pre-installed. But this number is still less compared to other distros so you won’t feel it’s bloated and this provides an opportunity to customise it as per your wish and needs.

Antergos uses the Arch repositories so anything you’d want in your arsenal is always available with the highest version number. Pacman, the package manager in Arch comes without any add-repository hassle. The repository contains the latest of any software and sometimes some prominent older versions are also kept, like the Java Development Kit. Antergos also comes with its own additional repository which provides Antergos customization packages (different from Arch), Antergos software and many other things like Antergos wallpapers and icon packs.

Pacman handles dependency issues and orphaned packages in a way superior to any package manager out there. Instability is out of the question.

New software tools are coded, techniques are devised and trends change with every sunrise. This is where the Arch User Repository comes in. Arch User Repository is the community driven repository which contains a huge number of packages including many newer software. It practically contains everything that runs on a Linux machine. So every IDE, Development Kit and Libraries you need will be installable with just a single command.

yaourt name_of_the_software

Antergos provides every major desktop environment. The installation is simple with the Cnchi installer. It provides options to chose your desktop environment, browser, graphics drivers and such at the installation itself. All in all, Antergos makes a great Linux distribution for coding. Do check it out at its official website.

Wrapping up

There you have it people, my pick on the best Linux distros for programmers. Do share your views about these distros with us. Also, share some tips that we programmers might find helpful in the comments below.

 

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Best Linux Magazines You Can Subscribe To

Brief: This article lists some of the best Linux magazines you can subscribe to, either in digital format or in print format.

Magazines were a popular source of information and entertainment. They are still popular but perhaps just not as much as they used to be, especially in the print edition.

Easy internet access and the rise of websites and blogs have changed the landscape of magazine world. It’s often debatable if people still read magazines. I am not going to discuss that.

I was crazy about magazines as a teenager. I had tons of magazines on a variety of topics, technology, science, literature, stories and what not. But things changed gradually as I become more accustomed to reading on the internet.

I still consume a lot of information from my favorite websites and through social media, but it is not the same as reading magazines. A few weeks back I came across a print edition of Wired magazine while I was waiting for an appointment.

It was after years that I read a print magazine. And that intrigued me to look for Linux magazines I could subscribe to. And this is how this article came into existence.

I spend some time on finding what Linux magazines are available, what are their features, how much they cost and if they are available in various geographic locations (in print format).

I am compiling this list with my ‘research’ so that it saves time for you in case you are looking for something to read on Linux and to stay informed about the latest trend in the Linux world.

Top Linux magazines

Apart from magazines, you can also stay informed with Linux podcasts. Podcasts are completely free and share news and reviews more frequently.

Before we see the list of Linux magazines, I just want to clarify, this list is not in any specific order. Number 3 does not imply that it is better than number 5.

1. Linux Format

Started in the year 2000, Linux Format is the leading Linux magazine from the UK. This magazine is published monthly (actually 13 issues a year) and is sold around the world.

Linux Format highlights the latest developments in the world of open source, explores new software and Linux related book releases. It also covers hands-on tutorials. Interviews with key Linux players is also covered frequently.

Intended audience ranges from beginners to advanced Linux users. It is available only in English.

The magazine is available in both print and digital format. Print format of the magazine also includes a 4Gb DVD.

Price depends on several factors such as the format of the magazine, country of residence and subscription duration. For people outside the UK, there are shipping charges for the print version.

The digital format of the magazine costs $15 for a quarter or $60 for a complete year. The print version is relatively expensive with $150 for a year. You can check the pricing at this page.

All subscribers get the right to download selected articles in PDF format on magazine’s website. Cover disc is also available to download.

You can get more information on Linux Format website.

Linux Format

2. Linux Magazine aka Linux Pro Magazine

Linux Magazine also known as Linux Pro Magazine in the North America is also one of the oldest Linux magazines.

First published in German language back in 1994, Linux Magazine is today published in English, Spanish, Polish and Brazilian Portuguese.

It is published monthly and includes a free DVD with each edition. This DVD mostly contains a Linux distribution.

Linux Magazine caters to the readership of experienced Linux users. The articles are written on advanced technical topics in details.

Topics include but not limited to interoperability, rootkits, virtualization, and cryptography. Thorough reviews of new products. Practical advice on tools and strategies for system administrators and tips on programming in the Linux environment.

Linux Magazine is available in both print and digital format. Both print and digital format cost $9.99 with shipping. The yearly subscription charge is $99.95 sans DVD. For an additional $15, print subscribers can also get the digital subscription. More details on subscription can be found here.

Linux Magazine

3. Linux Journal

Linux Journal is also one of the oldest Linux magazines. Like Linux Magazine above, Linux Journal was also started in the year 1994 by Phil Hughes and Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. It is based in the United States.

While started as a print magazine, it switched to a digital-only format in 2011. It is published in English language only.

Linux Journal focuses on a variety of topics such as in-depth technology coverage, how-to, interviews, best practices for sysadmins and product reviews. Intended readership ranges from intermedia to expert Linux users.

Good thing is that Linux Journal is not expensive. It costs just $29.50 for 12 digital issues. If you for 24 digital issues, the price decreases to $49.50. Value for money, I would say.

You can get more details about Linux Journal on its website.

Linux Journal

4. Linux User and Developer

This magazine used to have its own website linuxuser.co.uk but the website now redirects to gadgetdaily.xyz. The new website is owned by the same company, though.

This made me doubt if the magazine is still published. Going by their Twitter account, it seems that they still publish this magazine.

Linux User & Developer covers tips, tricks and tutorials to help readers do more with Linux system and expand their programming knowledge. It also covers Raspberry Pi projects.

Every issue comes with a free live-booting DVD packed with selected Linux distributions and Free and Open Source Software.

Magazine is published in English language and is available in print and digital format both. You can find the information about the subscription and the pricing on the link below:

Linux User and Developer

5. Open Source For You

Open Source For You is by EFY Group, perhaps the oldest tech magazine publishing group in India.

It is published once a month in English language and is available only in print edition.

Magazine focuses on FOSS (Free and Open Source Software). It covers tech articles on Linux and open source for new Linux users, sysadmins, developers and open source lovers. It also strives to help organizations enhance their Return-on-Investment (RoI) by deploying Linux and/or open source solutions.

A yearly subscription costs $120 and is shipped worldwide. The Indian edition is relatively cheaper. You can find details of the subscription on this page.

Open Source For You

Honorable mentions

Some other magazines I would like to mention here. You can see them as free Linux magazines.

• Full Circle Magazine: Full Circle is an independent, free monthly PDF magazine focused only on Ubuntu Linux. It also has a weekly podcast. Visit the website and download the magazines to read.
• PCLinuxOS Magazine: PCLinuxOS Magazine is an independent, free monthly PDF magazine focused only on PCLinuxOS. If you use PCLinuxOS, you could read them regularly.
• Linux Voice: Linux Voice was a popular Linux magazine. It was Linux Magazine (mentioned above) last year and now it has a dedicated section inside Linux Pro Magazine. Older editions of the magazines are still available, for free, to download and read.

Your say

There are more Linux magazines available in other languages. You can try finding them as well.

Do you already read any of the above magazine or some other Linux magazine perhaps? Share it with us in the comment section below.

One more thing. Would you be interested if It’s FOSS starts a monthly magazine or would you rather prefer it to keep focused on the blog itself?

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