Blog of a linux savvy

Setting up sensors in linux

2011-07-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Just install lm-sensors with this command:

sudo apt-get install lm-sensors

after installation use this command to get the status of the cpu:

sensors

Changing brightness from ubuntu terminal

2011-07-08T01:23:00.000-07:00

Try this command:

setpci -s 00:02.0 F4.B=10

value of F4.B can be changed (my limit is 99)

Easiest way to determine "Follow Set"

2011-06-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Consider the following grammar:

E = TE'
E' = +TE' | e
T = FT'
T' = *FT' | e
F = (E) | id

Here,
First( E ) = { ( , id }
First( E' ) = { + , e }
First( T ) = { ( , id }
First( T' ) = { * , e }
First( F ) = { ( , id }

So, to get the value of Follow (E) we have to pick any one of Es from the right side of the equation. E is in the right side only here F = (E)|id , here right side of E is ')' which is a terminal. So Follow set of E would be ')'. And E is first one to get so $ sign would be in the follow set.
So Follow(E) = { ) , $ }

Now we have to get the value of Follow (E'). At first we have to take any one of the equations from the list where E' is in the right side. Lets take E = TE'
Here right side of E' is empty. So the Follow set of E' would be the Follow set of E (left side of the equation)
So, Follow(E') = { ), $ }

Now it's time to get the value of Follow(T). We can take E = TE', where T is in the right ride of the equation. Here the right consecutive value of T is E' which is a non terminal. So, we have to add it's first set's element to its follow set, adn if the first set has the value 'e' (empty set), follow set of the non terminal residing in the left side of the equation has to be added, Here the first set of E' is {+,e}, so the follow set of T would be {+, Follow set of E} that means {+,),$}

To get the Follow set of T' We can take the equation T=FT' and T' has not any right consecutive value, so the follow set of T' would be the follow set of the left sided non terminal T. That is {+,),$}

Follow set of F can be determined from the relation T = FT'
Here right consecutive value of F is T' which is a nonterminal. So the follow set would be {first set of T', if First(T') contains e add follow set of T}
Therefore, Follow(F) = {*,+,),$}

Ruby on Mint ;)

2010-11-26T10:36:00.000-08:00

Ruby develoment:

To create new application , install ruby and gem and webrick from apt with this command

sudo gem install rails

install sqlite3 and its dev file from apt.

then create a sample application,

rails create blog

cd blog

rails server

Here rails generate controller home index

To edit configuration go to

app/views/home/index.html.erb

give this command:

rm public/index.html

Now, you have to tell Rails where your actual home page is located. Open the file config/routes.rb in your editor. This is your application’s routing file which holds entries in a special DSL (domain-specific language) that tells Rails how to connect incoming requests to controllers and actions. This file contains many sample routes on commented lines, and one of them actually shows you how to connect the root of your site to a specific controller and action. Find the line beginning with :root to, uncomment it and change it like the following:

Blog::Application.routes.draw do #... # You can have the root of your site routed with "root" # just remember to delete public/index.html. root :to => "home#index"

The root :to => "home#index" tells Rails to map the root action to the home controller’s index action.

Now if you navigate to http://localhost:3000 in your browser, you’ll see Hello, Rails!.

For routing add get part

Blog::Application.routes.draw do

get "say/hello"

get "say/goodbye"

get "home/index" receive

EyeOS !!!! cloud in your local machine

2010-05-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

My home cloud

EyeOS is an Open Source web desktop operating system written in PHP and AJAX. The main problem of setting up EyeOS is running the sql queries, cause there are several files containing sql commands. To set up EyeOS, you've to edit the settings.php file in mail directory and edit this portion according to your configuration.

// STORAGE
define('SQL_CONNECTIONSTRING', 'mysql:dbname=eyeos;host=127.0.0.1');
define('SQL_USERNAME', 'user');
define('SQL_PASSWORD', '123456');
you have to write your user name instead of "user" and your desired password will replace "123456".

Open mysql console and create a database named eyeos
Then go to /server directory/eyeos/eyeos/extras and open Calendar.sql from Calendar directory.
Run the queries in mysql console. If error is poped, then its okay, we've to come back to this queries after finishing other queries. Then openEyeosEventsNotification.sql file from EyeosEventsNotification directory.Remember, if any query shows error, don't be nervous, we will run them after executing other queries. Silmilarly run the queries of EyeosPeopleSQL.sql, EyeosTags.sql, EyeosUMSQL.sql, languageAdmin.sql, MailApplicationSQL.sql from EyeosPeopleSQL, EyeosTags, EyeosUMSQL, LanguageAdmin, MailApplicationSQL directories. Now it's time to get back to unexecuted queries of previous files.Run those queries and ready to use the cloud in your PC.

Run the eyeos from server and click on the New User link, register yourself and ready to take the taste of web desktop.

Screen shot of EyeOS

JDBC MySQL snippet

2010-05-14T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm working on my database project. Here is a tips to connect java with MySQL in Ubuntu. I downloaded MySQL Java connector with Synaptic. The downloaded file is mysql-connector-java-5.1.10.jar and located at /usr/share/java path. I copied that file to my java home's /jre/lib/ext directory, which is /usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.20/jre/lib/ext

I created a database with this command in mysql :

create database test;
create table Name (FirstName char(10),LastName char(10));
insert into Name values ("Md. Rezaur","Rahman");

Now I used this code to test my connection:

import java.sql.*;

public class JdbcExample1 {

public static void main(String args[]) {
Connection con = null;

try {
Class.forName("com.mysql.jdbc.Driver").newInstance();
con = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:mysql:///test", "sajol", "123456");
if(!con.isClosed()){
System.out.println("Successfully connected to MySQL server...");
Statement s = con.createStatement ();
s.executeQuery("select FirstName,LastName from Name");
ResultSet rSet = s.getResultSet();
int count = 0;
while (rSet.next ())
{
String FirstName = rSet.getString ("FirstName");
String LastName = rSet.getString ("LastName");
System.out.println (" First Name = " + FirstName+ ", Last Name = " + LastName);
++count;
}
rSet.close ();
s.close ();
System.out.println (count + " rows were retrieved");
}
}

catch(Exception e) {
System.err.println("Exception: " + e.getMessage());
}
finally {
try {
if(con != null)
con.close();
} catch(SQLException e) {}
}
}
}

Lexical Issues

2010-05-10T10:07:00.000-07:00

I was given some sample source files and instructions to build a lexical analyzer. Though it is not a complete project but this flex file works pretty good job to identify the lexicon. Here is the lex file and the generated files:

Compiler Construction: Phase One (Backus–Naur Form)

2009-12-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

I had a project of compiler construction a few days ago. It is more interesting than I imagined. There would be a language (suppose it is Simple Programming Language). I need to build the BNF,lexical analyzer and the parser. My friend Wasi built the BNF according to the specifications given to us.

Here is the BNF file

"Name" = 'SPL'
"Version" = '2009'
"Author" = ''Mir Sajal'
"About" = 'Simple SPL'
"Case Sensitive" = False
"Start Symbol" =

<Character>::= {letter}
<Digit>::= {digit}
<CharacterOrDigit>::= {alphanumeric}
NewLine ::= {CR}{LF}|{CR}

<Identifier>::= <Character><CharacterOrDigit>*
<Number>::= <Digit>*|<Digit>+"."<Digit>+
<Negative;>::= "-"
<NumberConstant>::= <Negative><Number>|<Number>
<CharacterConstant>::= "'"<Character>"'"
<Constant>::= <NumberConstant>|<CharacterConstant>
<Value<::= <Identifier>|<Constant>|"("<Expression>")"
<Term>::=^lt;Value>|<Value>>"*"<Value>+|<Value>"/"<Value>+
<Expression>::= <Term>|<Term>"+"<Term>+|<Term>"-"<Term>+
<Comparator>::= "=" | "><" | "<" | ">" | "<=" | ">="
<AndOr>::= AND | OR
<Check>::= [<Not>]<Expression><Comparator><Expression>
<Conditional>::= <Check>|<Check><AndOr><Check>+
<Program> ::= <Identifier>";"<Block>"ENDP"<Identifier>"."
<Block>::= [DECLARATIONS<DeclarationBlock>]CODE<StatementList>
<IdentifierList>::= <Identifier>|<Identifier>","<Identifier>+
<DeclarationBlock>::= <IdentifierList> OF TYPE<Type>";"
<Type>::= CHARACTER | INTEGER | REAL
<StatementList>::= <Statement>|<Statement>";"<Statement>+";"
<Statement>::= <Assignment> | <If> | <Do> | <While> | <Write> | <Read>
<Assignment>::= <Expression> "->" <Identifier>
<If>::= IF <Conditional> THEN <StatementList> ["ELSE" <StatementList>] ENDIF
<Do>::= DO<StatementList>WHILE<Conditional>ENDDO
<While>::= WHILE<Conditional>DO<StatementList>ENDWHILE
<For>::= FOR<Identifier>IS<Expression>BY<Expression>TO<Expression>DO<StatementList>ENDFOR
<Write>::= WRITE<OutputList> | Newline
<Read>::= READ<Identifier>
<OutputList>::= <Value> |<Value>","<Value>+

MySQL StartUp :))

2009-10-27T07:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some useful commands of MySQL.
In unix systems, mysql server startup command:
/etc/init.d/mysql start

login to server:
mysql -uUsername -hHostname -p

To select an database:
use database_name;

To show the properties of a table :
desc table_name;

show the table contents:

select * from table_name;

Granting privileges to a user:

grant all privileges on *.* to username@hostname identified by "password";

A Sample Process Calling Example

2009-08-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

I used gnokii to send sms. So I need to execute the command from my code.

/usr/bin/gnokii --sendsms 8801712273933

So at first, I installed gnokii in my Ubuntu 9.04. Then I copied the gnokiirc file from /etc to my home folder and renamed it to .gnokiirc
I opened the file and did some change to it. I was using my Siemens SK65 with a data cable.
I did some tweaking to my .gnokiirc file. All # signs indicate comments. I removed hash sign from some lines. Those lines are:

port = /dev/ttyUSB0
model = AT
initlength = default
connection = serial

As my model isn't supported officially by Gnokii so I added a hash sign before the "model = " line.
Then I run this command in my console.

gnokii --identify

The output is something like this:
GNOKII Version 0.6.26
IMEI : 354784000367194
Manufacturer : SIEMENS
Model : Gipsy Soft Protocolstack
Product name : Gipsy Soft Protocolstack
Revision : 50,"OFFICIAL","2005

Then I wrothe C file sample.c

When I run this file, a new process is opened and gnokii --sendsms command is executed.After sending the SMS the process gonna close. The phone number in the code is the receiver of the message.
For more info, log into www.gnokii.com

Courtesy : Burhan Uddin

Algorithmic Aspects of Shadhinota (English to Bengali Dictionary)

2009-08-03T00:27:00.000-07:00

The most crucial part of building a dictionary is to make an efficient searching technology. There are several ways to keep the words ….May be SQL database, XML data or simple text file. I prefered the text files to keep my data. I want to build a simple desktop utility for general users. I don't expect a general user should install a database software in order to use my dictionary. I aint very good at XML stuffs. So one way is open for me, that is to use text files.

But the main problem of using text file is to maintain the efficient algorithm. I used a simple concept for searching the desired words. Here we go now....

At first I used 26 directories for 26 letters of English alphabet. Every directory has some text files...suppose ab.txt, ac.txt,a.txt......etc. Here ab.txt has the words a, absent,abstract.... every words having the prefix of “ab". Now when I enter a word in my dictionary, at first it goes to the corresponding directory according to the first letter and next it goes to the corresponding text file. Now the second problem arises. One word can be used more than one time in a text file. For example:

The pattern of the text file may be like this
Word Meanings

Country Homeland,Motherland,Home..........
…....
…....
…....
Home House, Place of Accomodation ....

My dictionary searches the word and if it finds the word in the file then print the consecutive words and stop printing when it finds new line. But if same word is used more than once the total process get messed. So I need to distinguish the searched words from others. They need to be unique. I simply added a numeric character before every searched word. Now the text file will be like this

Word Meanings
2Country Homeland,Motherland,Home..........
…....
…....
…....
2Home House, Place of Accomodation ....

Now every searched word has a unique identity. There could be approximate 26*25 files in 26 directories. A tree like hierarchy will be made and searching the words will be done via the traversing the file hierarchy.

Little bit about my Dictionary (Part One)

2009-07-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

I made a small English to Bengali dictionary based on Qt4. In this post I gonna describe the environment setup process for it. I was so excited cause it was my first opensource desktop project.

Properties of the project:
Primary language: C++
Primary toolkit: QT4
Primary IDE: CodeBlocks with MinGW,QDevelop
Objective: Open Source cross platform English to Bengali Dictionary.
Setting Up the Environment:
OS: Windows XP
#install codeblocks-8.02mingw.I used C:\Program Files\CodeBlocks path
use gcc as default compiler
#install qt-win-opensource-4.4.3-mingw I used C:\Qt4 path
#install Qdevelop (optional)
Setting up environment variables:
Right click on My Computer and open properties box. Click on the advanced tab and go to
Environment Variable option.On user variable area click on New button and set the following
environment variables.

Variable name: PATH
Variable Values: C:\Qt\4.4.3\bin;C:\Program Files\CodeBlocks\MinGW\bin;
Variable name: QMAKESPEC
Variable Values: win32-g++
Variable name: QTDIR
Variable Values: C:\Qt\4.4.3

You may need to restart windows.
Go to Start menu..Run...cmd
Give the command:

qmake -v
make -v
gcc -v

Go to C:\Program Files\CodeBlocks\mingw\bin and create a batch file named make.bat
file: make.bat
contained text:

@echo off
mingw32-make %*

run that batch file from cmd.
then u will have to type make instead of mingw32-make
***In Windows You must Enable Unicode based Bengali.You can use a Bangla Keyboard Utility
which supports Unicode.***
OS: Linux
Install g++,QT4 with your package manager or from source code.
Compiling Shadhinota:
Command line compilation:
go to source folder from command line and give the following command:

qmake -project
qmake
make

Compiling using Qdevelop:
Open Qdevelop
Click on Project menu
select Open Project and open the *.pro file of Shadhinota's source directory.
Use Build or Rebuild option from Build menu.
Run the executable from the source folder.
Under Windows:
copy the mingwm10.dll,QtCore4.dll,QtCored4.dll,QtGuid4.dll from codeBlock/mingw/bin
and Qt4.4.3/bin directory to your executable's directory for portability.

In the next post I will write about the GUI part of Shadhinota and the algorithm
used in this software.

using Tomcat in Ubuntu 9.04

2009-07-09T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm debugging my University's result processing software. The total software is written in JSP. I had to install Tomcat6 for this.Then I installed the package libapache2-mod-jk.
I gave the command in the terminal to confirm if the jk module is installed properly.
sudo ls /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/
The output was the following:
alias.conf autoindex.conf jk.load php5.conf
alias.load autoindex.load log_sql.load php5.load
auth_basic.load cgi.load log_sql_mysql.load setenvif.conf
authn_file.load deflate.conf log_sql_ssl.load setenvif.load
authz_default.load deflate.load mime.conf status.conf
authz_groupfile.load dir.conf mime.load status.load
authz_host.load dir.load negotiation.conf
authz_user.load env.load negotiation.load

We can see that jk.load is showed and we assume everything reqired to configure the server is okay.
Then I opened root window by pressing Alt+F2 with gksu nautilus command.I opened /etc/libapache2-mod-jk/workers.properties file and used these lines...

workers.tomcat_home=/usr/share/tomcat6
workers.java_home=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk

Then I opened /usr/share/doc/libapache2-mod-jk/httpd_example_apache2.conf
copied the contents and paste it to the ending of /etc/apache2/apache2.conf
Then opened /etc/rc.local and added these two lines:

export JDK_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk
export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk

Then I restarted apache2 and tomcat

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
sudo /usr/share/tomcat6/bin/./shutdown.sh
sudo /usr/share/tomcat6/bin/./startup.sh

Hosting place is /var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/ROOT/

My first project using SWIG

2009-07-04T06:40:00.000-07:00

Problem Summary:

We've a byte array in java which has 10000 elements. We have a shared library built with C , which contains some native functions who take char*,signed or unsigned char * parameters.
Now the task is to pass the byte array into the native functions and get the desired result.

Solution Summary:

We used SWIG to make a bridge between C and Java. There are two major tasks. One is to make the byte array acceptable as a char pointer in native functions and the other thing is to retrieve the array via pinning.

To do the first task I need to use the typemapping feature of SWIG. To do the second task I call the getByteArrayElements method which is a JNI method depends on JRE implementation on the desired platform.

Let we have a C file which contains the native functions and we have a Java file from which we call those functions. Here the sample files are given:

FILE: sample.c

FILE: Runner.java

Now the task is to pass the byte array into the native functions and get the desired results. So a SWIG input file is needed to do the task. The warapper files will be used to make the bridge between two languages. The main challenge is to make the typemapping in that file. Here is the file I wrote to create the wrappers.

FILE: sample.i

Generating the warapper files:

Warning: This is a platform specific solution. Compilationa may vary from platform to platform. Here I used Ububtu 9.04 with openjdk implementation.

I generated my first required files by this SWIG command:
swig -java sample.i

Now I compiled demo1.cpp file with the following command
gcc -c -fpic sample.c

Then I compiled the wrapper file generarted by SWIG with the help of following
command which can be varied if the JDK header files location is different.
gcc -c -fpic sample_wrap.c -I/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/include/ -I/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/include/linux

Now its the time to make the library which will be used to access the array by native
methods. I used Linux platform, So the library will be libsample.so. If you are using Windows OS, hen
you should generate libsample.dll file.
gcc -shared sample.o sample_wrap.o -o libsample.so

I should add my directory's address to my System's PATH variable to avoid library
linking error with this command.
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH

It's the time to compile the source java file:
javac Runner.java

Showing Output:
To view the output, I used this command.
java Runner

We shall see the output in the console.

Technical Details of sample.i File:

In the first portion of sample.i file we included sample.h file. Otherwise we need to manually declare the prototypes of the native functions.
After that part I include the various.i file of SWIG's library which is needed to do the necessary typemapping from byte datatype to char ponter. Then I declared the first function's (add() function)prototype that doesn't require typemapping.
The second function addIntArray also doesn't require typemapping. So I simply write its prototype. Now we proceed to the third native function testAddByteArray which returns int value and takes char pointer.Here we need to do little coding.
At first we need to rewrite the prototype like this: extern int testAddByteArray(int n,char *BYTE);
Look we use BYTE and INPUTkeyword here. This is must for making the typemaps of byte datatype.
Then I write an in method which describes the parameters and also the way to receive the parameters.
%typemap(in) (int INPUT,char *BYTE) {
$1= JCALL2(GetArrayLength,jenv,$input,0);
$2 = (char *) JCALL2(GetByteArrayElements, jenv, $input, 0);
//Pinning is occured here
}

The local variable $1 receives the array size and $2 receives the byte array by using getByteArrayElements JNI method. If the JRE supports pinning then the array will be retrieved via pinning, that means no copying will be occurred when the array passed to the native functions. The garbage collector must support pinning. In many implementations, pinning is undesirable because it complicates garbage collection algorithms and leads to memory fragmentation. If the garbage collector supports pinning, and the layout of the array is the same as that of a native array of the same type, then no copying is needed. Otherwise, the array is copied to a nonmovable memory block (for example, in the C heap) and the necessary format conversion is performed. A pointer to the copy is returned.

Similarly I've to write code to release memory with this code.
%typemap(argout) char *BYTE {
JCALL3(ReleaseByteArrayElements, jenv, $input, (jbyte *) $1, 0);
//Prevent default freearg typemap from being used
%typemap(freearg) char *BYTE ""

Using JNI method in SWIG's input file

2009-06-15T07:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we've to use JNI's built in methods in SWIG's input file. Though SWIG's proxy class can do everything possible for JNI,but I prefer to use JNI's method where SWIG gets complicated. For example, I have a byte Array in my java file.If I want to retrieve the array by pinning, we can use getArrayPrimitiveCritical(

) JNI method.Here I gonna give an example that will help you a lot about using JNI's built in method in SWIG.

Let the java file is Runner.java and the code is:

public class Runner {
static {
try {
System.loadLibrary("sample");
}
catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError e) {

System.err.println("Native code library failed to load.\n" + e);
System.exit(1);
}
}

public static void main(String argv[]) {
//declaration of the array
byte array[] = new byte [10000];
for (int i = 0; i <>
array[i] = (byte)((int)i%64);

//call the native method

sample.point_accessPinArray(array);
}
}

Now the input file can be like this(sample.i)

/* File : sample.i */

%module sample
%{
#include "ByteArray.h"
#include "/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/include/jni.h"

JNIEXPORT void JNICALL Java_sampleJNI_point_1accessPinArray(JNIEnv *jenv, jclass jcls,jbyteArray array) {

int i;int size;
size = (*jenv)->GetArrayLength(jenv, array);
//pinning process is going to be started from here if your garbage collector supports //pinning.

jbyte* body = (*jenv)->GetPrimitiveArrayCritical(jenv, array, NULL);

(*jenv)->ReleasePrimitiveArrayCritical(jenv, array, body, 0);
}
%}
%native(point_accessPinArray) void *point_accessPinArray(jbyteArray array);

Commands to compile and run:

$swig -java sample.i
$gcc -c -fpic sample_wrap.cxx -I/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/include/ -I/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-openjdk/include/linux/
$gcc -shared sample_wrap.o -o libexample.so
$export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
$javac Runner.java
$java Runner

Using SWIG to cooperate Java with C++

2009-06-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

Courtesy : SWIG Tutorial

Let the main file where my functions and variables are located is example.cxx
Write that source.

Then create an interface file .let example.i
where the previous module's variables and functions have to be declared.

Sample:

/* example.i */
%module example
%{
/* Put header files here or function declarations like below */
extern type variableName;
extern type functionName(parameters);
%}

extern type variableName;
extern type functionName(parameters);
//end of file

Then create main java file.Let Its name is main.java

//main.java
public class main {
public static void main(String argv[]) {
System.loadLibrary("exampl

e");
System.out.println(example.getvariableName());
System.out.println(example.functionName(parameters));

}
}

commands:
$swig -c++ -java example.i
$g++ -c -fpic example.cxx
$g++ -c -fpic example_wrap.cxx -I/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.06/include/ -I/usr/lib/jvm/java-6-sun-1.6.0.06/include/linux
$g++ -shared example.o example_wrap.o -o libexample.so
$export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=.:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
$javac main.java
$java main

You can make a shell script to automate the commands.

One Day Closer to World Domination

2007-03-06T02:19:00.000-08:00

It is a common question raised in many peoples mind in the present world- "Is Open Source Movement is right for us?"Even in our college campus I've to debate with some of my proprietary favored friends who think open source is not right choice.It's a common mistake among the general people who are not introduced with open source environment that they think open source or free softwares are not so flexible or, easy to control, and over all they wanna say it as a frightening matter to the IT world. We all know, it's a time consuming matter to develop a software. Why developers open its source? What is the benefit or what's the main purpose? It's common thought of them if the source code of software is available to everyone, why dose a programmer work so hard to build a quality application? Here is the fact, they analyze the incidents from their own perspective. But they should think over the other side of the coin. Some applicationslike system software (Linux, Windows, Mac and UNIX etc.), Database Management software (MySQL, SQLite, Oracle etc.), Internet tools (Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Evolution, Kmail, Mozilla Firefox etc.) have a responsibility to ensure highest security for their users. Proprietary Software companies always try to give a very admirable supports to the customers. But it's also true they compel their users to take service only from them. Okay, I don't want to say that they don't have the right to serve better to their customers. But what we see in other perspectives. If you buy a car you can repair it from anyone. Similarly, if you have trouble to use any electronic or simple utensils, you are not bound to take facility from one and only one companies. So, why not a software customer can take advantage from many? I can give you an example, we all know about virus attacks and crackers movement against the Microsoft world. Now we can see Microsoft can't stop them in many perspectives with its lonely effort. Microsoft works with many software companies, but software based solutions are mainly provided from Microsoft among them. So, when Microsoft failed to solve a problem, their users don't have any opportunities to rescue themselves. Though many utilities are driven into the market to keep your Windows OS perfect, they can't give you the highest support because the core of windows is unknown to them.In the Linux world, people around the world are ready to help you.Click on net, make friends and take solutions. You are not bound to use one product or one service. Here developers want to share their ideas with others and give you various opportunities to use their products. "Commercialization is not present here"-it's a common thought (which is not right) among several people. In open source world, service is the main product. Open source technologies give chances to their users to think again & ensure great service. I think the most interactive feature of using open source technology is the freedom to modify software as user needs. It's a remarkable matter that most of the open source technologies are more secured than proprietary alternatives. We can look back only a few times ago, Internet explorer defeated by Mozilla Web Browser in the battle of browser world. The hidden mystery is lying behind the source code opening strategy. You can think over the Apache server.At the primary stage of Apache web server, developers and users around the world tried to fix its security holes and built it as one of the most powerful web servers in the world. It was possible for spreading the source to mass. For this reason, Apache server could be the most popular web server in a few years. On the other hand, Microsoft 2000 and NT servers are being attacked by crackers day by day. Microsoft technology failed to prove success against millions of open minds. They can't satisfy their users with necessary security by preventing the continuous harmful approach of crackers.If you have a simple knowledge of Information Technology, I expect you have heard about SPYWARE. A user can't make him free from anxiety without ensuring that his PC free from spyware. It's greatly true for the government institutions. Proprietary software can't give you any guarantee that their products are not spyware without showing the source code. In the present situation governments of many countries like France, Germany, China, Malaysia, India use open source software for their administrative works. In U.S.A. it may be surprising information for you that White House, NASA use open source technology. In 2004, Munich migrated to Linux. The city dropped windows from 14000 desktop PCs, opting instead to go with an open source solution based on Linux. Now open world is ready to compete with the proprietary hell. Volunteers are working for hours and hours in order to spread our thought. We welcome you in the colorful area of Open World. You can find a huge number of Operating Systems, applications and development tools to welcome you. I'm sure you will grab this in a moment. At last, the main gift for you from the open source world is a large number of friends. You can share your ideas with us. We are beside you. Open Source is the other name of love for us. We are waiting for accepting your great contribution for the wellbeing of Information Technology world. Don't forget -"MILLONS OF OPEN MINDS CAN'T BE WRONG."

M Rezaur rahman
Linux Enthusiast
webweaver@dhaka.net