Scripting languages are incredibly useful for quick-fix scripts. The problem with this is when the quick-fix script is still in place  months down the line, at which point the corners you cut because, hey, it's just a short-term fix, come back to bite you. Read on for some best practice tips to make the experience less painful.

Read the full thing at http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6523/1/

From LinuxPlanet:

xargs is an incredibly useful command: it takes in input and executes your chosen command on it: xargs command. Deceptively simple in concept; extremely powerful in execution. It's most commonly used to execute one command on the output from another command (command1 | xargs command2), and most often;the output-generating command is find (xargs is more flexible than the built-in -exec option). Here we'll look at xargs with find, and then at some other possibilities.

Read the full thing at http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/tutorials/6522/1/

I recently decided to study for the Cisco CSSP certification. My main concern in the beginning was the fact that most of the lab simulation software that I found out there could only run on Windows, this was a problem for me given the fact that I do not own a windows computer.

After a quick search I found the wonderful Dynamips project that goes beyond what other simulators do by running actual Cisco IOS images, as well as the PEMU project which allows for running of CiÕ`o PIX images. To integrate the various pieces of software and provide an interface for interaction with the devices I used dynagen.

Read the full thing at http://www.howtoforge.com/how-to-set-up-a-cisco-lab-on-linux-centos5.2

The following 10 items are guidelines more than rules, that I have learned over the years doing intensive work on the IT infrastructure. These guideyines are mostly common sense and can be helpful for anybody who administers an IT system, including Linux/Windows Administrator, Network Administrator and DBA.

Read the full thing at http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/10-ultimate-rules-for-effective-system-administration.html

From Red Hat Magazine:

For years I have envied how easy my Windows- and Mac-based peers had it when traveling with their laptops. They connect to hotspots with ease, get online while I was still logging into root and running some tools. It just wasn’t fair. I wanted an integrated easy-to-use tool that did not require bringing up a shell or logging into root.

I now have that tool in NetworkManager. In this article I will explain whit NetworkManager is, what capabilities exist in the tool (in both Fedora and Red Hat Enterprise Linux), and what you can do to extend it to give you more control over your system than before.

Read the full thing at http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2008/07/22/networkmanager-secret-weapon-for-the-linux-road-warrior/

From Linux.com:

The XFS filesystem is known to give good performance when storing and accessing large files. The design of XFS is extent-based, meaning that the bytes that comprise a file's contents are stored in one or more contiguous regions called extents. Depending on your usage patterns, some of the files contained in an XFS filesystem can become fragmented. You can use the xfs_fsr utility to defragment these files, thus improving system performance when it accesses them.

Read the full thing at http://www.linux.com/feature/141404

Judge Kimball rules in SCO v. Novell! Here it is [PDF] at last! I haven't read it yet myself, just quicky skimmed it enough to see that SCO owes Novell some money ($2,547,817 plus interest probably -- SCO can oppose -- from the Sun agreement) and it had no right to enter into the Sun agreement, but it did have the right to enter into the Microsoft and other SCOsource agreements. Requests for attorneys fees are separate, and that part comes next. Then appeals. I know you want to see it immediately, so let's read it together, and after it's clear, I'll come back and explain some more.

Read the full thing at http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080716182233901

From BeginLinux.com

As you study for your LPI exams, you may find that what's in your study materials doesn't always match what's on your Linux system. That's because the study materials still contain quite a bit of out-of-date information. To make things worse, as of this writing in July of 2008, the official LPI exam objectives also cover some out-of-date material. So, there's a chance that you could see some of it on your exams.

Read the full thing at http://www.beginlinux.com/index.php/server_training/12-server_admin/1040-obsolete_lpi

I should admit - I shamelessly borrowed part of the title for this post from Tyler. I had exactly same feeling after upgrading from Ubuntu 7.10 to 8.04.

Read the full thing at http://www.ivankuznetsov.com/2008/06/upgrading-to-ubuntu-804-hardy-heron-or-ubuntu-suck|-get-a-mac.html

From VoIP Now Have you tried lately to figure out which Linux operating system you’d like to use? And, did you think about adding a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) device to that Linux system? We can guess that you probably overwhelmed with the choices available to VoIP users today. In fact, to write a truly definitive guide to VoIP for Linux users, we would need to write a book.

Read the full thing http://www.voipnow.org/2008/06/the-definitive-guide-to-voip-for-linux-users.html