Reading CHM (.chm) files on Linux

How do you go about reading CHM files on Linux? Luckily, a few CHM readers are available. If you have Qt/KDE installed, you can go for KchmViewer. If you are a Gnome fan, you can compile Gnochm. There is also XCHM but it is a pain to compile (because of so many missing libraries and [...]

Re: sed tee, “Search, replace, and commit back.”

Earlier, I described a way to replace all occurrences of a particular pattern with another in a file and write the change(s) back into that file. BBBart on #linuxpakistan on irc.freenode.net suggested another way of doing it that does not involve calling another process. It uses the “-i” switch to sed(1), something I did not [...]

Buying desktop PC. Suggestions?

I am planning on buying a desktop PC. Throw in your suggestions.
I want a moderately powerful system, with a fast processor and a large physical memory. I don’t do graphics, and I am not into games. The bulk of the heavy-duty work I would be doing on it will comprise running VMware, Matlab, hardware simulators [...]

antiword: Reading .doc (MSWORD) files on the Linux CLI.

What more can you possibly ask for? antiword speaks for itself. I think it is the most useful piece of software ever created.
You can’t write .doc documents with antiword. Why in the world would you ever want to do that, in your right mind? Use plain-text or, better yet, LyX. And while softwares like Abiword, [...]

Slackware 11.0!

It is with great joy and excitement that I would like to tell everyone of you that Slackware 11.0 has been released. Since 10.2, this has been the first official release in about an year. The announcement is here. You can order a copy from the Slackware store, or download the ISOs either through BitTorrent [...]

sed tee, “Search, replace, and commit back.”

If you are a command-line *nix guy like I am, chances are good you have come cross a point where you wanted to replace a certain pattern in a file and write the change(s) back to the file. If you haven’t already figured it out, sed(1) and tee(1) will help you do that in a [...]

Google would be damn proud to hear …

Leaning on a comfy leather chair in one of the computer labs at the campus, I was most curiously asked by a classmate thoughtfully looking at the screen of the monitor in front of me, “What are you doing? Using GOGGLE?”

Freely redistributable firmwares and open documentation: Is Intel going to give in?

Firmware is a piece of code that is stored in a read-only section of a piece of hardware. It not only bootstraps the device, but also defines, activiates and makes useable the functionality of that device. Without the firmware, the device is not usable.
Since firmware carries code laying out the logic of operation of the [...]