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Tips and Tricks

Topics relating to MX Docs and MX Videos
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Author
asinoro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:26 pm

Tips and Tricks

#1 Post by asinoro »

At this topic you can add your tip or trick which will help somebody else.


LibreOffice send a file via Thunderbird

If you like to make LibreOffice to send documents as email using Thunderbird then do this.
From Tools > Options > Internet > E-mail – E-mail programm enter /usr/bin/thunderbird > OK, next time you select Document as E-mail will start Thunderbird.
Last edited by asinoro on Sun Jan 01, 2017 2:32 am, edited 4 times in total.
If your case is solved, edit [Solved] to your initial post title to help other users.

Fix your Grub

asinoro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: Tips and Tricks

#2 Post by asinoro »

Create strong passwords easily and safely

It is the best way to have different strong passwords on different websites using only your personal master password.

How it works

Supposedly you want a strong password for forum.mxlinux.org open the terminal and give the command:
strongpw forum.mxlinux.org
Αfter asks you Enter secret: where you put your personal master code. Let assume that the secret personal master code to use is mycode then:
$ strongpw forum.mxlinux.org
Enter secret: mycode
The code generated by combining forum.mxlinux.org and mycode is:
oHwQhgKMihjnu4FwzfsJ
where it is used for forum.mxlinux.org. So if you forget your password forum.mxlinux.org, open the terminal and the combination forum.mxlinux.org and mycode finds again it.
Thereby having the mycode password and the name of the site you are interested you make a new different strong passwords for each website separately.
With this code process the advantage is that nowhere are store your passwords but only the time you use it, and always on the basis of the combination of password and the name of the website.

How you make it work

Start by opening your document manager:

Code: Select all

sudo gedit /etc/bash.bashrc
Where you place at the end of the document the following code, then save and close the document.

Code: Select all

strongpw () {
echo -n "Enter secret:"
read -r
echo '' # line break
echo -n "$ REPLY: $ 1" | sha256sum | perl -ne "s / ([0-9a-f] {2}) / print chr hex \ $ 1 / gie" | base64 | tr + / Ea | cut -b 1-20
}
After from the terminal the command strongpw and the website's name with the master password will create a strong password. Just use a master password that always you remember and of course the name of the website.
Advantage you do not need to write and store codes disadvantage if you ever forget a password you need your Linux or another Linux, so again to put the code in /etc/bash.bashrc.
Don't worry because there is a website which will give you exactly the same result if you remember your password and the website you are interested, but don't make it a habit because there are keyloggers, without that this means to have something like it the particular website.
http://ss64.com/pass/
It gives exactly the same result password as the example above. Of course if you do not remember the webpage visit again the " Tips and Tricks" to rediscover.
Enjoy it!
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Fix your Grub

asinoro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: Tips and Tricks

#3 Post by asinoro »

Some commands you should know

If for any reason you do not have internet connection.

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sudo apt-get install --reinstall network-manager
And restart.

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sudo service network-manager restart
See your technical specifications of your hardware.

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inxi -Fdpluo
View your hard drives info.
How much usage you have.

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df
And more info:

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sudo parted -l

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sudo blkid

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lsblk
BIOS and memory info.

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sudo dmidecode
View the memory info of your system.

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cat /proc/meminfo
You can see all the USB ports and devices.

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lsusb
Network info.

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ifconfig

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sudo ip addr
Find your public IP.

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dig +short myip.opendns.com @resolver1.opendns.com
Fix broken packages and configure them, if apt-get shows problems.

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sudo apt-get install -f

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sudo dpkg --configure -a
View your recent terminal history.

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history
Delete the recent history.

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history -c
Scan your network to see devices that are connected. You need to install the arp-scan if it is not installed.

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sudo apt-get install arp-scan

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arp -a
To copy Ctrl + C and to paste Ctrl + V, but from the terminal Ctrl + Alt + T it can be done with Ctrl + Shift + V.
If your case is solved, edit [Solved] to your initial post title to help other users.

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User avatar
linexer2016
Posts: 658
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:15 pm

Re: Tips and Tricks

#4 Post by linexer2016 »

Thanks asinoro, to be able to receive tips such as these is a very useful testimony to the benefits of forum membership. Well done.

User avatar
Jerry3904
Administrator
Posts: 21859
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:13 am

Re: Tips and Tricks

#5 Post by Jerry3904 »

Moving back to the GUI world, where I spend most of my time: I discovered another good use of Shotwell Viewer when setting up the user face thing. That application does not show up in the menu, but does when you right-click an image > Open with... Here are the two really handy uses for that:

1) the crop function (image) is much better than what is available in Mirage and much easier than using GIMP.
2) conversion jpg < > png is clumsy for me in Mirage, and much easier than using GIMP: File > Save As > menu in Format box.

Image
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User avatar
asqwerth
Developer
Posts: 7180
Joined: Sun May 27, 2007 5:37 am

Re: Tips and Tricks

#6 Post by asqwerth »

I think I just used "save as" in Mirage, and changed the file name extension from jpg to png. The gnome3 collection of user avatar pixmaps come in jpg format and I was able to change a few to png format that way, in mx16.
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Clevo N130WU-based Ultrabook: Intel i7-8550U (Kaby Lake R), 16GB RAM, Intel integrated graphics (UEFI)
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User avatar
Jerry3904
Administrator
Posts: 21859
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2006 6:13 am

Re: Tips and Tricks

#7 Post by Jerry3904 »

I always run into problems that way, so edited my description above to make it more subjective. I find the pull-down menu easier and faster.
Production: 5.10, MX-23 Xfce, AMD FX-4130 Quad-Core, GeForce GT 630/PCIe/SSE2, 16 GB, SSD 120 GB, Data 1TB
Personal: Lenovo X1 Carbon with MX-23 Fluxbox and Windows 10
Other: Raspberry Pi 5 with MX-23 Xfce Raspberry Pi Respin

User avatar
linexer2016
Posts: 658
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2016 9:15 pm

Re: Tips and Tricks

#8 Post by linexer2016 »

Asinoro wrote .... At this topic you can add your tip or trick which will help somebody else. ...

Not sure if this is too basic to be called a tip but here goes (BTW, it's something I've described in a testimonial for MX16) ...

An effective backup routine is as follows:

1. From MX Tools select Snapshot and follow the steps to do that
2. From MX Tools select Live USB and having placed an appropriate USB stick in your computer, follow the relevant steps to burn to the USB the Snapshot you made in step 1.

Repeat this process as regularly as you are comfortable with and take note that the snapshots themselves are saved (usually to your home directory and under snapshots). So, to avoid backing up to the latest snapshot those previous iterations, you may wish to delete some of the earlier snapshots from the HDD/SSD.

Again, hope this tip qualifies as a tip :happy:

asinoro
Posts: 152
Joined: Mon Feb 22, 2016 12:26 pm

Re: Tips and Tricks

#9 Post by asinoro »

How to test if the flash player works with your browser.

This is introduced by Jerry3904 and I thought to put it as a tip.
You can check your browser at this website.

https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player.html
If your case is solved, edit [Solved] to your initial post title to help other users.

Fix your Grub

Shay2
Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:32 pm

Re: Tips and Tricks

#10 Post by Shay2 »

Keys

F4 opens terminal
PrintScreen opens Screen shot.

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