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This post shows how to remove (clean up) old kernels. Old kernels (to me) are defined as kernels that are installed on your system but no longer needed/used.

You can use a package manager (such as synaptic) to remove old kernels, simply search for linux-image or linux-headers that are installed and remove them. Also of importance is to note that you should remove old kernels and headers together as one is not useful without the other in most circumstances.

The ssh "timed out waiting for input: auto-logout" messages is generated by ssh upon reaching a auto-logout after an inactivity time specified by the TMOUT environment variable. If this variable is not set your session will not be auto-logged out due to inactivity. If the environment variable is set, your session will be automatically closed/logged out after the amount of seconds specified by the TMOUT variable.

To see if your auto-logout variable is set and/or see what it is set to issue the following command:
 $ echo $TMOUT

I have used Mozilla's Prism (previously Webrunner and now Webrunner again) for years to create an run web pages as a desktop app but, unfortunately, Mozilla has discontinued Prism and handed the code over to an individual for any future development. Needless to say, development is slow if progressing at all and most distros (including Ubuntu) have removed Prism from the repos. This left me with a rather large gap in needed functionality so I did some research.

As stated on other pages (re: Fix Broken Bootloader), my primary computer (laptop) has a multiboot setup; a triple boot using Xubuntu, LMDE, and Crunchbang. This article discusses the partition layout I use for this setup, actually my partition layout is more or less a generic linux disk layout multiplied by three due to the three OSes.

General Disk Layout

For a general linux disk layout, I use the following partition setup (in the order specified):

I highly recommend using a local (or sometimes referred to as a 'soft-firewall') on any  personal computer, be it windows, mac, or linux. This guide provides a few basic concepts for using Guarddog as a local firewall.

I've had several people ask me why I go to the trouble of encrypting my Home directory (or SWAP/network drives, disks, etc.)? My first response is "Its really not difficult to do...so why not?". After thinking about the question a bit more I decide a more well-rounded answer could be construed.

This article explains how to encrypt your entire home directory post-install/user creation. Most linux distro's provide an easy to use interface that allows you to encrypt a user's home directory during setup of the OS or during creation of a new user.

I've used guarddog as my softfirewall for several years and have grown to appreciate its simplicity and power as an iptables/ipchains front-end. I was surprised to find Ubuntu 11.04 removed guarddog from the repos but after a bit of digging I found it has not been under any significant development for several years (2.6.0 was released on March 11th, 2007 - simonzone.com). This does not, however, mean that guarddog no longer works or is not effective.

I have a triple boot setup (Xubuntu, LMDE, and crunchbang) on my primary work laptop and have ran into several occasions when an update (always LMDE) breaks GRUB. This article explains how to fix a broken GRUB on a system with several operating systems, all using separate partitions for root (/), boot, home, etc.