nixCraft Linux Sys Admin Blog

Why Linux Desktop Does Not Spread - the Curse of Being Free

Posted: 17 Feb 2008 10:34 PM CST

This is a philosophical post on why Linux hasn’t grown to challenge Windows as the most popular operating system. From the blog post:

Linux isn’t very popular on the desktop. It’s a far third behind OS X, which is a very far second behind Windows. Most people cite pre-installed operating systems as the reason. But as a student of psychology, I see something most people don’t. There’s one big factor in why Linux isn’t popular on the desktop. Linux is free. I know this sounds like complete dog’s bollocks, but hear me out before judging my sanity.

My personal experience suggests that people don’t use GNU/Linux on desktop because :

Steep learning curve
Software incompatibility or doesn’t run the software they want
Installing and obtaining drivers may be issue for average joe
Finally, human psyche is complex subject. There are people who buy expensive apple hardware and install Linux on it. You just can’t predicate human behavior.

I use Linux on desktop because I work with a Linux / UNIX server all day and I find that using it on the desktop as well actually makes my life easier. You know one-size-fits-all approach may be unrealistic in a real life. I see my workplace desktops fully loaded with mix of Linux, OS X and dominated by Windows XP pro.

=> Why Linux Doesn’t Spread - the Curse of Being Free (via slashdot)

Linux Configure WPA2 for RT61 based Wireless Card

Posted: 17 Feb 2008 10:09 PM CST

I’ve already written about configuring and using DLink wireless card with the help of RT61 driver. However, few readers like to know more about Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA and WPA2) secure wireless configurations.

Step # 1: Configure Router / AP with WPA2 Security Mode

First you need to configure WPA2 security mode on the access point. All devices on your network must use the same security mode in order to communicate. Open router configuration by visiting default IP https://192.168.1.1/ and setup

Security Mode: WPA2 Personal
WPA2 Algorithm: You may choose from AES or TKIP+AES. Choose TKIP+AES if you have both WPA and WPA2 devices on your network.
WPA2 Pre-Shared Key: Choose a unique key to authenticate with other devices on your network. The Pre-Shared Key must be between 8 and 63 characters in length. You can generate unique key by visiting this webpage. You can also use standard UNIX / Linux utilities to generates true random passwords (key) by using the /dev/random feature of Linux.
Group Key Renewal: This settings determines how often your group key changes.

(Fig. 01: Configure WPA2 for your router / access point)

Step # 2: Configure RT61 Wireless Card

Open /etc/network/interfaces file and make changes as follows:
$ sudo vi /etc/network/interfaces
Output:

auto ra0 iface ra0 inet dhcp pre-up iwconfig ra0 mode managed pre-up ifconfig ra0 up pre-up iwconfig ra0 essid nixcraft pre-up iwpriv ra0 set AuthMode=WPA2PSK pre-up iwpriv ra0 set WPAPSK='|zdUkK(!X)_'G!}@1|@OS/6RA#'+}eq8b&V@x1%OZyyDVV:Xwp8UmwLFNS^7=A+' pre-up iwpriv ra0 set EncrypType=AES

Save and close the file. Make sure you replace device name (ra0), essid and WPAPSK with actual configuration parameters. Restart the networking:
$ sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart

Other simple security suggestion

Change the default admin password on the access point / router.
If possible turn off administration feature on the access point for wireless interface
Set up an access control list by Mac address of all devices you want to associate with the access point.

Please note that above instructions are only tested using RT61 driver under Ubuntu Linux. However, instructions should work with any other Linux distos and drivers with minor or minimum changes.