Google desktop for Linux is released!

Google has finally released a native version of Google Desktop for Linux

Similar to the OS X and the Windows version, this nifty software not only allows users to search for files on the system, but also gives the ability to search for text inside documents, email messages, as well as Gmail accounts.

Basically, all the features from the first Windows version of GDS is there, plus the Quick Search Box.

The sidebar with its associated gadgets are not available in this version unfortunately. According to Google, these features would “probably” be added in the future. If you must know, it was developed primarily out of their Beijing office.

Both RPM and DEB distribution packages available.You can read more about Google Desktop for Linux, or download it here. And yes, its a beta.

How to do Tuning the Linux kernel for more aggressive network throughput

The Linux kernel and the distributions that package it typically provide very conservative defaults to certain network settings that affect networking parameters. These settings can be tuned via the /proc filesystem or using the sysctl program. The latter is often better, as it reads the contents of /etc/sysctl.conf, which allows you to keep settings across reboots.

The following is a snippet from /etc/sysctl.conf that may improve network performance:

net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling = 1
net.ipv4.tcp_syncookies = 1
net.core.rmem_max = 16777216
net.core.wmem_max = 16777216
net.ipv4.tcp_rmem = 4096 87380 16777216
net.ipv4.tcp_wmem = 4096 65536 16777216

The above isn’t to replace what may already exist in /etc/sysctl.conf, but rather to supplement it. The first command enables TCP window scaling, which allows clients to download data at a higher rate by enabling extra bits in TCP packets that are used to increase the window size.

The second command enables TCP SYN cookies, which is often enabled by default and is extremely effective in preventing conditions such as SYN floods that can drain the server of resources used to process incoming connections.

The last four options increase the TCP send and receive buffers, which allow an application to move its data out faster so as to serve other requests. This also improves the client’s ability to send data to the server when it gets busy.

By adding these commands to the /etc/sysctl.conf file, you ensure they take effect on every reboot. To enable them immediately without a reboot, use:

# sysctl -p /etc/sysctl.conf

To see all of the currently configured sysctl options, use:

# sysctl -a

This will list all of the configuration keys and their current values. The sysctl.conf file allows you to configure and save new defaults; what you see from this output are the defaults defined in the kernel that are currently effective. To see the value of one particular item, use:

# sysctl -q net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling

Likewise, to set the value of one item without configuring it in sysctl.conf — and understanding that it won’t be retained across reboots, use:

# sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling=1

This can be useful for testing the effectiveness of certain settings without committing them to being defaults.

How to make Dual Booting Windows Vista and Linux

Assuming that you are doing a fresh install:

• First install Windows Vista on your system.
• After the Windows Vista install, we start with the Linux installation.

Please make sure not to resize the Vista partition during the installation of the Linux distribution! Due to changes in NTFS versions, current Linux partitioning program, no standard Windows partitioning programs can properly alter the partition that Vista is installed on.

Select GRUB as the bootloader to be installed. After completing the install we will be able to boot into Linux only as the MBR will be overwritten.

Now we need to modify the bootmenu to add an entry for Windows Vista.

For this we will edit the file "/boot/grub/menu.lst". To add an entry for Windows Vista, we need to add the following lines at the end of the file.

If Vista is installed on 1st partition 1st IDE hard drive:

title         "Windows Vista"
root         (hd0,0)
chainloader      +1

If Vista is installed on 1st partition 1st SATA/SCSI hard drive:

title         "Windows Vista"
root         (sd0,0)
chainloader      +1

Depending on your Vista Setup, you can modify the above code. The only area that should need modification is the line that starts with "root". The item that will likely need modification is the drive and partition information.

Save the file and restart your system to see the new bootmenu.