What is Portage and how to use it

Gentoo Gnu/Linux is a notoriously hard-to-install minimal Linux distribution. Like many Gnu/Linux distributions it has a package manager and repositories that hold software that can be installed onto a system. Gentoo, unlike other distributions, uses a repository of source code as its primary method of installing software (similar to the FreeBSD source trees). Compiling the source code of your programs provides a few benefits, including a performance gain and source-level customization. Here is how Portage works:


Setting up portage
emerge is the Portage's interface. You may see on online guides emerge X (emerge [anything]) and get the "package not found" message. This is because portage does not have the repositories synced by default. To sync the repository, run emerge --sync. This will take some time (it took about 20 minutes at 138 KiB/second). This gets a file with the names of the packages, their categories, and a bit more information. You will see a list of all of the applications available to you fly down your screen. It was moving at such a steady speed that I was unsure of whether or not it was downloading a file, but when I disabled my wireless connection it was indeed relying on the internet for this step.


General Portage Usage
You can now install software with emerge name, where name is the name of the package that you want to install. If you are searching for a package in the repositories, you can use emerge --search query or emerge --searchdesc query to search through the documentation as well.


What to expect when emerging
When you emerge a file, Portage will hide nothing from you. It outputs all the steps, including logging into an FTP server. If it seems to stop working, use the command tail -f /var/log/emerge-fetch.log  in another terminal window. This will repeatedly output the next line in emerge-fetch.log, which is where fetching progress is stored.


After the program has been fetched, it will run through a list of conditions required to install the program. You will see "Checking blah for blah blah" repeated a lot of times, and then it will install the program. Yes, source compilers, it goes through the makefile.


Keeping Portage up-to-date
Always remember to do an emerge --sync every two days or so to keep your repositories up-to-date. When a new version of Portage comes out, emerge portage will install it. To update your system, the command emerge --update --deep --with-bdeps=y --newuse world will update everything on your system, including USE flags and build dependencies. 


Removing Software with Portage
We all have those bad days where we install a rotten package, or it just conflicts with something else on the system. To uninstall it, use emerge --unmerge X where X is the software to remove.


USE flags

Use flags are an important part of the Portage environment. USE flags tell Portage what your tastes are in certain kinds of packages. For instance, if you were to download a flight simulator WITHOUT a "3d" use-flag, it wouldn't download 3d support. If you had "3d" as a use-flag, it would download it if the package recommended it. /etc/portage/make.conf is where your USE flags are stored. You define it like this:

USE="-X -aqua -dvd gnome"

A list of USE flags is stored here: http://www.gentoo.org/dyn/use-index.xml

Extra documentation on USE flags can be found here: http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=2&chap=2

General Portage usage
Two other useful tricks are emerge --fetchonly X and emerge --pretend X. The first one will only download the software and cache it; it will not install. The second command will not download anything, but it will calculate the dependencies and tell you how much space you need to install it with. Along the same lines of --pretend, --ask will make sure that the user wants to download the software after they see the size.


Test it out
Here are the commands necessary to emerge firefox (yes, it is really this easy):

A Warning to the Impatient

Compilation takes a very long time for large programs like Firefox or qtcreator. It can take hours on a new machine, and the older a processor is the worse it will do. Gentoo is not for you if you cannot wait a few hours for a large piece of software to install. I figure that it is unlikely you sat around for Gentoo to compile if this was the case, but be warned.

Technological ideas for Christmas

If you have someone in mind that may appreciate a technologically related gift here are a few good ideas that I have considered giving out to my family on this Christmas. This list is hardware inclusive.

1. Gnu/Linux - Software
Gnu/Linux is a free software operating system similar to Windows in a lot of ways, but completely amalgamated, giving the user full customizability over his/ her system. Hundreds of Gnu/Linux distributions are available for download on the internet, or you can opt to pay for a CD with the Operating System already burnt onto it.

2. Intel core 15 processor - Hardware
The first gift from the hardware category is intel's core i5 desktop processor. A part of Intel's newest line of processors, the sandy bridge series, it provides speeds in upwards of 3.4Ghz, 4 cores, and integrated graphics for about 100 bucks cheaper than the top-of-the-market i7. Buyers beware, Intel's next line of processor, the Ivy bridge, will be released in 2012, but for the time being the i5 is the choice to go with for reasonably priced power.

3. GIMP 2.7 - Software
The Gnu Image Manipulation Program, GIMP, has it's next version, 2.7, available for compilation. It is still a beta release, but it is offering some exciting features that older versions of gimp did not include; the one that most users notice right away is a static toolbox that remains in the main window. GIMP 2.7 includes all the features of older versions and adds a few new features while remaining relatively lightweight with few dependencies. GIMP can easily rival commercial software such as Adobe Photoshop. GIMP is also open-source, so users can edit it at their will.

4. Windows 8 - Software
This is the perfect gift for hardcore Microsoft fans.Windows 8 is still technically in development, but Microsoft is allowing people to download it at a highly reduced price for testing. Windows 8 is a fully rethought Windows, giving the optimal experience for tablet computers.

5. USB 2.0 Wireless Adapter - Hardware
One of the most recent great additions to my computer is a wireless adapter that connects right into a USB port to provide access to wireless networks. Since most computers come with a wireless card, this is a great gift for those with older computers that were released before the popularization of wireless networks.

   5.1 - Wireless router
   You wireless adapter won't be doing much without a wireless network. With a wireless router you can spread connection throughout all parts of your house. Wireless routers provide access to the internet if you have it connected to an internet connection and also allow local connection if you do not want internet connectivity.

6 - Libreoffice suite - software
Libreoffice is a suite designed for creating presentations, documents, spreadsheets, and databases. It is more-or-less designed to clone the functionality of Microsoft Office, and it does a great job of doing so. Libreoffice evolved from Openoffice, which was abandoned.

7 - LED lit keyboard - hardware
For the first two years of my computers life I used a keyboard that Dell sent with the prebuilt. It was a standard keyboard with letters painted on. About half a year ago I bought a 20 dollar keyboard with the ability to illuminate the letters with blue LED lights. I have never been a fan of LED lights on computer hardware, but it actually does serve a purpose at night when you are searching for an unfamiliar key.

The content in this post is public property
That is all on my list for now, sorry that I got it up just a day before Christmas. 

Google chrome user guide - The basics

SofDue to real-life requests I am going to write an extremely simple tutorial for Google chrome (see earlier posts for what exactly it is.) Your first step is to download Google Chrome. If you are using linux or another 64-bit browser this page will automatically detect it. After the download you will automatically be asked what your default search engine should be. Choose the engine that you are the most comfortable with. You should also set Chrome as your default web browser.

After the initial setup is complete it will throw you directly into the New tab window of google chrome. If you see something that is similar to that image you have done everything right thus far. You will only have 2 recently visited websites. One is for a Chrome tutorial, one is for Google chrome themes. Themes are designed to change the color / pattern schemes of the download bar, the browsing header, and the new tab pages.

Immediately after setup you can start using Google Chrome. You can just click the URL field and type the name of the address that you want to navigate to. The Google Chrome URL field also serves the searching purpose. You can type a phrase or question into the URL field and hit enter and it should take you directly to the default search engine's search page for that word of phrase. If you would rather search a site (Youtube will be our example) you will type the name of the website followed by what your search should be. So if you wanted to search Youtube videos for Rivers you would type "www.youtube.com Rivers" in your URL pane.

You might not want to start browsing just yet though. You may realize that your beloved toolbars have gone missing. This is because Google chrome uses Extensions rather than toolbars. Extensions can affect the way that certain services behave or modify the GUI or browsing interface you use to interact with the internet. (Here is where you download them.) Some of the more famous ones are already listed on the front of the extensions page. Some more useful ones I've found are Wikipedia, and Kick Ass for a graphical way of removing page elements.) If you click install on an extension page you will be asked to confirm under the given privacy regulations provided to you.

I mentioned page elements earlier. That refers to the html script that most websites use to display information. Google Chrome comes with a built in feature called "Inspect element" (similar to Firebug on Firefox). I will teach you more about this later.

Once you have all of your extensions set up nicely  the next thing you want to do is set up your bookmarks. In the Google Chrome window on the URL field there is a grayed out star on the far right hand end of the bar. If you click this you will be prompted to give a name and a folder to save the bookmark in. The bookmark bar will be your default bookmarking place. This is the bar along the top of the new tab page that displays webpages you've bookmarked for quick navigation. Keep websites you use often here for ease of access later on.

For Linux 64-bit users
Google does have a version of Chrome for you. I experienced some problems involving Flash but they can be fixed. I would gladly tell you how to fix these issues but I am not really sure what I did. After 2 days of downloading from the Ubuntu software center and Adobe everything straightened up.

In the next tutorial
The basics of HTML will be discussed and more network connection / proxy configuration guides will be input.

New software to bring to your attention

If you do not already have picasa 3 downloaded onto your computer, I suggest that you go and download it now. It was created by the Google coorperation and is an image sharing / editing / viewing tool that takes the place of ordinary windows programs such as Media viewer. As soon as you run Picasa it opens up a pane containing all of the pictures that you want it to display. From here you can create web albums, arrange into  folders, remove folders from Picasa, or hide folders (good for personal content). Also, whenever you open an image from your computer it will be opened using the Picasa media viewer. This viewer also allows you to create a slide show out of any photo album that you want.

Must-have software

1. What is some must have software to have on your computer? Here is the
   run-down of some of the software that I use and how it can be used.
   
   #1 - Hypercam recorder: Hypercam recorder allows you to record your desktop to show tutorials or to save a video clip. The movie's file size is normally ridiculously large, though.
   Legal: You cannot use this to record copyrighted material.
   
   #2 - Rainmeter: This is a program that allows the display of meters and measures. Measures take information that you tell it to and display it in meters, visual data displaying meters on your desktop. Skins are .ini files that tell rainmeter what to do and Configs are groups of skins. You can download new configs from sites such as www.deviantart.com under the rainmeter section. This is mostly good at making your desktop visually appealing.
   
   #3 Some type of messanger : Stay in touch with people you know in real life or those you met in cyberspace. You can finally be social while not revealing any information you do not want to. The four messangers listed above are widely used and can allow you to keep in contact with other people. Most also have a file sharing feature for easy and quick file transfer or sharing.
   
   #4 - Cybergate: There is no download link available for this program right now. Be very careful trying to download it, too. People often try to infect you with a virus when downloading this. The tough things is that Antivirus programs detect this as a virus when you download it. Ignore the warnings. Cybergate is a RAT server creater. You can have somebody download your server and then you have nearly complete access of their computer if you use it right. It is illegal to do this so I do not recommend or encourage such behavior. This can be useful if you are new to the world of hacking (Once again, illegal) or if you just want to have better controls over your children online. You can also test somebody's intelligence by sending them this and seeing if they download it. You can send an error message showing their mistakes and where to do better next time.
   
   #5 - Microsoft Security Essentials: Crucial for remaining safe online. This is a virus / malaware / spyware / bad thing / detector. It is one of the highest rated free antivirus and I feel that it does better than a lot of non-free services. There are updates often and free full, quick, or custom scans with accurate results.