today's howtos
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How to Turn Off KDE Wallet?
Don't like KDE Wallet popping up every now and then? Here's how to disable it.
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How to Use the chmod Command on Linux
Control who can access files, search directories, and run scripts using the Linux's chmod command. This command modifies Linux file permissions, which look complicated at first glance but are actually pretty simple once you know how they work.
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How to Mount and Unmount Storage Devices from the Linux Terminal
File systems in Linux and Unix-like operating systems like macOS can be mounted, unmounted, and remounted using the terminal. This is a powerful and versatile tool---here's everything you need to know.
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How to Use the Linux top Command (and Understand Its Output)
The top command has been around since 1984, and there are many variants of it. For this article, we're running Ubuntu 18.04 with all patches applied, and version 3.3.12 of top. As of Ubuntu 23.04, very little has changed. We also cross-referenced everything on two other test computers, one running Fedora and the other Manjaro.
The default top display crams as much information as possible in the terminal window. Information is a prerequisite to administration, so this is a good thing. One of the traits of a good system administrator is the ability to identify emerging problems and deal with them before they affect service. top gives you a dashboard of many different system metrics that help you do just that.
The display is best described as functional, rather than intuitive, and abbreviations abound. When you first encounter top, it feels cramped, cryptic, and off-putting. With a few keypresses, though, you can tune the contents and format of the display according to what's important to you.
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How to Delete Files and Directories in the Linux Terminal
The rm and rmdir commands delete files and directories on Linux, macOS, and other Unix-like operating systems. They're similar to the del and deltree commands in Windows and DOS. These commands are very powerful and have quite a few options.
It is important to note that files and directories deleted using rm and rmdir do not get moved to the Trash. They are immediately removed from your computer. If you accidentally delete files using these commands, the only way you'll be able to restore them is from a backup.
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How to List Linux Services With systemctl
Your Linux computer relies on a lot of background tasks called services or daemons. On systemd-based distributions you have built-in commands that let you see which services are running, disabled, or failed.