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today's howtos
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Network World ☛ Adding, managing and deleting groups on Linux
User groups on Linux systems are often set up to provide access permissions to specific groups of users who share some responsibility. For example, a particular group of users may be allowed to run commands with superuser privilege or access a group of shared files. Another group may be given permission to add, update or remove user accounts. User groups provide a way to give specific people common access privileges for system functions and resources, such as files, directories, and peripheral devices.
User groups are managed with the groupadd and groupdel commands, which allow you to add or remove users from specific groups. These commands, however, do require superuser (root) permissions – generally through use of the sudo command.
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Network World ☛ 10 ways to use the sed command on Linux
sed, which stands for 'stream editor,' offers many options for selecting content from a command or a file and changing it as requested.
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HowTo Geek ☛ ShredOS: How to Securely Wipe a Hard Drive With Linux
Selling, gifting, or throwing out your PC? You need to wipe it first. Not doing so risks someone getting to the data on it and potentially using it to gain access to your online banking accounts, or just to snoop on your private photos.
What Is ShredOS?
The ShredOS disk eraser is a tool for securely wiping storage devices. It's necessary because just deleting files and emptying the Recycle Bin, or re-formatting your hard drive, isn't enough to completely destroy data. File recovery tools can still read that "deleted" data, as while the reference to it was removed from your file system, the actual data is still often readable on the physical storage medium. This could include logins to your social media, bank accounts, and other sensitive private info that could be used for identity theft, scams, or even blackmail.
You don't even need to be a forensics expert to use these tools. It's not uncommon for curious dumpster-divers to use them to see what on computers, phones, and tablets that their former owners thought had been safely disposed of.
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HowTo Geek ☛ Thinking of Starting a Homelab? You Need a NAS
No homelab is finished without a solid storage setup. This can be done in any number of ways, but my favorite is with a dedicated NAS. As such, I don't think any homelab is truly complete (or even started) without a NAS. Here's why.
What Is a NAS?
If you've never heard of a NAS before, let's start by breaking down what a NAS is. NAS stands for network attached storage. In its simplest form, a NAS is a hard drive that you can access from your home network. Having a hard drive that can be accessed from your network means you can move files to and from that drive anywhere in your house without having to be physically plugged into it.
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HowTo Geek ☛ Here’s Why I Built My Own NAS With Unraid and an eBay Server Instead of Buying a Synology
I needed a lot of storage for home media, photos, videos, documents, and more. Instead of buying an extremely expensive Synology server, I went an entirely different route and built my own storage server for a fraction of the cost.
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HowTo Geek ☛ Linux Tab Completion Is Even Better Than You Think
Linux is full of shortcuts, you just need to know what they are or where to look for them. Tab completion is one of those features that is great at its simplest, with hidden power that you may be unaware of.
What Is Tab Completion?
Tab completion is a fantastic little feature that adds convenience, saves time, and can even help to prevent mistakes. It’s one of the oldest forms of auto-complete in computing: press Tab on a command line and you’ll see a command or filename completed (if unambiguous) or a set of possible options (if ambiguous).
Here are some examples of how tab completion works.