How to Install Multimedia and Additional Packages on CentOS 7

After installing the CentOS 7.1, configure the following repositories to get everything in order:

• Enable CentOSPlus by editing the file /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo.

  $ vim /etc/yum.repos.d/CentOS-Base.repo

  Locate the CentOSPlus section ( [centosplus] ) and change enabled=0 to enabled=1. Save and exit.


• Enable the EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux) repository by issuing the command

  $ yum -y install epel-release

  This repository is a prerequisite for secondary repositories and contains many useful packages e.g. ntfs-3g package which enables NTFS partitions mounting and unmounting in CentOS 7.


• Enable the nux-dextop repository. This repository contains multimedia and other useful packages.

  $ yum -y install http://li.nux.ro/download/nux/dextop/el7/x86_64/nux-dextop-release-0-5.el7.nux.noarch.rpm



• Enable the Adobe repository to install flash-plugin by issuing the following command

  $ yum -y install http://linuxdownload.adobe.com/linux/x86_64/adobe-release-x86_64-1.0-1.noarch.rpm



• You are all set now. You can install the required packages by issuing the following command

  $ yum -y install "Package_Name"

  Some popular package categories and packages in them are as follows:
  
  Multimedia: smplayer, vlc, soundkonverter, simplescreenrecorder, clementine, kdenlive, audacity
  Internet: hexchat, otter-browser, qbittorrent, thunderbird, wireshark
  
  It is also possible to configure or install additional packages e.g. vivaldi (https://www.vivaldi.net) and jitsi (https://www.jitsi.org) etc. For further details, please visit the homepage of the respective package.

How to Increase GRUB Timeout in CentOS 7

• Edit the file /etc/default/grub by issuing the following command

      $ vim /etc/default/grub # Edit the GRUB_TIMEOUT field and set the new timeout

• Generate the new grub configuration file by issuing the following command

      $ grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/efi/EFI/centos/grub.cfg

Note: If Windows is installed before installing CentOS, running grub2-mkcondig should detect Windows boot loader too.

How to Install SimpleScreenRecorder in Fedora 22

SimpleScreenRecorder is a desktop session recorder and my personal favorite for the Job. It is not available in main Fedora repositories or RPMFusion repository.  However, it is available in Fedora copr repository 'mosquito/myrepo' and you can install it with the given below instructions.

Enable the copr repository with the command below.

$ su -c 'dnf copr enable mosquito/myrepo'

 Install the SimpleScreenRecorder with the following command.

$ su -c 'dnf -y install simplescreenrecorder'

Enjoy using SimpleScreenRecorder. If you have got a question, please ask in the comments section.

Urdu Support in Windows 7 and Later

وِنڈوز 7 اور اسکے بعد کے ورژنز میں اردو لکھنے اور پڑھنے کی سہولت کے لئے آپ اس لِنک سے اردو فونٹس ڈاون لوڈ کر سکتے ہیں۔ ڈاون لوڈ کرنے کے بعدزِپ آرکائیو کو اَن زِپ کریں ، اب اَن زِپڈ فولڈر میں جائیں، فونٹ فائل پر رائٹ کلک کر یں اور اِنسٹال سلیکٹ کریں۔ لیجئے آپ کے آپریٹنگ سسٹم میں اردو لکھنے اور پڑھنے کی سہولت دستیاب ہو گئی ہے۔تصدیق کرنے کےلئے کوئی اردو ویب سائٹ اوپن کریں یا اردومرّتب کنندہ [مثلاََ ایم ایس آفس یا لیبرِآفس] میں اردو ٹیکسٹ ٹائپ کریں۔ اگر آپ کو اِن معلومات کو سمجھنے میں دُشواری کا سامنا ہے یا آپ کے ذہن میں کوئی سوال ہے تو آپ کمنٹس سیکشن میں پو چھ سکتے ہیں۔ 

In Windows 7 and later, you can download a variety of Urdu fonts from this link. After downloading, unzip the archive, right click on the font file (.ttf) and select 'Install'. The fonts should be installed. You may need to refresh or restart your browser before actually seeing the new fonts in action. With Urdu fonts installed, you can visit an Urdu website or open an editor and start writing Urdu in it.

How to Enable Urdu Language Support and Write Urdu in Fedora 22

فیڈورہ لِنکس میں اردو لکھنے کےلئےدو طرح کے فونٹ آسانی سے میسر ہیں۔ پہلی طرز کے فونٹ نفیس نستعلیق کہلاتے ہے اور آپ نیچے دی گئی کمانڈسے اس کو انسٹال کر سکتے ہیں۔ دوسری طرز جمیل نوری نستعلیق ہے اسکو بھی آپ نیچے دی گئی کمانڈ سے انسٹال کر سکتے ہیں۔ مکمل معلومات نیچے اِنگلش میں دی گئی ہیں۔

اگر آپ اس اردو ٹیکسٹ کو ٹھیک طرح سے نہیں پڑھ پا رہے تو نیچے دی گئی ہدایات پر عمل کریں اور پھر اپنے براوزر کو ری سٹارٹ کریں امید ہے کہ اب آپ اس ٹیکسٹ کو بآسانی پڑھ پائیں گے۔ اگر آپ کے ذہن میں کوئی سوال ہے تو آپ کمنٹس میں پوچھ سکتے ہیں۔

There are two possible font categories for Urdu language support (viewing Urdu webpages and writing Urdu in LibreOffice,  and Calligra Words) in Fedora 22.  The first one is "Nafees Nastaleeq" collection which includes

• nafees-pakistani-web-naskh-fonts
• nafees-riqa-fonts
• nafees-web-naskh-fonts
• nafees-nastaleeq-fonts
• nafees-tehreer-naskh-fonts
• nafees-pakistani-naskh-fonts
• nafees-naskh-fonts.

The second one is "Jameel  Noori Nastaleeq". My personal preference is "Jameel Noori Nastaleeq" but I will discuss Nafees Nastaleeq too.

The following command can be used to install the Nafees Nastaleeq collection.

$ su -c 'dnf -y install nafees-*'

In order to install the Jameel Noori Nastaleeq, use the below command.

$ su -c 'rpm -ivh ftp://ftp.pbone.net/mirror/ftp5.gwdg.de/pub/opensuse/repositories/home:/Kenzy:/packages/Fedora_22/noarch/jameel-noori-nastaleeq-fonts-1.0-3.1.noarch.rpm'

After installing the new fonts, update the font cache with the following command so that the system can become aware of new fonts.

$ su -c 'fc-cache -fv'

Given below are the images showing Urdu alphabets written in Calligra Words and LibreOffice, respectively.

Fig. 1: Jameel Noori Nastaleeq in Calligra Words

Fig. 2: Jameel Noori Nastaleeq in LibreOffice

If you use Urdu in Linux, please share your experience in the comments section.

How to Install SMPlayer Themes and Skins in Fedora 20

It's been long since I posted on this blog. I am back with a useful post. People who use Fedora Linux (current release 20) are aware of SMPlayer. SMPlayer is a useful media player based on MPlayer. In Fedora 20, you can install the SMPlayer via yum but it is not possible to do the same for accompanying themes and skins. This might be an annoyance for the novice users or those who have recently switched to Fedora Linux. I have written a small Bash script to automatically install the SMPlayer accompanying themes and skins. You can download the script Here. Just open a terminal window, make the script executable and run it with administrative privileges. Alternatively, just copy the below commands to your terminal window and hit Enter on the keyboard.

chmod +x smthemesskins.sh; sudo ./smthemesskins.sh

Hopefully, the script works for you. Please share your thoughts on the script. Any improvements/comments/suggestions/errors will be welcomed. 

Send Free SMS to Pakistan

People living abroad often need to send SMS to their loved ones in Pakistan. SMSMARKAZ is a service provided by URDUPOINT Network and offers one an opportunity to send free SMS messages to any network in Pakistan. You can send up to 1000 free SMS messages during a particular month. If you want more, you can purchase a package and you can get lot of useful services including, receiving SMS messages from Pakistan, SMS forwarding, Auto Responder, and SMS to e-mail forwarding etc. You can find more details at the link below:

http://www.smsmarkaz.com

N.B. If you found this post useful, don't forget to click on the ads.

How to Install Skype on Fedora 13 (64 bits)

Skype is only available as a 32 bit application on linux and in order to run skype on fedora 64 bit, you need to install the corresponding 32 bit packages. Prior to Fedora 13, installing the dependencies for Skype is quite easy, however in case of Fedora 13, there is a small hiccup.

Skype requires the installation of a package "nss-softokn-freebl". The native 64 bit version of this software in Fedora 13 is 3.12.4-19.fc13.x86_64 whereas the 32 bit version 3.12.4-17.fc13.i686 is older than the installed 64 bit native version. Consequently you cannot install an older 32 bit version of "nss-softokn-freebl" and yum terminates with an error. In order to avoid this issue, downgrade the 64 bit version of the corresponding software by issuing the following command in the terminal window:

sudo yum downgrade nss-softokn-freebl

The aforementioned command will downgrade nss-softokn-freebl to version 3.12.4-17.fc13.x86_64. After downgrading the above package, just issue the following commands in the terminal window to get Skype working under fedora 13.

sudo yum install alsa-lib.i686 libXv.i686 libXScrnSaver.i686 qt-x11.i686 qt.i686 --exclude nss-softokn-freebl.x86_64;sudo yum install skype-2.1.0.81-fc10.i586.rpm --nogpgcheck

Hopefully, this issue will be fixed in the subsequent releases of "nss-softokn-freebl" but for now, you can use the aforementioned technique to make Skype work normally. :)

Update:

The updated version 3.12.4-19.fc13.i686 of the package "nss-softokn-freebl" can be obtained from the following link:

http://kojipkgs.fedoraproject.org/packages/nss-softokn/3.12.4/19.fc13/i686/nss-softokn-3.12.4-19.fc13.i686.rpm

With this, the aforementioned issue is obsolete.

Vi/Vim Survival Guide

Vi is a command line editor in linux. I have prepared a "vi" survival guide for my own reference and thought to share it with others. This guide is derived from Vi's official survival guide and some other sources.

Vi/Vim SURVIVAL GUIDE

1. The cursor is moved by using either the arrow keys or the hjkl keys.
   
   
   
   • h (left)
   
   
   • j (down)
   
   
   • k (up)
   
   
   • l(right)
   
   
2. To exit vim :q!


3. Type x to delete the character below the cursor, X deletes the character to the left of the cursor.


4. To insert or append text type:
   
   
   
   • i type inserted text insert before the cursor
   
   
   • I type inserted text insert at the beginning of the current line
   
   
   • A type appended text append after the line
   
   
   • a type appended text append immediately after the cursor
   
   
   Note: a(A),i(I) all go to the same insert mode, the only difference is where the characters are inserted.
   


5. To insert an empty line below the cursor type and go to insert mode: o (lowercase o)


6. To insert an empty line above the cursor type and go to insert mode: O (capital O)


7. To delete from the cursor up to the next word type: dw


8. To delete from the cursor up to the end of a line type: d$


9. To delete a whole line type: dd


10. To repeat an action prepend it with a number: 2w


11. To move to the start of the line use a zero: 0


12. To move to the end of the line use dollar sign: $


13. To undo previous actions, type: u (lowercase u)


14. To undo all the changes on a line type: U (capital U)


15. To redo (undo the undo's) type: CTRL-R


16. To put back a text line that has just been deleted, move the cursor on the line above the deleted line and type p.


17. To replace a character,
    move the cursor on that character, type r and then then the new character.
    type R to go Replace mode and to replace more than one characters.
    


18. Type ce to change the characters in a word, ce deletes the word and places you in Insert mode. cne changes n number of words. c$ changes uptil the end of the line.
    


19. CTRL-G displays your location in the file and the file status(in terms of percentage). :f provides the same result as CTRL-G.
    G moves to the end of the file.
    number G moves to that line number.
    gg moves to the first line.
    


20. Typing / followed by a phrase searches FORWARD for the phrase.
    Typing ? followed by a phrase searches BACKWARD for the phrase.
    After a search type n to find the next occurrence in the same direction
    or N to search in the opposite direction.
    CTRL-O takes you back to older positions, CTRL-I(Capital "EYE") to newer positions.


21. Typing % while the cursor is on a (,),[,],{, or } goes to its match.


22. To substitute new for the first old in a line type :s/old/new
    To substitute new for all 'old's on a line type :s/old/new/g
    To substitute phrases between two line #'s type :#,#s/old/new/g
    To substitute all occurrences in the file type :%s/old/new/g
    To ask for confirmation each time add 'c' :%s/old/new/gc
    


23. :!command executes an external command.
    for example :!ls or :!rm FILENAME
    


24. :w FILENAME writes the current Vim file to disk with name FILENAME
    


25. Type v to go to visual mode,to select some text, while in visual mode, type :w FILENAME saves the visually selected text in file FILENAME.


26. :r FILENAME retrieves disk file FILENAME and puts it below the cursor position


27. :r !dir reads the output of the dir command and puts it below the cursor position


28. In visual mode, type y to copy selected text and p to paste it to a desired location.


29. Typing :set 'xxx' sets the option xxx. Some options are:
    ic (ignore case) ignores upper/lower case while searching
    hls (highlight search) highlight all matching phrases.
    cp (Compatible mode) :set [no]cp
    Prepend "no" to switch an option off: :set noic
    


30. Type :help(within Vim) to open a help window, (:q to exit the help window)


31. Type CTRL-W CTRL-W to jump to another window

How to configure a Broadcom 4312 wireless card in Fedora 8

This is how I got my broadcom 4312 wireless card working in F8.

Configuring a builtin Broadcom 4312 in Fedora 8

Cheap Calling Solutions for Pakistan

Today I'm going to talk about something different. An expatriate student is always looking for a cheap calling solution so that s/he can make calls back home and keep in touch with his/her family. I am no exception, every now and then I am looking for some cheap and proper solution. In this blog post I’ll summarize the results of my quest. 
Before proceeding, let me clarify one thing, VOIP phones/softwares are the cheapest solution available in the market to stay in touch with your family. Below, I’ve placed the VOIP softwares with the cheapest rates to call Pakistan from Finland:

Low-Rate VOIP http://www.lowratevoip.com 3 cents/min. (Euro) Moderate Voice Quality
VOIP Buster http://www.voipbuster.com 5 cents/min. (Euro) Moderate Voice Quality
VOIP Stunt http://www.voipstunt.com 5 cents/min. (Euro) Moderate Voice Quality

Gizmo Project http://www.gizmoproject.com 11 cents/min.(Euro) (Land)
10 cents/min. (Euro) (Mobile) Above Average Voice Quality

Wengo Phone http://www.wengophone.com 11.5 cents/min. (Euro)Above Average Voice Quality

Skype http://www.skype.com 10.6 cents/min. (Euro) Excellent Voice Quality

In my opinion there is a trade-off between quality and quantity. Low-Rate VOIP is the cheapest solution available for Pakistan but doesn’t have as good voice quality as Skype provides. If you preference is quality then there is no better choice than Skype.
Personally, I use Low-Rate VOIP more frequently than the other options though I was a Skype fan sometime ago.
Some useful links regarding VOIP softwares are as follow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VoIP_software
http://progx.ch/home-voip-prixbetamax-3-1-1.html

NFAK - Nasir Kazmi - The Perfect Duet

People say that Music is the nutrition of soul. So, I’m gonna express some of my feelings about the nutrition of soul. It was none but the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan who persuaded me to create a whole new post for my blog. NFAK, a person with miraculous voice and extremely intelligent in selecting the poetry for his music, had mesmerized a world for a long time.
Lyrics have played a pivotal role in some of his ever green songs/ghazals. If you ask me to be more selective from NFAK’s hits, I won’t take a single moment and specify the songs with Nasir Kazmi’s poetry. To me NFAK and Nasir Kazmi is a perfect duo. To be honest Nasir Kazmi’s poetry was an influential factor in the creation of this post as well. My all time favorite ghazal is “GHAM HE YA KHUSI HE TU MERI ZINDIGI HE TU”.
Most of the time it happens that you like a song/ghazal for a specific period of time and it looses its worth while listened repeatedly, this is not the case with NFAK’s music. Whether you listen it repeatedly, or give a duration pause, believe you me, NFAK’s music won’t fade at all, because his music is eternal.
You can read more about NFAK at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nusrat_Fateh_Ali_Khan
For Nasir Kazmi's (awesome) poetry visit
http://www.urdulife.com/poetry/poet_index.cgi?nrk