Download PDF Linux® Toys II 9 Cool New Projects for Home, Office, and Entertainment by Christopher Negus

Sinopsis

Supporting the Linux operating system are thousands of open source initiatives, building code for everything from word processors, to Web servers, to programming tools.While many of these initiatives help to make Linux the world’s most powerful operating system, others produce software that is just flat-out fun.
 

Linux® Toys II is here to show you some of the fun stuff!
 

In Linux Toys II, I give you the software, the shopping list, and the steps to put together interesting projects using open source software and PC hardware. Some projects will run even on a 486 machine with 32MB of memory (for example, a client in the Linux Terminal Server project), while others encourage you to build a completely tricked-out entertainment system–style PC (for example, the MythTV project).
 

Most projects will run on any standard PC built in the past ten years . . . so you can decide how fancy a computer you want to use. Once you have built your Linux Toys II projects, you don’t have to stop there. You can further enhance your projects because of the way open source works:

 

• The building block nature of Linux—You can continue to add software from the thousands of open source software components available for Linux. So you can add your favorite applications to your custom Linux pen drive, incorporate a database application to store images or music for a server, or include a graphical front end to control your home lighting.

 

• Thriving open source communities—Most of the Linux Toys II projects are built on open source initiatives that have active, thriving communities supporting them. You can learn more about each project by participating in forums or joining mailing lists. You can become a contributor to each effort by creating software or documentation . . . or buying a T-shirt.

If you are new to Linux, you can learn the basics of using Linux in Appendix B and procedures for installing a particular version of Linux (Fedora Core) in Appendix C. All the projects should run on most Linux systems (if you are willing to compile them yourself ). However, if you are a first-time Linux user, following instructions for Fedora Core Linux and using the pre-built software packages (in RPM format) can save you some trouble.
 

So, welcome to Linux Toys II! To get started, all you need is this book and a PC for the most basic projects. In fact, in some cases, you can just boot the Linux Toys II CD itself (which contains a custom version of Damn Small Linux) to get started. For other projects, you need an installed Linux system and some extra hardware that I describe throughout the book.

Content

1. The Basics
2. Introduction to Linux Toys II
3. Finding What You Need
4. Multimedia Projects
5. Creating a Web Photo Gallery
6. Creating a Personal Video Recorder with MythTV
7. Making Bootable Movies with eMoviX
8. Home Projects
9. Customizing a Live Linux Pen Drive
10. Automating Home Lights and Gadgets with X10
11. Setting Up a Game Server with BZFlag
12. Building a Dedicated SOHO Firewall
13. Small Business Projects
14. Running an Internet Radio Station with Icecast
15. Building a Thin Client Server with LTSP

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