How to determine the linux distribution name or version

There are multiple ways to check what linux distribution and version you are using.

Here are some of them.

$ cat /etc/issue
Ubuntu 9.04 n l

$ uname -a
Linux riza-laptop 2.6.28-15-generic #49-Ubuntu SMP Tue
Aug 18 19:25:34 UTC 2009 x86_64 GNU/Linux

$ lsb_release -d
Description: Ubuntu 9.04

Cursor jump to other location while typing on Ubuntu

Disable mouse clicks with touchpad

I am using Ubuntu 9.04 for my Dell Vostro 1400 laptop, and faced a very annoying problem where the cursor jump to other location - probably to the location of mouse arrow - while I am typing.

How do I solve this problem?

What I do is, I disable the "Enable mouse click with touchpad" in the "Mouse Preferences" dialog box.

To bring up the "Mouse Preferences" dialog, click on System > Preferences > Mouse.

Python: How to convert a dictionary into a list of key-value

Using the list() function, we can convert a dictionary into a list of key-value tuple.

>>> x = {'a':1, 'b':2}
>>> x
{'a': 1, 'b': 2}
>>> y = list(x.items())
>>> y
[('a', 1), ('b', 2)

To convert back into dictionary, use the dict() function.

>>> z = dict(y)
>>> z
{'a': 1, 'b': 2}

How to install Adobe Flash Player plugin on Ubuntu

To install Adobe Flash Player plugin

sudo apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree

To check the current version, if installed using Aptitude (the method above)

sudo aptitude show flashplugin-nonfree

How to post source code for viewing in WordPress.com

WordPress.com allow you to post source code of some languages.

The supported languages include:

• bash


• cpp


• csharp


• css


• delphi


• html


• java


• jscript


• php


• python


• ruby


• shell


• sql


• vb


• xml

What you need to do is to wrap the source code between sourcecode tag. For example:

[sourcecode language='python']

your code here

[/sourcecode]

Convert RPM package to deb package format on Ubuntu

How to convert RPM package to deb package format on Ubuntu, and install it with dpkg?

Step 1: Install the required packages

sudo apt-get install alien dpkg-dev debhelper build-essential

Step 2: Convert the RPM file

Run

sudo alien thepackagename.rpm

or

fakeroot alien thepackagename.rpm

and a .deb file called thepackagename.deb will be generated.

Step 3: Use dpkg to install the package

sudo dpkg -i thepackagename.deb

Python: Remove items from a list that occur in another list

Suppose that you have two list x and y. How to remove items from list x that occur in list y?

Method 1

>>> x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
>>> y = [4, 7, 9]
>>> list(set(x) - set(y))
[1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8]

Method 2

>>> x = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]
>>> y = [4, 7, 9]
>>> [i for i in x if i not in y]
[1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8]

I have presented two methods for removing items from list x that occur in list y. If you have better method, please leave a comment.