Running processes consume memory and CPU cycles. If some of the processes start consuming excessive amounts of resources, it can slow your computer down. If your computer seems to be running slower than normal, it is probably due to some process that is either stuck or consuming more resources than you have available.

There are several easy ways to find out the processes that are running. From the CLI, you can use ps and top to show applications, dependencies, and resources. For example, ps -ef shows every (-e) running process in a full (-f) detailed list. The columns will display the user who runs the process (UID), the process ID (PID), the parent process ID (PPID) which spawned this process, as well as when the process was started, how long it has been running.

The ps command provides a single snapshot of the currently running applications. On the other hand, top refreshes every few seconds to display actively running processes. Processes that are spawned but not active will be displayed further down in the listing.

You can interact with top in order to change the refresh rate (type s and then enter the refresh rate in seconds) or ordering (use < and > to select the order-by column). You can also press h to see a full list of the supported commands. You can quit top by pressing ‘q’.

You can also use the graphical ‘System Monitor’ tool which enables you to see the list of running processes.

If you’re thinking of using Google talk for Linux, there is bad news! Google has not yet launched an official Google talk client for Linux. This is rather strange because Google is one of those companies which places a lot of emphasis on open source software. However, we can expect it to release a client in the very near future. Linux is gaining more and more popularity and a large number of Google users are Linux enthusiasts.

There are other ways to use Google talk on Linux. For example, there are several instant messaging software that run on Linux which can be used for connecting to Google talk. One such software is Pidgin. The software is available on many Linux distributions such as Ubuntu. In other words, you don’t have to download and install the software — it comes automatically inbuilt with the distribution. If you are running other UNIX distributions such as FreeBSD, you can still run it because it is available for a number of platforms.

Pidgin can also be used to connect to other instant messaging networks such as MSN and Yahoo. However, not all the functions provided by Google talk can be found in this application. For example, filesharing doesn’t work properly. It also doesn’t support Google voice.

Other clients which support Google talk include Kopete and Psi. You can download these files by searching for them in Google or Yahoo. Alternatively, you can also download and install these applications from the software management system available on your Linux distribution. For example, if you use Ubuntu you can download and install the software by using APT.

More information can be obtained by visiting http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html

Here is a list of Linux and Unix commands which will be useful for you. These commands can be used as a quick reference to simplify your Linux or Unix using experience. The commands are categorized into different categories depending upon the operation of the command. Almost commands of every type are listed here. The commands are listed with their category , command and the operation it does. The list goes as follows..

File Commands

* ls : directory listing

* ls -al : formatted listing with hidden files

* cd dir : change directory to dir

* cd : change to home

* pwd : show current directory

* mkdir dir : create a directory dir

* rm file : delete file

* rm -r dir : delete directory dir

* rm -f file : force remove file

* rm -rf dir : force remove directory dir

* cp file1 file2 : copy file1 to file2

* cp -r dir1 dir2 : copy dir1 to dir2; create dir2 if it doesn’t exist

* mv file1 file2 : rename or move file1 to file2 if file2 is an existing directory, moves file1 into directory file2

* ln -s file link : create symbolic link link to file

* touch file : create or update file

* cat > file : places standard input into file

* more file : output the contents of file

* head file : output the first 10 lines of file

* tail file : output the last 10 lines of file

* tail -f file : output the contents of file as it grows, starting with the last 10 lines

Process Management

* ps : display your currently active processes

* top : display all running processes

* kill pid : kill process id pid

* killall proc : kill all processes named proc

* bg : lists stopped or background jobs; resume a stopped job in the background

* fg : brings the most recent job to foreground

* fg n : brings job n to the foreground

File Permissions

* chmod octal file – change the permissions of file to octal, which can be found separately for user, group, and world by adding: 4 – read (r), 2 – write (w), 1 – execute (x)

Examples:

* chmod 777 – read, write, execute for all

* chmod 755 – rwx for owner, rx for group and world

Fo more options, type man chmod.

SSH

* ssh user@host : connect to host as user

* ssh -p port user@host : connect to host on port port as user

* ssh-copy-id user@host : add your key to host for user to enable a keyed or passwordless login

Searching

* grep pattern files : search for pattern in files

* grep -r pattern dir : search recursively for pattern in dir

* command | grep pattern : search for pattern in the output of command

* locate file : find all instances of file

System Info

* date : show the current date and time

* cal : show this month’s calendar

* uptime : show current uptime

* w : display who is online

* whoami : who you are logged in as

* finger user : display information about user

* uname -a : show kernel information

* cat /proc/cpuinfo : cpu information

* cat /proc/meminfo : memory information

* man command : show the manual for command

* df : show disk usage

* du : show directory space usage

* free : show memory and swap usage

* whereis app : show possible locations of app

* which app : show which app will be run by default

Compression

* tar cf file.tar files : create a tar named file.tar containing files

* tar xf file.tar : extract the files from file.tar

* tar czf file.tar.gz files : create a tar with Gzip compression

* tar xzf file.tar.gz : extract a tar using Gzip

* tar cjf file.tar.bz2 : create a tar with Bzip2 compression

* tar xjf file.tar.bz2 : extract a tar using Bzip2

* gzip file : compresses file and renames it to file.gz

* gzip -d file.gz : decompresses file.gz back to file

Network

* ping host : ping host and output results

* whois domain : get whois information for domain

* dig domain : get DNS information for domain

* dig -x host : reverse lookup host

* wget file : download file

* wget -c file : continue a stopped download

Installation

Install from source:

* ./configure

* make

* make install

* dpkg -i pkg.deb : install a package (Debian)

* rpm -Uvh pkg.rpm : install a package (RPM)

Shortcuts

* Ctrl+C – halts the current command

* Ctrl+Z – stops the current command, resume with fg in the foreground or bg in the background

* Ctrl+D – log out of current session, similar to exit

* Ctrl+W – erases one word in the current line

* Ctrl+U – erases the whole line

* Ctrl+R – type to bring up a recent command

* !! – repeats the last command

* exit – log out of current session

SliTaz is an open source and free operating system providing a fully featured desktop or server in less than 30 Mb. SliTaz is simple to use, fast and stable.

The OS works completely in RAM from removeable media such as a cdrom or USB drive. It is light, speedy and fully installable on a hard drive.

SliTaz is distributed in the form of a LiveCD that you can easily burn to a cdrom and boot from. When the system is running you can eject the LiveCD and use your CD drive for other tasks. The Live system provides a fully-featured, working graphical distro and lets you keep your data and personal settings on persistent media.

Free technical support is available through a mailing list and forum.

Features offered by SliTaz Linux:

* Root filesystem taking about 100 MB and ISO image less than 30 MB.

* Ready to use Web server powered by LightTPD with CGI and PHP support.

* Chat, mail and FTP clients.

* Tools to create, edit or burn CD or DVD images.

* Elegent desktop with Openbox

* 1400 packages easily installable from the mirror.

* Active and friendly community.

To download SliTaz visit www.slitaz.org.