It’s a pity that Pogoplug dismissed its official application for Linux some years ago. It was really useful and easy to install. But, as usual, Linux geeks discovered how to solve the matter and mount Pogoplug drives as “local” disks on Linux. I already wrote about this topic in a previous post in 2012.
Sometimes simple things become hard problems. This happened to me when I discovered that my Fedora 18 OS was obsolete (very old indeed) and I tried to upgrade it to the Fedora 20 version.
Fedora 18 doesn’t support the automatic OS upgrade so I had to spend some hours to find information on Internet and create the right DIY solution for my case. At the end of my little (sic!) research I discovered that I was able not only able to upgrade the PC to Fedora 20 but I also found a good “trick” to upgrade to the latest Fedora 21 following in just a couple of steps with the help of fedup and some other escamotages.
This is how I succeed…
First, you have to open a Terminal and type:
su
init 3
but you will immediately leave the Fedora GUI and so it’s better if you write the below commands on an -old style, paper notepad- to be sure to have all the right information in you hands and correctly manage the upgrade from Fedora 18 to Fedora 20
sudo su -
yum update
yum install fedup
fedup-cli --network 20 --nogpgcheck
It’s better to add –nogpgcheck because often you are not able to complete your upgrade for the “old”, “bad saved” gpg key in your system.
reboot
Now, at the boot-up menu (GRUB 2 menu) you have to choose “System Upgrade (Fedup)”.
Then just to be sure you really have an up to date OS, in Terminal, type:
Yum update
If you have problems with one or more of your “old” repositories don’t forget to deconfigure them. In my case I had to launch this command line in Terminal due to skip an old repository and proceed with the upgrade:
yum-config-manager --save --setopt=home_moritzmolch_gencfsm.skip_if_unavailable=true
At this point, to upgrade from Fedora 20 to Fedora 21 you have to open (again) the Terminal and type:
su
fedup --network 21 --product=workstation --nogpgcheck
OR
fedup --network 21 --product=server --nogpgcheck
(if your Fedora version is the server one)
OR
fedup --network 21 --product=cloud --nogpgcheck
(for the Fedora cloud edition for generic virtual machines or Container)
Take it easy and go to bed for a long snap because, in my case, the download took some hours as for 2,577 files to be upgraded…
At the end, as before, you have to Reboot and select “System Upgrade (Fedup)” at the boot-up menu (GRUB 2 menu) and all the necessary files will be installed. Again, take a good book to read while you wait the installation.
Good luck and remind you MUST backup all your data before you start any upgrade because unforeseen risks are always around the corner!
References:
https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/37247/upgrade-fedora-18-to-fedora-20-via-yum-or-fedup/
http://tecadmin.net/steps-to-upgrade-fedora-19-to-20-using-fedup-tool/
http://www.unixmen.com/upgrade-fedora-20-fedora-21-using-fedup/
https://ask.fedoraproject.org/en/question/39558/how-to-remove-a-repository-from-my-system
After more than one month of silence I would like to end this year with a simple thought about the interaction between technology and our society. I know that usually this blog has principally developed topics about Linux and Freeware but the “Christmas season” could be the right occasion for something different.
A recent post by Matthew Yglesias on Slate, focused my attention on the possibility that big data and “new” technologies could influence our society and personal creativeness in a strange, utilitaristic way.
In the above mentioned post, Matthew Yglesias describes some new possibilities, offered by big data, of deeply analyze the readers behaviour when they use e-readers. Some Yglesias’ examples let us know not only what kind of literature is the most popular today but also detailed analytics about the best number of pages that readers want when they read a certain type of book (e.g. biography or fiction).
These squeezed information drive to the possible next step: a writer could prefer to write a new book on the basis of quantitative marketing data instead of creativity.
In few words, we are potentially slowing the evolution of our knowledge curve because writers could prefer to pander “customers” behaviour and maximize earnings instead of spreading new ideas and theories that could be (sic! are) initially less profitable.
The Darwin “evolution by mistake” will be soon replaced by an utilitarian and transitive “involution by big data marketing analytics”?
It’s impossible to predict but, on the other hand, my hope is that big data marketing analytics will be used just as a tool to maximize and speed new ideas through readers than a mere earning factor to tame buyers. 
Today, in our Linux Page (in Spanish) we have had a complete review about Cairo-Dock: a nice dock for Linux. Cairo-Doc is very easy to install and it has sophisticated graphic effects and it runs without installing compiz. The new Cairo-Dock version (1.5.5.4) has been released few weeks ago and it seems to have more features of the original MAC OS X dock. Personally I recommend the installation of Cairo-Dock to all that people who want to integrate a MAC OS X stylish dock in Linux without spending much time; in fact the .deb package allow you to install it in few minutes. I like this dock but, in my opinion, Cairo-Dock represents the best “second choice” after AWN (for more information about AWN, please, feel free to read our dedicated previous post). 
Linux is Linux but the MAC OS X dock has always fascinated us. For this reason, in our Linux Page, we posted few notes explaining how to insert a “MAC OS X” dock in the Linux desktops. Last May we posted a previous review about KSmoothDock, KoolDock, Superkaramba (and its nice Tuxbar) but now we think that the best -state of the art- dock is represented by AWN. This program can be installed very quickly ant it is fast to configure. To use AWN is necessary to go to System – Preferences – Appearance and select the Normal or the Extra options. Then, following our simple notes, you can start using AWN with just few lines in the Terminal. For AWN customization you can add some themes from http://www.gnome-look.org/. Beware: before installing AWN, read very carefully the information contained in AWN installation notes because, if something goes wrong, it is not simple to reverse to your original dock configuration! AWN is not for everyone but, we are sure, it is worth the risk for many.
Last May, in our Linux Page (in Spanish), we posted some suggestions about a basic security package for Linux. After less than one year we are back on this topic also because more than something has changed. As you know, Linux is the safer OS you can use today: specific Linux viruses are few and malware is rare but with the increasing of users some threads are becoming real. For this reason, I strongly believe that nowadays a firewall, like Firestarter, is not enough and we all need also a good antivirus and Moblock: the program which allows to use the Peer Guardian lists on Ubuntu protecting your privacy. Today, in our Linux package we’ve posted a short updated manual where we explain how to install a firewall (Firestarter), an antivirus (ClamAV) and a P2P stealth (Moblock). We have tested all this software on a Ubuntu 7.10 without relevant problems; the combined use of this triplet is strongly recommended for people who desire to preserve their data and privacy. Read us!
Computer Borders 