JDownloader download manager

JDownloader is a very nice download manager:

• it's a freeware (open source, though with some closed source parts);
• it's written in Java, which doesn't make it super-fast, but cross-platform instead (runs well on MS Windows, GNU/Linux & Apple Mac OS X);
• it allows [semi-]automated downloads from a lot of popular websites (i. e.: file sharing/"cloud" services, social networks, photo/music/video hostings etc.; the use of "premium" accounts is also possible).

Custom (manual) installation notes (primarily for GNU/Linux and other Unix-like OS users).

0. Please install an up-to-date JRE (Java VM environment).
1. The current major release is called "JDownloader 2". Go to the official download page and select the "Other" version for download.
2. You should have a single file downloaded (JDownloader.jar). Please put into your favorite installation directory (e. g.: ~/Applications/JDownloader).
3. Just run it (see below), and it should even auto-update itself!

Custom application launch notes.

• Here is a sample shell script:

  #!/bin/sh
  cd ~/Applications/JDownloader
  java -Xmx512m -jar JDownloader.jar
  

• The -Xmx Java option means the maximum allowed runtime RAM allocation (in this example, 512 MiB).
• You can save it as JDownloader.sh on your desktop, or wherever you like (or even execute the commands manually, if you like).

Custom configuration notes.

• In case the fonts in your JDownloader setup are displayed too small, you can try changing the configs:
  1. go to Settings → Advanced Settings;
  2. type "font" into the Filter Settings search box;
  3. increase the value of the "LAFSettings: Font Scale Factor" key (e. g., from the default 100 [percent] to something like 150);
  4. restart JDownloader.

P. S. Anyway, please be nice & respect the [copy-]rights of others ;-)

---
Last updated: 2018-10-10

Qualcomm Atheros device driver downloads site

Atheros has been acquired by Qualcomm, so currently the drivers for Atheros AR81xx and Lx network devices can be downloaded from Qualcomm Atheros corporate customer portal:

• http://www.atheros.com/corporate/content.php?nav1=146
• http://www.qca.qualcomm.com/corporate/content.php?nav1=146

(these URLs seem to be interchangeable).

HOWTO: make Jigdo use local APT cache

If you like to build Debian install CD images with Jigdo (i. e., with jigdo-lite), you may consider using packages from your local APT cache to save some network traffic.
To make it easily selectable from the Jigdo interface, make sure to add the following line to the ~/.jigdo-lite config file:

scanMenu='/var/cache/apt/archives/ /media/cdrom/'

BTW: /var/cache/apt/archives is a local APT cache directory (containing already downloaded DEB packages); /media/cdrom is a standard CD mount point, so you can reuse the files from the mounted CD image you've previously generated with Jigdo.

References:

1. More About Scan Sources - Debian Jigdo mini-HOWTO

FTP search engines: quick list

Usually, the conventional WWW (World Wide Web) search engines can do the Internet search job well, but sometimes (e. g., if you are looking for some particular file name) FTP search, cataloging & indexing engines can be of great help.
Here is a quick list of such sites.

• Мамонт (in Russian) / Mamont FTP Search Engine (in English)
[BTW, "мамонт" means "mammoth" in Russian]
• Gegereka - Internet file search
• Proisk (in Russian & English)
• FileSearch.ru (in Russian) / FileSearching.com (in English)
• NAPALM FTP Indexer
• FileWatcher File Search
• FreewareWeb - FTP Search
• Oth Net Search
• Krasfs (in Russian)
• MetaBot.ru (in Russian)
• ...

Free & open source data encryption software: quick list

Here is a quick list of free & open source on-the-fly filesystem (FS) encryption software.

• Entire disk / volume / partition encryption & "virtual disk" (container file)-based software:
  • LUKS / dm-crypt [Linux (FS driver is implemented at kernel level); encrypted volumes are supported by FreeOTFE in MS Windows];
  • FreeOTFE [MS Windows];
  • DiskCryptor [MS Windows];
  • TrueCrypt [MS Windows, Mac OS X, Linux] (discontinued in 2014-05).
• File-level encryption tools:
  
  • eCryptfs [Linux (FS driver is implemented at kernel level)];
  • EncFS [Linux (FUSE-based FS); experimental MS Windows port exists: encfs4win];
  • antigift (a ccrypt wrapper) [Linux, FreeBSD, Mac OS X, MS Windows].

---
Last updated: 2014-06-19