Tip of the Trade: Finding a way to ignore files or directories in Subversion so they are not included in svn status output is easy; figuring out the exact syntax is not. Here's are way to simplify this Linux server management quagmire.

Tip of the Trade: VNC makes it easy to log into a full desktop on a remote server. Follow these steps, and your Debian Linux server will be up and running in no time.

Tip of the Trade: Anyone who has encountered the Perl @INC array in the context of a 'cannot find module' error knows the value of being able to see a list of directories on you Linux server. Here's how to access @INC and find obscurely located modules before they are lost.

Tip of the Trade: Tired of stretching your fingers to hit the ESC key on your Mac? There's a simple way to fix that.

Tip of the Trade: Readline is the library that handles Linux command-line input as well as input for applications. Most of the default settings work perfectly well, but some change the way tab-completion behaves and thus require modification.

Tip of the Trade: The default values in /etc/hosts used in several Linux distributions have long been known to cause issues. Here's how to fix them in Apache 2.

Tip of the Trade: A here document, or heredoc, is one way to get text input into a script without feeding it from a separate file. If the data or script is complicated, however, keeping the two separate is generally a better idea.

Tip of the Trade: Hard disk thrashing? Check out Iotop, a Python program similar to top that enables you to keep an eye on disk I/O.

Tip of the Trade: Booting from a USB stick can be very useful, but it's not an option for netbook users. With usb-creator from Ubuntu, however, it's possible.

Mail server admins are quietly living out a past that never happened: A rule in SpamAssassin intended to stop spam dated outrageously in the future is snaring anything with a 2010 date.

Tip of the Trade: Feeling like the only one stuck in the office this week? Here are some Linux command-line 'Christmas' Eggs to help you while away the hours.

Tip of the Trade: Less chocolatey, but more useful. Since 2000, the Perl Advent Calendar has been providing a useful Perl module each day from December 1 through Christmas Eve.

This multiplatform FTP server delivers more than it says on the tin, yet still isn't quite all it could be.