How Can I To Create A Text File ?

taurusx5 · 08-07-2008, 01:51 PM

A user recommended that I downbload a file, 'mb_ubuntu_optimizer-0.6' to help me with something. He suggested that I convert it to a text file using the command, './mb_ubuntu_optimizer-0.6 alltofile'. But I get an error. This is what I get when I try to create that file with that code:

x@xx:~$ cd /home/x/Desktop
x@xx:~/Desktop$ sudo ./mb_ubuntu_optimizer-0.6 alltofile
[sudo] password for x:
sudo: ./mb_ubuntu_optimizer-0.6: command not found

What should I do now? I want this info in a text file. Let me know. Thanks.

XavierP · 08-07-2008, 01:54 PM

Open your favourite text editor and then open the file as if it were any text file. So, for example, "nano mb_ubuntu_optimizer-0.6" will do it.

kenoshi · 08-07-2008, 02:49 PM

Specify the full path to sudo.

E.g. sudo /home/x/Desktop/mb_ubuntu_optimizer-0.6 alltofile

rupertwh · 08-07-2008, 04:30 PM

Wait a minute!

Some 'user' tells you to download some mysterious 'Ubuntu optimizer' via torrent which is supposed to 'help you with something'. And you are supposed to run it with root privileges.

This would normally ring just about any alarm bell there is.

Do you actually know/trust that 'user'?

Maybe I'm being overly paranoid, but without a good reason to trust that the app is legit, there is no way I'd run that on my system without thorough inspection. And absolutely not with root privileges!

XavierP · 08-07-2008, 05:45 PM

That too. Why not tell us:
what you want to do
what this file does
why you need it as a text file

rupertwh · 08-07-2008, 06:23 PM

ok, so I took a quick look at that ominous optimzer. (In a throwaway vm, mind you)

It's an ELF binary.
It claims to do some (unspecified) optimizations for Firefox, some firewall twiddling and whatnot. My Italian isn't good enough to understand everything.
Lot's of calls to 'cut' and other stuff you'd expect from a shell script not from an ELF binary.

My interpretation would be:

It's ELF for the (main) purpose of hiding what it does.
Not impossible that it is legitimate, but at least highly suspicious.
Definitely unnecessary.

Btw, 'alltofile' is a parameter to output info as a text file. So the question shouldn't have been "How Can I To Create A Text File" [sic] but rather "How do I make a downloaded file executable."
And in this case my answer would be: If you don't know that, you most likely shouldn't.

taurusx5 · 08-07-2008, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rupertwh

ok, so I took a quick look at that ominous optimzer. (In a throwaway vm, mind you)

It's an ELF binary.
It claims to do some (unspecified) optimizations for Firefox, some firewall twiddling and whatnot. My Italian isn't good enough to understand everything.
Lot's of calls to 'cut' and other stuff you'd expect from a shell script not from an ELF binary.

My interpretation would be:

It's ELF for the (main) purpose of hiding what it does.
Not impossible that it is legitimate, but at least highly suspicious.
Definitely unnecessary.

Btw, 'alltofile' is a parameter to output info as a text file. So the question shouldn't have been "How Can I To Create A Text File" [sic] but rather "How do I make a downloaded file executable."
And in this case my answer would be: If you don't know that, you most likely shouldn't.

rupertwh, thank you so much for your help and warning concerning this paticualr file and issue. All I want is to speed up the bootup of ubuntu 8.04 and increase its system performance and speed. If you or the others in this thread know of tips on doing just that, I welcome that.

Thanks go out to the rest of the guys on this thread for well informed info.

.