SelfControl for Linux This is a Ubuntu, Debian, Linux port of the popular Mac OS X application SelfControl. The idea is simple, You wish to get some work done and you need to avoid certain internet distractions like web sites, email, etc. Install this application, start it up (it lives under the "Applications->Internet->Self Control" menu. You add a few problem sites to your list, say metafilter.com, reddit.com, and example.com. Then you set how long you wish to block these sites, say 50 minutes. Then you click the 'Start' button. Once you type your password those sites will be blocked for the duration you set. This is not perfect, it blocks the IP address with a firewall and adds an entry to your 'hosts' file. This usually works, but some sites have so many names/IP addresses that you will have to use trial and error to find out what names you need to block. A possibly better description may be found on the SelfControl for Linux Homepage (http://svn.jklmnop.net/projects/SelfControl.html). This is developed on Ubuntu Lucid Lynx, should probably work on Debian, would take some hacking about for CentOS/RedHat/Other. It uses generic Linux tools: Perl, Gtk2, YAML, iptables, at, ed, sudo. INSTALLATION TODO: better install instructions. TODO: better usage instructions. The best/easiest/working way to install is via a package manager. Download the latest package from: http://github.com/zengargoyle/selfcontrol/downloads alternate site: http://svn.jklmnop.net/projects/SelfControl To install, open a Terminal and do: $ sudo dpkg --install selfcontrol_VERSION_.deb (For installation the Perl module way see: INSTALL) You can look for documentation at: The SelfControl for Linux Homepage http://svn.jklmnop.net/projects/SelfControl.html LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 2010 zengargoyle This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either: the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; or the Artistic License. See http://dev.perl.org/licenses/ for more information. On Debian/Ubuntu systems, these licenses can usually be found in: /usr/share/common-licenses/Artistic /usr/share/common-licenses/GPL