Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 03/04/2023: FreeBSD 13.2 RC6 and Haiku Depot Server Technology Modernisation



  • GNU/Linux

    • Make Use OfThe 4 Main Types of User Accounts on Linux

      User accounts are a key concept on Linux. Primarily, they help you manage access control on your system. In addition, they allow multiple users to log in at any given time, and they are critical for the security of a system.

      Without user accounts, it would be hard to control who has access to what part of a Linux system. Linux has four main types of user accounts. Here's everything you need to know about them.

    • 9to5Linux9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: April 2nd, 2023

      The last week of March was full of great news, especially for Ubuntu users who got the beta version of the upcoming Ubuntu 23.04 release, a major Ubuntu Touch update for their Linux phones and tablets, and a new official flavor, namely Ubuntu Cinnamon.

      But this week brought a lot of other goodies like a new major Blender update, a new Linux laptop for gamers from System76, and much more. Check out the hottest news of this week and access all the distro and package downloads in 9to5Linux’s Linux weekly roundup for April 2nd, 2023, below.

    • Linux LinksLinux Around The World: USA – Illinois

      We cover user groups that are running in the US state of Illinois. This article forms part of our Linux Around The World series.

    • Audiocasts/Shows

    • Kernel Space

      • Linux mailing listsLinux 6.3-rc5
        This release continues to appear very normal and boring, which is just
        how I like it. The commit count says that we've started calming down
        right on schedule, and the diffstat looks normal too.
        
        

        Of course, there may be something nasty still hiding, so you never know, but at least for now we seem to be all set for a normal release in three weeks. Knock wood.

        If the diffstat for rc4 week was a bit unusual in how drivers didn't completely dominate, then rc5 makes up for it, with pretty much 75% of the diff being drivers. And it's all the usual ones that dominate: networking and gpu drivers make up for over half of it, and the rest is a random mix of other stragglers (x86 platform drivers, input, pinctrl, sound..).

        Outside of drivers, it's various random stuff. Architecture fixes (arm64 kvm, riscv, powerpc), filesystems (btrfs, cifs), core networking, documentation and tooling.
      • LWNKernel prepatch 6.3-rc5

        The 6.3-rc5 kernel prepatch is out for testing. ""This release continues to appear very normal and boring, which is just how I like it. The commit count says that we've started calming down right on schedule, and the diffstat looks normal too.""

    • Applications

      • OpenSource.comHandle any type of document with this open source tool

        Collabora Online is an open source office suite for the cloud or on-premises that protects your privacy and allows you to keep full control of your data. The software is developed by Collabora Productivity Ltd, in Cambridge, with its team working in locations worldwide. Collabora Online is based on LibreOffice Technology and is primarily licensed under the Mozilla Public License 2.0.

        Collabora Online works in any modern web browser, requiring no additional plug-ins or add-ons. It features a complete cloud-based office suite, including a word processor (Writer), spreadsheet program (Calc), presentation software (Impress), and an application for designing vector graphics (Draw).

      • Linux Links10 Best Free Linux Screen Capture Tools (Updated 2023)

        We recommend the best free and open source software for taking screenshots.

      • SANSYARA v4.3.0 Release, (Sun, Apr 2nd)

        We wrote 2 diary entries about new features in release candidates of YARA 4.3.0.

    • Instructionals/Technical

      • Sean Davis: Enable Color Emoji on Xubuntu

        Many of us are exiting another drab, grey winter season. As Spring ramps up and the colors of the world awaken all around us, maybe now is the time to make your Xubuntu desktop just a bit more colorful. Since Xubuntu uses GTK, you can quickly spice up your writing with emoji by using the Ctrl + . keyboard shortcut.

      • The New StackDeploy KubeSphere for Easy Kubernetes Cluster Management

        If you're looking for a Kubernetes platform that is tailored for hybrid multicloud, KubeSphere might be just the tool...

      • FOSSLinuxHow to generate SSH keys on Linux

        In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of generating SSH keys on Linux, which is one of the most common operating systems used for server administration and development. By following these steps, you will be able to generate SSH keys and use them to securely access remote servers.

      • FOSSLinuxHow to install and use Fish Shell on Ubuntu

        This comprehensive guide will take you through the installation process and introduce you to the essential aspects of using Fish Shell on your Ubuntu machine. By the time you're done, you'll be navigating the command line with unparalleled ease and efficiency.

      • FOSSLinuxHow to switch between light and dark modes in Pop!_OS

        Are you looking to enhance your Pop!_OS experience by seamlessly switching between light and dark modes? Look no further! This guide will walk you through the simple process of toggling between these two themes, allowing you to optimize your display for any lighting environment.

      • Install MySQL 5.7 server and client on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Linux

        The current MySQL server version to install through the Ubuntu 22.04 repository is 8.0, however, for some reason, if you need MySQL 5.7 then in this tutorial we learn how to install that.

      • How to Secure Apache with SSL in Rocky Linux

        Business owners should consider website security as one of their top priorities. The security of Websites can be implemented in many ways, and SSL/TLS certificates are a key part. Through these protocols, sensitive information transmitted between clients and servers is encrypted to prevent unauthorized access.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Go (Golang) on Linux Mint 21/20

        Go, also known as Golang, is an open-source programming language developed by Google engineers Robert Griesemer, Rob Pike, and Ken Thompson. First released in 2009, it has since gained popularity due to its simplicity, efficiency, and modern features. Go is particularly well-suited for concurrent programming, which enables it to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

      • Linux CapableHow to Enable BBR on Manjaro Linux

        BBR, or Bottleneck Bandwidth and Round-trip propagation time, is a congestion control algorithm developed by Google. It aims to improve network performance by effectively managing the available bandwidth and minimizing latency, resulting in a faster, more stable, and smoother internet experience.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Steam on Linux Mint 21/20

        As a Linux Mint user, you know this operating system's many advantages: stability, security, and customizability.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install Krita on Linux Mint 21/20

        Krita is a powerful, open-source digital painting and illustration software that has become popular among artists, designers, and creators. It offers a rich feature set, including: Linux Mint users may find Krita particularly appealing due to its seamless compatibility with the Linux environment and its commitment to open-source principles.

      • Linux CapableHow to Install MyPaint on Linux Mint 21/20

        If you're a Linux Mint user looking for a versatile and powerful digital painting application, look no further than MyPaint. This open-source application is designed to provide a smooth and intuitive painting experience while harnessing the full potential of your creativity.

    • WINE or Emulation

    • Games

      • GNOMEJonathan Blandford: Crosswords 0.3.8: Change Management

        It’s time for another Crosswords release. This is a somewhat quieter release on the surface as it doesn’t have as many user-visible changes. But like the last release, a lot happened under the hood in preparation for the next phase.

        This release marks a change in focus. I’ve shifted my work to the editor instead of the game. I hadn’t given the editor much attention over the past year and it’s overdue for updates. I have a lot of features planned for it; it’s time to make progress on them.

      • LinuxBuzBest Games to Host on a Server (Best Multiplayer Games in 2023)

        As a gaming enthusiast, the rush of hosting your dedicated server is unmatched.

    • Desktop Environments/WMs

      • GNOME Desktop/GTK

        • Hari RanaTheEvilSkeleton: What is GNOME’s Philosophy?

          GNOME’s philosophy is sophisticated and there is a lot of room for forgetting important information, as design and user experience are, in my opinion, really difficult to understand, while being really easy to misunderstand as well.

          For starters, I will explain the key focus of GNOME. Then, I will be explaining and elaborating on how GNOME approaches it. I will also share my opinion on that matter.

  • Distributions and Operating Systems

    • Distro WatchReview: Alpine Linux 3.17.2

      Something which regularly floated through my mind while using Alpine Linux was this experience reminded me of why I started using Linux regularly in the first place, back in the 1990s. Back then, when Windows 98 was king of the desktop market, I was running a minimal Linux distribution at home. The Linux experience was unusually light, clean, flexible, and transparent. It was something I could examine, tweak, and it just did what I told it to do, nothing more or less. There was a pleasant simplicity to the experience.

      Alpine Linux is like that. It's small, light, and super fast. There are utilities which make the system easier to use (such as the APK package manager and OpenRC), but these tools just perform one task - well and quickly. They don't try to add a lot of features or guess what I want them to do. Alpine has an unusually clean design while also supplying tools to make our lives easier.

    • Systemd FreeAdvertising policy on sysdfree (the Case of Artix and Gable)

      Dear Gable, If you just wanted to place a plug for your system of choice, like any good fan-boy would, you are welcome to do so.€  But when this plug (a form of an informal advertisement for free in web-land) includes inaccuracies, false characterizations, and right-out lies, you open up an area of criticism....

    • EasyOS

      • Barry KaulerHow Easy Works tutorials updated

        I have updated these two pages:

        https://easyos.org/tech/how-easy-works.html

        https://easyos.org/tech/how-easy-works-part-2.html

        Something that perhaps not everyone knows, especially if you come from a background of using SeaMonkey.
        Clicking the "page refresh" or "reload" button in Firefox and Chromium, does not completely refresh that page. It is perhaps unfortunate, but to get a complete page refresh, you have to hold down the CRTL key then click the "page refresh" button.

      • Barry KaulergWaveEdit replaces mhWaveEdit

        A few days ago, don570 reported mhWaveEdit sound recorder and editor not working properly:

        https://bkhome.org/news/202303/appimage-installer-now-parsing-json-file.html

        Thanks to Jon (scsijon in the forum), who found a couple of alternatives, including gWaveEdit:

        https://github.com/wdlkmpx/gWaveEdit

        gWaveEdit is a fork of mhWaveEdit, and 'wdlkmpx' is a long-time contributor to Puppy Linux.

      • HaikuOSHaiku Depot Server Technology Modernisation

        This article is cross-posted from Andrew Lindesay’s blog here.

        Java technology has been moving forward much faster in recent years with more frequent updates. Java 17 Long Term Support (LTS) was introduced in September 2021 and will be followed by Java 21 LTS in September 2023.

        With HaikuDepotServer (HDS) still on Java 11 introduced in September 2018, it was time to upgrade to 17 and then also make the transition from Spring 5 to SpringBoot 3 which was released in November 2022. Spring is a base technology for SpringBoot with SpringBoot providing more configuration and functionality by convention.

        These upgrades will bring HDS up to date with the current state of the art in backend Java and allow HDS to be maintained more easily going forward.

        Steps

        The following are the main blocks of work undertaken to complete this modernisation.

        Moving APIs Early
    • BSD

      • FreeBSDFreeBSD 13.2-RC6 Now Available
        The sixth RC build of the 13.2-RELEASE release cycle is now available.
        
        

        Installation images are available for:

        o 13.2-RC6 amd64 GENERIC o 13.2-RC6 i386 GENERIC o 13.2-RC6 powerpc GENERIC o 13.2-RC6 powerpc64 GENERIC64 o 13.2-RC6 powerpc64le GENERIC64LE o 13.2-RC6 powerpcspe MPC85XXSPE o 13.2-RC6 armv6 RPI-B o 13.2-RC6 armv7 GENERICSD o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 GENERIC o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 RPI o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 PINE64 o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 PINE64-LTS o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 PINEBOOK o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 ROCK64 o 13.2-RC6 aarch64 ROCKPRO64 o 13.2-RC6 riscv64 GENERIC o 13.2-RC6 riscv64 GENERICSD

        Note regarding arm SD card images: For convenience for those without console access to the system, a freebsd user with a password of freebsd is available by default for ssh(1) access. Additionally, the root user password is set to root. It is strongly recommended to change the password for both users after gaining access to the system.

        Installer images and memory stick images are available here:

        https://download.freebsd.org/releases/ISO-IMAGES/13.2/

        The image checksums follow at the end of this e-mail.

        If you notice problems you can report them through the Bugzilla PR system or on the -stable mailing list.

        If you would like to use Git to do a source based update of an existing system, use the "releng/13.2" branch.

        A summary of changes since 13.2-RC5 includes:

        o A fix to recalculating mitigations during the amd64 wakeup code; this is believed to fix suspend/resume on some laptops.

        A list of changes since 13.1 is available in the releng/13.2 release notes:

        https://www.freebsd.org/releases/13.2R/relnotes/
    • Slackware Family

    • Fedora Family / IBM

      • DaemonFC (Ryan Farmer)Fedora 38 Breaks Accelerated Video Playback in Firefox. WordPress.com breaks logins in SeaMonkey. | BaronHK’s Rants [Ed: All because of SOFTWARE PATENTS, which IBM lobbies FOR]

        Fedora 38 Breaks Accelerated Video Playback in Firefox.

        WordPress.com breaks logins in SeaMonkey.

        It’s a double feature today.

        Apparently, in Fedora 38, they’ve made it so if you’ve already performed surgery on the rest of Fedora to re-enable accelerated video decode on your computer, with the new mesa-drivers-freeworld package on RPM Fusion (if you have non-Intel hardware) or the pile of Intel-media-driver packages, as well as the gstreamer1-vaapi packages, Firefox as an RPM or Fedora Flatpak won’t play video using hardware acceleration, so things become a slideshow.

    • Debian Family

  • Free, Libre, and Open Source Software

    • Events

      • Report From KDEPIM Sprint 2023

        The KDEPIM team like most got impacted by the pandemic and had to let go of lovely traditions. One of those being to meet in Toulouse at the beginning of spring. The last one was in 2019 so reviving that meeting was long overdue.

      • Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC)Linux Plumbers Conference: CFP Open – Refereed Track Presentations

        The Call for Refereed Presentation Proposals for the 2023 edition of the Linux Plumbers Conference (LPC) is now open. We plan to hold LPC in Richmond Virginia on November 13-15, 2023.

        Submitters should ideally be able to give their presentation in person, although presenting remotely will be possible if necessary. Expectation is that the presentation will be done live in either case, to maximize audience interaction. Please see our website or social media for regular updates.

    • Web Browsers/Web Servers

      • Emilio Cobos Álvarez XUL Layout is gone

        So this week I landed a few patches that completely removed XUL layout from the Firefox codebase.

        This means that (modulo a few exceptions documented below) all the Firefox UI is using regular web technology to render (mostly CSS flexbox).

    • Programming/Development

      • Patrick LouisApril 2023 Projects

        “Life is what happens in the space between”. Indeed, since the last update article a world pandemic has passed, truces have been signed in some countries, new wars have started in others, climate is going increasingly haywire, and the global political and economic turmoils have led to protests and revolts in countless places. The world keeps moving and I’m but a tiny spec in the grand scheme of things.
        Yet, you’re reading this article, so you’re interested about what I’ve been up to!

      • ACMCatch-23: The New C Standard: Sets the World on Fire

        A new major revision of the C language standard, C23, is due out this year. We'll tour the highs and lows of the latest draft9 and then drill down on the mother of all breaking changes. Sidebars celebrate C idioms and undefined behavior with code and song, respectively.

      • RlangSelf-Guided Learning through a Wordle Guess Generator: Part 1

        My learning project was a Wordle Guess Generator. I will show you how I used this project to create a self-guided learning plan. Motivated partly by my desire to have good guesses for Septle (a seven-letter guessing game), this project has been a crucial part of my journey to learn R. Practicing and learning coding skills were more important to me than devising the optimal strategy; if you are interested in “the best” Wordle strategy, then you will probably find much better answers by Googling.

      • RlangSelf-Guided Learning through a Wordle Guess Generator: Part 2

        I learned how to put functions in a separate file and call them from my many script. This can make long code much easier to read. Here, I’ve included the helper functions in-line and commented out the source("code/helper-functions.R") in the main code. I’ve also set up switchable troubleshooting help with verbose and debug_detail parameters in my functions. Setting them to TRUE provide more info as the functions are executed.

      • Daniel MiesslerAI Revolutionizes Infosec

        After two and a half decades in information security, I’ve witnessed countless failures in security efforts. Most of them can be traced back to either asking the wrong questions or lacking the necessary context for effective action. Enter AI, which promises to address these shortcomings with two fundamental advantages: Context and Question-based security products.

      • Python

        • TecAdminPython Lambda Functions – A Beginner’s Guide

          Lambda functions are a powerful feature in Python that enables you to create small, anonymous, single-use functions. They are often used when a simple operation is required, like sorting or filtering a list.

        • TecAdmin10 Practical Use Cases for Lambda Functions in Python

          Lambda functions, also known as anonymous functions, are a powerful feature in Python that allows you to create small, single-use functions without the need for a full function definition. They are particularly useful for simple operations, making your code more concise and readable.

        • Didier StevensUpdate: oledump.py Version 0.0.74

          A small update to plugin_msi_info to change the output format a bit. And you can select your preferred hash algorithm with environment variable DSS_DEFAULT_HASH_ALGORITHMS. oledump_V0_0_74.zip (http)MD5: FD4D73F0C1A6BE43406381C13C128D5ESHA256: 1683635FD3250DF43E2CA31C60C2C81B507B1E233C5D91C2671D147C7FD8BD14

        • Kushal Das: Dear pep582

          By now, you know that your idea has been rejected, but it came with suggestions for any future ideas. You thought you could be more useful if everyone gets it in the same way, but that will also cause more maintenance burden to the upstream authors in the future. I personally tried to stay with you during this 5 year+ long journey. A lot happened in life during that time. You helped me to make new friends, and helped many young ones during the workshops.

    • Standards/Consortia

      • India TimesBarcode turns 50 but its days might be numbered

        Barcodes were initially patented by Norman Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver in the United States in 1952.

        But it wasn't until nearly two decades later, in 1971, that US engineer George Laurer perfected the technology and moves towards its commercialisation began.

        On April 3, 1973 the standard to identify products was agreed by a number of large retailers and food companies. It later became known as EAN-13, which stands for European Article Number and the number of digits in the barcode.

  • Leftovers

  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • Do you challenge yourself to do the right thing?

        Do you challenge yourself to do the right thing?

        Do you put yourself in situations where you might fail?

        Do you reflect enough to identify your mistakes, even in situations where you felt you were wronged?

        If a complex situation arose, would you do what serves you, or what serves the greater good?

        If you got a pet camel from your dead uncle, would you let your friends ride it?

      • How to Stop a Cold Before it Takes Hold

        I am currently reaping the benefits of a tried and true technique of preventing an imminent cold and I wanted to share it with y'all.

        For some background, two days ago I felt a little tickle in the back of my throat. I didn't have a fever, chills, or any other symptoms that would suggest I would be sick. However, I knew that I couldn't be too careful when it came to stopping a cold.

      • How To Buy Shoes

        Those who've lived with me know that I've always worn the same type of shoes each day. During the years that I needed that style for use with my uniform I developed a preference for that particular style that stuck with me ever since. It took me a few years in the beginning to find which manufacturer's black oxfords worked best for me, but I soon settled on the Red Wing Shoes Style 101. That's what I've worn ever since, buying two pair at time so I can alternate between them -- shoes last much longer if they dry thoroughly between wearings.

      • Sunset 2023-04-02 (Fairbanks, AK, USA) + Birch Tree

        In between the two photos, there was a few minutes of an amazing light shaft or candle effect, but unfortunately it was gone before I got to a convenient parking spot. Also, using a camera, it seems like much of the disc brightness and color vibrancy is lost. The true images will live on in my memory, at least.

    • Technical

      • Voice notes and Keyboards

        I've recently found myself becoming a big fan of voice notes. I'll usually send rambling voice notes to my friends on signal when I want to convey a lot of random information and I'm too lazy to type.

        Voice notes are great in a lot of circumstances, but not always. For instance, when I'm with other people, it can be weird or even rude if I'm blabbering into my phone for a minute and a half instead of silently typing. There is also the issue of coherence. I prefer writing communication over verbal because I can better organize my thoughts, edit, and clarify as I type. When I send a voice note there could be six different tangents that lead to nowhere by the time I send it.

      • Programming

        • Source controlled dotfiles

          It's not too uncommon to come across tech folk managing their dotfiles in source control. Conceptually, this makes a lot of sense - you tailor your configurations for certain programs, you want to be able to bring those around with you and also make sure if you break something, you can revert it. Plus, they're just text, so it makes sense, right?

          Sort of.

        • High-level languages in production

          I'm interested in a migration path from prototypes written in, e.g. Scheme or Prolog. So even though I really like ISLisp, it probably doesn't satisfy the requirements for commercial, production-quality. Notably, I've ignored my own advice and two of these platforms are non-standardised languages. I justify this because this is deciding for a commercial product, whereas deciding for learning is better limited. Also, although it may have only been half-hearted, I never was quite satisfied with SML for a real project. For example, if I use compiler extensions (as is very likely), libraries I try to integrate may not know about these extensions to interwork with them.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



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The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025