Prior to my Framework Laptop adventures, I’ve been planning to move to Arch Linux for a while. I’m a long-time Linux desktop user. I started out with those Red Hat CD-ROMs you’d buy at your local bookshop (this was around ‘96). I fooled around with SCO UnixWare, had a whole period of SGI IRIX after that and then some distro-hopping to Debian, Fedora, Arch Linux (in 2007), Gentoo and Void Linux, more-or-less in that order.
The last two-ish years I’ve been running on Void Linux, which I still strongly recommend and love - it’s a really good distribution with a nice balance between stability and simplicity.
I used the OS package manager for the essentials, like Gnome, Firefox, the terminal, Wayland and X11, and used /opt like a sort of Program Files or Applications directory where I had my own programs like IntelliJ, Postman, PostgreSQL, etc.
This works relatively well: you don’t have a lot of demands on package availability in the distro itself and you keep things stable - only update your own stuff when you feel like it and/or when you need to.
Unlike the Linux kernel, the Hurd is not a “kernel.” In a way,
“Hurd” = GNU Mach (microkernel) + GNU Hurd (system servers) + GNU MIG (Mach Interface Generator)
are roughly equivalent to a “kernel.” The GNU Hurd is a herd of servers that implements many functions, including user authentication, binary execution, the file system, networking, and even /dev/null as a server separate from the kernel. There are currently 24 servers consisting of the Hurd.
Markdown can be composed in any text editor. But I recommend an editor purposely designed for this syntax. The software featured in this roundup allows an author to write professional documents of various formats including blog posts, presentations, reports, email, slides and more. All of the applications are, of course, released under an open source license. Linux, OS X and Windows’ users are catered for.
This article does not include general purpose text editors like Vim or Emacs. Of course, they are capable Markdown editors. There are also packages/plugins available for these editors (and others) that add Markdown functionality. But this Group Test focuses instead on dedicated markdown editors.
If you’re aiming to elevate your Linux learning process to an advanced administrative and expert level, we have meticulously curated a collection of 10 exceptional Free Linux eBooks.
These invaluable resources are designed to empower you in constructing an exceptionally robust foundation for your Linux skills. With these ebooks at your fingertips, you can confidently embark on a journey of profound Linux mastery.
The bc command in Linux is used for mathematical calculation. It's more than just a command; it's a language. But you are likely to use it as a command for floating point mathematical operations.
Security policies and equipment shouldn't stop at the edge of your network. Neglecting host based mitigations goes against a key pillar to cyber security, Defense in Depth. What does this term mean? Defense in Depth is the idea of having multiple security elements in place to protect against a negative event.
Example of Defense in Depth: Having a network-based firewall on the edge of your network, host-based firewalls on your hosts, a network-based IDS, and antimalware software on your hosts.
In this post we will be using the Linux utility IPtables to create packet filtering rules with the Linux kernel firewall. Of course, using the Linux command line. Although if you would like to use a GUI there is a program called Firestarter.
A while ago I wrote about how an obvious problem isn't necessarily obvious, where one thing I said was that in many situations, there are too many obvious problem causes for people to keep track of them all. A corollary to this is that there are too many things that could go wrong on your systems to monitor and alert on all of them. In fact, I'm not convinced that we could even identify all of the possible things that could go wrong. Among other issues, systems can fail in many, many different ways.
This tutorial will show you how to install Nextcloud on a Debian 12 server. You will install Nextcloud with Apache2 web server, MariaDB server, and PHP 8.2. Furthermore, you will also secure your installation with UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) and SSL/TLS certificates from Letsencrypt.
Disclaimer: This information is intended solely for educational purposes and requires extreme caution when implementing. The method can be both beneficial and harmful. For instance, if users are granted permission to execute the 'rm' command without a sudo password, they may inadvertently or deliberately delete important files. The commands provided below are purely for demonstration purposes, and it is crucial not to execute them on a production system under any circumstances. If you are unsure about the implications or consequences, it is highly advised to carry out this exercise in a virtual machine and use it as an opportunity to understand the underlying concept. You have been warned.
Well this is certainly exciting! Ahead of the release of Baldur's Gate 3, which is going to easily be one of the biggest releases this year, the Director of Publishing at Larian Studios teased playing it on Steam Deck on Twitter (uh, sorry on "X").
Parcel Simulator is certainly not the type of game that would usually grab my attention but the Papers, Please inspiration and gameplay features look weirdly attractive. So now we too can run our own dream warehouse? Well, there's weirder games out there that got popular.
Rightfully, Beary Arms is a weird and wonderfully whack twin-stick shooter rogue-lite that's now in Early Access with Native Linux support and it works on the Steam Deck too. Note: key provided by Stride PR.
Want a perhaps easier way to get DevilutionX for classic Diablo running on Steam Deck and desktop Linux? Well it's now on Flathub. This means on Steam Deck, you can just grab€ DevilutionX from Discover and install it there. For desktop Linux - whatever way you would normally install a Flatpak from Flathub.
Another tactical turn-based roguelite that looks promising for you is The Black Pepper Crew, now available in Early Access on Steam with Native Linux support.
Arcadian Atlas is a 2D isometric tactical role playing game about the choices people make in pursuit of the things they love, and the havoc it wreaks on a kingdom. It looks great with some wonderful pixel-art for fans of games like Final Fantasy Tactics.€
Plasma 5.27 was released in February 2023 with many feature refinements and new modules to complete the desktop experience.
This release adds three months' worth of new translations and fixes from KDE's contributors. The bugfixes are typically small but important and include...
Window management is one of those areas I’m fascinated with because even after 50 years, nobody’s fully cracked it yet. Ever since the dawn of time we’ve relied on the window metaphor as the primary way of multitasking on the desktop. In this metaphor, each app can spawn one or more rectangular windows, which are stacked by most recently used, and moved or resized manually.
The traditional windowing system works well as long as you only have a handful of small windows, but issues emerge as soon the number and size of the windows grows. As new windows are opened, existing ones are obscured, sometimes completely hiding them from view. Or, when you open a maximized window, suddenly every other window is hidden.
Over the decades, different OSes have added different tools and workflows to deal with these issues, including workspaces, taskbars, and switchers. However, the basic primitives have not changed since the 70s and, as a result, the issues have never gone away.
Yes, the Raspberry Pi Operating System is awesome! But the Pi4J project made it if even more awesome by adding “goodies” for Java developers! Pi4J OS is not yet another OS, but the official Raspberry Pi OS, with additional tools and preconfigurations to make it the ideal OS for any Java and JavaFX developer who wants to use a Raspberry Pi.
MX Linux is renowned for its combination of elegant desktop environments, outstanding stability, and exceptional performance. The most awaited stable release of MX Linux 23 (MX-23) is now available for download. In this release, MX-23 introduces a host of exciting new features, improvements, and enhancements that are sure to delight MX Linux users.
Let's look at the best new features of MX Linux 23.
The Arch Linux 2023.08.01 release ships with the latest Linux 6.4 kernel series, which was released on June 25th, 2023, with features like Intel LAM support, more Rust language code, new RISC-V features, as well as new and updated drivers for top-notch hardware support. Linux kernel 6.4.7 is included by default.
This ISO snapshot also includes the recently released Archinstall 2.6 text-based installer, which brings a revamped partitioning section, support for the Hyprland dynamic tiling Wayland window manager, support for the Limine multiprotocol bootloader, and support for custom mirrors.
Debian, one of the most popular Linux distributions, has some exciting news for you! It has recently released the first update for the Debian 12 "Bookworm" on July 22nd, 2023. This update contains multiple improvements, including 89 bug fixes and 26 security updates.
If you are a Debian enthusiast, then this is a significant milestone to celebrate! So, let's check out what's new in Debian 12.1 and why it is a crucial update for users.
MX Linux 23, the latest stable version of the popular operating system, is now available for download. This release is built on the sturdy foundation of Debian 12 “Bookworm” and MX repositories. Just as with previous versions, MX Linux 23 defaults to sysVinit while keeping systemd as an optional choice for installed systems.
One of the most noticeable changes in this release is the revamped live boot menus, featuring a more prominent “check media” function. This new feature offers an automatic media check before proceeding to boot, thus providing a smoother user experience.
MX Linux 23 brings with it an array of major desktop versions, including Xfce 4.18, Fluxbox 1.3.7, and KDE/Plasma 5.27. These upgrades are sure to offer a range of choices to cater to the diverse preferences of users.
Sudomaker LoShark L1 is a USB dongle with Semtech SX1262/SX1268 LoRa transceiver and a Linux-capable Ingenic X1501 MIPS processor with 8MB on-chip memory that serves as a LoRa debug tool that can use a JavaScript interface to access to all SX126x chip registers.
The LoShark L1 USB key offers both LoRa connectivity and debugging capabilities such as packet capture (hence the reference to WireShark) and can operate either independently (standalone) or in conjunction with a PC as shown below with a mini laptop.
The hardware for this project includes an Arduino Mega 2560 board and a small OLED screen. Woehlke chose the Mega because he had it on hand, but any Arduino board would have worked. The Arduino receives power from one of the power supply’s 5V rails. And like the real turbo readouts of the ’90s, the Arduino doesn’t measure clock speed at all. It just looks at the LED above the turbo button to see if it is active, then uses that state to determine which number to display on the OLED. For extra flair, Woehlke added a starfield “screensaver” that appears on the OLED 10 seconds after pushing the turbo button.
Recently, after considering getting his hands on Clockwork’s uConsole, a modular pocket-sized computer, he felt that building his own handheld was more challenging. Snapping up a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4), he also vowed to take advantage of its quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor by putting it at the heart of his own homemade device.
Forlinx announced in July that they are working together with the RISC-V processor manufacturer StarFive to deliver the FET7110-C System-on-Chip based specifically on the Jinghong 7110 with RISC-V architecture. The SoM is expected to target applications in commercial, medical, industrial automation, etc.
The Boardcon is a Single Board Computer based on the Rockchip RK3566 and optimized for AI and Industrial applications. The SBC includes multiple peripherals including a Gigabit Ethernet port, multiple display ports and dual camera interfaces.€
For as popular as the Arduino platform is, it’s not without its problems. Among those is the fact that most practical debugging is often done by placing various print statements throughout the code and watching for them in the serial monitor. There’s not really a great way of placing breakpoints or stepping through code, either. But this project, known as eye2see, hopes to change that by using the i2c bus found in most Arduinos to provide a more robust set of debugging tools.
To provide an insight into the quality of software that is available, we have compiled a list of 13 high quality free Linux CAD applications. Hopefully, there will be something of interest here for anyone who wants to produce professional drawings.
Let’s explore the 13 CAD applications at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, screenshots, together with links to relevant resources. Click each link in the table below to learn more about the software.
We plan to support syncing of your email account definitions, credentials, signatures, saved searches, tags, tasks, filters, and most major preferences across multiple installations of Thunderbird on PC, (Yes, this is cross-compatible with Windows, macOS, and Linux.) You’ll also be able to sync your Thunderbird accounts with the forthcoming Thunderbird for Android.
After covering Google’s effort to separate the Chrome browser from ChromeOS for over two years, it appears more of you will get to experience it. The project is called Lacros, and it uses the Linux browser for ChromeOS instead of the integrated browser. The idea is that browser updates can be pushed quicker to Chromebooks instead of waiting for a full ChromeOS update. Based on recent code changes I spotted, ChromeOS 116 may bring the Lacros browser to more Chromebooks with a wider release.
To make life easier for curl users, the tool supports “config files“. They are a set of command line options written in a text file that you can point the curl tool to use. By default curl will check for and use such a config file named .curlrc if placed in your home directory.
One day not too long ago, a user over in the curl IRC channel asked me if it was possible to use environment variables in such config files to avoid having to actually store secrets directly in the file.
Firefox 116 carries a modest crop of changes that further refine and finesse the famed FOSS browser.
Do you use Picture-in-Picture mode (PIP)? If so, you’ll notice that the pop-put window finally has a volume slider. This makes it easy to adjust the sound levels of whatever you’re watching without needing to affect system-wide volume levels – a nice little buff, I think.
In 60 minutes, you can start to build something for the web: a blog, a fan fiction page, a bookmarks page, a tool you would find useful. I hope to schedule another one of these events in the future, inviting more people to join us to build websites in an hour. I will blog when we schedule another "Build a Website in an Hour" meetup.
In 1989 Ray Oldenburg described a ‘third place’ as, “a place outside your home or work where you can relax and hang out.”
Libraries, parks, gyms, bookstores, and porches are all examples. In a post-Covid world not only have ‘third places’ slowly dwindled in number but it is increasingly hard to find places that don’t require spending a lot of money to enjoy. For those who have started working from home, their first and second places have merged into one with the home office. The internet is now its own third place. With it, we have the power to socialize, consume media, share knowledge casually, and document it formally.
This virtual third place seemed like the perfect place to host an event where like-minded individuals, passionate about Open Source and creating art could come together.
Version 29.1 of the Emacs editor has been released. There is a long list of changes, including integration with the Tree-sitter incremental parsing library, the ability to access SQLite databases, "pure GTK" display support (which enables Wayland support), and a lot more; see the NEWS file for all the details.
Version 3.2 of the GNU COBOL compiler is out. ""The amount of features are too much to note, but you can skip over the attached NEWS file to investigate them"." These new features include improved support for COBOL dialects, performance improvements, better GDB debugging support, and more.
There are a surprisingly large number of things that you probably won't notice going away briefly. If you don't look into the situation, it might seem like a short connectivity blip, or even be hidden from you by programs automatically retrying connections or operations. Telling systemd to auto-restart these things will thus tend to hide their crashes from you, which may be surprising. Still, auto-restarting and hiding crashes is likely better than having the service be down until you can restart it by hand. We certainly would rather have intermittent, crash-interrupted monitoring of our machines than not have monitoring for (potentially) some time.
This influence to the total link time is small. However, if I test the time proportion of the hash function in the total link time, I can see that the proportion has been reduced to nearly one third. On some workload and some machines this effect may be larger.
As a programmer, you must have encountered situations where you need to repeat a task multiple times. Repetitive tasks are not only tedious but also prone to errors. What if I tell you there’s an elegant solution to this problem in R? Enter the replicate() function, your ultimate ally when it comes to replicating tasks effortlessly and efficiently.
The next time you start on a major project, I want you to write code for a couple of days and then delete it all. Just throw it away.
I'm serious.
And you should probably have some of your best engineers doing this throwaway work. It's going to save you time in the long run.
Paweà â bbkr Pabian continued their series of blog posts explaining Unicode, this time using the Raku Programming Language for examples in 3 new posts: [...]
The magic methods are often called “dunder methods”. The term “dunder” is short for “double underscore”, as these methods are identified by their names enclosed in double underscores (e.g., __init__). By using these methods’ capabilities, you can define how your Python objects should behave in various scenarios, such as string representation, arithmetic operations, etc.
In this tutorial, you’ll explore the fascinating world of magic methods in Python. You’ll discover how these magic methods fit into object-oriented programming (more on this in the next section). You’ll also learn about some common magic methods used widely in Python. You’ll also see how these methods help you achieve operator overloading in Python. By the end, you’ll grasp magic methods and have the tools to design powerful code in Python’s object-oriented world.
I’ve been working on a shell for Unix-like systems called rc, which draws heavily from the Plan 9 shell of the same name. When I saw Mark’s post about the perils of whitespace in POSIX shells (or derived shells, like bash), I thought it prudent to see if any of the problems he outlines are present in the shell I’m working on myself. Good news: they aren’t!
It’s also hopefully a pretty clear demo of how zshbrev turns command line arguments into function arguments, and function output into stdout in a pretty dwimmy way (it should work regardless of whether your function prints something or returns a value, like a tree or string).xs
Anyway, I have a solution to all of Google's problems. Forget this notion of untrusted "user agents" executing code on untrustworthy computers. I have a foolproof way of getting pixel-perfect rendering on every device. It also stops scraping. And, as a little side effect, completely defeats ad blocking.
It's VNC.
This takes "Server Side Rendering" to the extreme. Render exactly how you want the page to look and then stream it over a remote framebuffer protocol. Users get to see exactly what you want them to see - ads included!
Just imagine the possibilities. No more worrying about which browser is being used - render everything through Chrome and stream to everyone!
