gerdesj

@gerdesj@lemmy.ml

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gerdesj,

My home and work ones both have Zigbee and Zwave. The modern ZwaveJS integration is amazing compared the old effort. Also: ESPHome, NUT, Mossie (MQTT), nginx proxy manager, MariaDB, nodered, Piper and that, Remote Backup, Terminal and SSH, DSS VoIP Notifier, VLC.

HACS with a fair few custom cards etc.

Ending support for Windows 10 could send 240 million computers to the landfill. Why not install Linux on them? (gadgettendency.com)

With support ending for Windows 10, the most popular desktop operating system in the world currently, possibly 240 million pcs may be sent to the landfill. This is mostly due to Windows 11’s exorbitant requirements. This will most likely result in many pcs being immediately outdated, and prone to viruses. GNU/Linux may be...

gerdesj,

My laptop is a cast off from a member of my staff who said it was too slow - a (dmidecode) - Product Name: HP 255 G6 Notebook PC. It now runs Arch (actually).

It previously slogged along with Win 10, Outlook n O365 n that. Now it does Libre Office, Evolution and much more. I use KDE, which isn’t known for a light touch on the resources. I also do light CAD and other stuff.

My office desktop is even older - it was a customer cast off, due to be skipped around six years ago. I did slap a SSD into it and I think I upped the RAM to 8GB. Its a (ssh, dmidecode): Product Name: Lenovo H330 and the BIOS is dated from 2012! I run two 23" screens off it and again, it runs Arch (actually) and KDE for pretty stuff. I run containers on it - at the moment a test Vikunja instance. I have apache, nginx and caddy fronting various experiments backed up with postgres and mariadb.

Both devices are “domain joined” and I auth to Exchange via Kerberos, via Samba winbind. File access (drive letters for the Windows mindset) is currently via autofs. I have a project on at a member of staff’s request to switch from Windows to Linux. I’m going to take my time and get it right. My current thinking is the Fedora KDE spin and this: Closed In Directory

gerdesj,

If you have an old laptop or PC why not give it a go? You could start here: www.linuxmint.com Another option is to install something like Virtual Box on your existing machine and try out running it as a virtual machine or two. 2 CPUs, 4GB of RAM and 20GB of virty disc will work for any Linux distro as a VM to start off with. There’s also VMware Workstation - there’s a free version. Do discover the joy of snapshots/checkpoints which allow you to roll back failed changes!

25 years ago the options were rather more limited. I started off dual booting Windows and Linux but I don’t really recommend that these days, unless you want to run a gaming rig with both. Few people can afford two lots of top end hardware! I left Windows behind completely around 2004 or 5.

gerdesj,

Chill mate. This is the fedi - you get to actively allow or deny what you see.

No-one can take that away from you.

gerdesj, (edited )

A scan performed by the researchers found that 77 percent of SSH servers exposed to the Internet support at least one of the vulnerable encryption modes, while 57 percent of them list a vulnerable encryption mode as the preferred choice.

That means a client could negotiate one or the other on more than half of all internets exposed openssh daemons.

I haven’t got too whizzed up over this, yet, because I have no ssh daemons exposed without a VPN outer wrapper. However it does look nasty.

gerdesj,

Start off with Gentoo to get the hang of the basics. Switch to Arch because compile times and heat burns. Try Linux from Scratch for a laugh, giggle and move on, but with a new found respect for distro maintainers.

What’s your use case? If it involves AAA games then that will narrow things a bit but if you simply want a bit of docs n that and, internet browsing and a spot of email and realtime sound and CAD then we’ll need a broader chat.

Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSuSE, Mint - those would be my starters for 10 in no particular order. Pick yours and your hip angle. I personally run Arch (actually) and Gentoo. I don’t recommend them as a dip your toe in the water job 8)

Feel free to dive in, the water is lovely.

Alright, I'm gonna "take one for the team" -- what is with the "downvote-happy" users lately?

Title. “lmao internet points” and all, but what is the point of participating in a community that sees assumptions and other commonly non-harmful commentaries/posts as “bad” this easily? Do folks in here are really that needy of self-validation, even if it means seeking such from something completely insignificant like...

gerdesj,

How should someone who expresses an opinion - that receives downvotes - request feedback?

gerdesj,

Blimey there’s a name from the past. I remember painting a Citadel Miniature (white metal job) of a demon of Slaanesh. That would have been around 1986-7ish. Four armed thing and looked bloody nasty! That was before Warty-Forty really took off.

I moulded a little skull out of Milliput, with a tiny snake running in through the base and out of an eye socket. I separated a foot from the base and lifted it up a bit and stuck the skull under it. White metal is quite soft but you have to be careful. I spent quite a while modelling “grass” and such. The grass went from a dead looking green/brown around the demon to normal in a sort of circle of ruin.

Nowadays my eyesight can barely see a 00 brushes’ bristles, let alone let me use one.

gerdesj,

SO: Next door have got their lights up, why haven’t we? Me: (Enable NodeRed flows for gutter and pergola light strings that switches them on at dusk and off late evening) Right, that’s the missus pacified for a week or so. I should probably get BigTimer to sort that out itself.

Employee: I’ve got all the printers for <customer> monitored using an auto entries card. (Good skills) Me: (Installs an addon that can use VoIP to do text to speech to a phone) We warn off the customer and now they get a phone call from “things” that tells them what consumables to buy and also sends an email.

When I finally get around to sorting out my glasses so I can see what my soldering iron is up to, I’ll get many more gadgets installed. My computer room at work needs a tiny ESP8266 and four 1 wire Dallas SC temperature sensors, a bit of vero board, a resistor, power and probably a buck convertor and a case, which I’ll print.

I adore HA.

gerdesj,

Did anyone really think that making UEFI systems the equivalent of a mini OS was a good idea

UEFI and Secure Boot were pushed forcibly by MS. That’s why FAT32 is the ESP filesystem.

If I had to guess, a brief was drafted at MS to improve on BIOS, which is pretty shit, it has to be said. It was probably engineering led and not an embrace, extinguish thing. A budget and dev team and a crack team of lawyers would have been whistled up and given a couple of years to deliver. The other usual suspects (Intel and co) would be strong armed in to take whatever was produced and off we trot. No doubt the best and brightest would have been employed but they only had a couple of years and they were only a few people.

UEFI and its flaws are testament to the sheer arrogance of a huge company that thinks it can put a man on the moon with a Clapham omnibus style budget and approach. Management identify a snag and say “fiat” (let it be). Well it was and is and it has a few problems.

The fundamental problem with UEFI is it was largely designed by one team. The wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFI is hilarious in describing it as open. Yes it is open … per se … provided you decide that FAT32 (patent encumbered) is a suitable file system for the foundations of an open standard.

I love open, me.

gerdesj,

Me too. I just ran time tree across my home directory a few times. Native console (ie C-A-F3) - 54 seconds, Konsole - eight seconds.

Waveterm is still installing (Arch AUR). The fan has a Gentooesque sound to it as a suspiciously complicated thing gets built. Oh God … electon … terminal shaking … golang … fans whining … lap melting … the Old Ones are stirring.

The deps for this thing are many. " I watched Firefox builds on Gentoo glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate". OK, its now arrived and my laptop case is making ping noises as it cools.

It takes 10 seconds or so to start up. Look pretty. Accept license agreement (wtf). Now what? Hmm lets try typing in that box. OK. time tree. Go back to Lemmy to type the last two paras of this comment, get bored and uninstall waveterm.

gerdesj,

I’ve been a KDE lover since 2.0 or so. I recall compiling it from a tarball for a laugh and it mostly working, which was quite a surprise. I think I had Slackware installed at the time on my desktop and KDE 1.x on it.

Anyway, 23 or so years later … I’m looking forward to 6. Things have changed a bit 8)

gerdesj,

Ooh, don’t mind if I do. Luckily I happen to have a tame VMware cluster and rather a lot of laptops (“mwaaa, mwaaa, won’t run Windows 11”) to play with.

One of my employees has actually expressed an interest in Linux as a daily driver, which has only taken 23 years. I’m looking for my corp standard distro and I don’t think Gentoo or Arch are going to do the job. I’m leaning towards Fedora at the moment but there’s no rush, I only get one chance to bring the kids into the light, despite being the MD 8)

gerdesj,

Perhaps but if you are doing a show and tell, why not do the full tell?

I can remember when Google didn’t exist and Altavista was the cool kid, or when the www didn’t exist and gopher and WAIS were the tools of choice. … and I can go much further back.

My real point is: If you are going to show a bit of ankle, and it is yours, make sure that everyone realises it is your ankle. If it isn’t your ankle, then tell us whose it is. It’s not fair asking people to search for pictures of ankles and then try to guess which one you have posted about.

gerdesj,

Good on you mate. I have no idea why you are being downvoted when you are being the big man when called out.

I do understand your position - it is bloody annoying to have to remind people how the web works but in this case you are doing a “show and tell”.

When doing something like that I think you should show all and tell all. “Here’s what I did and how I did it and here’s how you can do it too”. That’s why I went in with the rather dodgy ankle reference! Think about when you see those influencers with worryingly pneumatic lips and arses that might double as seating for a friend. They show all, really all and some make a decent living at it. Now think about what sort of response you want for one of your show and tells.

I do confess that I used to do the same as you - I blasted away at someone on The Register a fair few years ago and was called out and subsequently apologised. That was a game changer for me and I suspect for you now. That doesn’t mean that you can’t get riled occasionally but make sure it counts and you are in the right or at least nearly right … OK you think you are right 8)

Cool beans!

Cheers Jon

PS I’m 53 today

Is the Linux Foundation Certified System Admin (LFCS) worth it?

I’ve been a software engineer for 10 years now but want to work with Linux more in a professional setting (not to mention the number of layoffs in the the dev industry has me thinking a backup plan might be a good idea). I have been using Linux exclusively on my personal machine for about 15 years now so I’m not too worried...

gerdesj,

Employer here (UK)! I’m probably not normal being the MD and running Arch (actually) on my gear. I had to switch from Gentoo because I kept on burning myself.

For me, something like the LFCSA is something I respect because it is practical. Back in the day I did something similar (Novell I think). I’ve also grabbed a VMware … whatever … and that was a memory test and a waste of money. Who cares if you can quote the maximums?

When I’m hiring, I want to see application and knowledge and not a plethora of industry “quali-wankery”! You can always search for facts but knowing how to apply them is what I want to see.

Be flexible but do try to develop what sort of direction you want to take. What floats your boat out of dev ops, sysadmin etc?

You could also consider self employment/consultancy. I sort of fell into it 23 years ago …

gerdesj,

What on earth is a TempleOS?

I own an IT company. We are some sort of base metal partners with MS. I remember a huge box of “Select” CDs turning up back in the day. Nowadays we get demands for customers. ie we should be making more cash for MS. Its all one way - take, take. take.

I’m not a massive fan of owning a company and working for another one. So I don’t. MS are receding into the rear view window.

Wanting to improve my Linux skills after 17 months of daily driving Linux

I’ve been daily driving Linux for 17 months now (currently on Linux Mint). I have got very comfortable with basic commands and many just works distros (such as Linux Mint, or Pop!_OS) with apt as the package manager. I’ve tried Debian as a distro to try to challenge myself, but have always ran into issues. On my PC, I could...

gerdesj,

“I’ve been considering installing Arch the traditional way, on my X220, as a way to force myself to improve.”

I use Arch and so does my wife (she has no idea). The wiki is legendary because it is well used (I’ve written a few bits myself). I’ve used Gentoo for quite a while too but you will find compilation times a bit of a bore.

I own an IT company - I am the MD. I use Arch actually! (and so does my wife)

gerdesj,

A discarded Windows laptop is ideal for use with Linux. That’s what this Managing Director of an IT company has been doing for over a decade. My desktop PC is a customer cast off from a good five years ago. I slapped in an ageing Nvidia el cheapo card to get two monitors running. My laptop is a cast off from one of my employees - I simply opened it up and moved my M.2 card into it.

I do run ESET on my Linux gear to show solidarity and to show that Linux really is rather more resource friendly than Windows. I login to AD and I use Evolution with Kerb to access Exchange for email. I have the same “drive mappings” to the same file servers too and so on and so forth.

I used to teach word processing, spreadsheeting and databases n that for UK govt funded courses, I’ve written a Finite Capacity planner for a factory in Excel (note the lack of In-). I still find people who have no idea how decimal tab stops work or how to efficiently use styles. I can confidently inform you that Libre Office is just as good as MSO. They both have their … issues but both work pretty well.

Kids are easy. Adults are a pain! KDE has a lot of educational games ready to go out of the box.

gerdesj,

Windows’s package managers are MS only (ish). msiexec is a bit of a convoluted pain compared to apt, yum, pacman or even portage.

When you update a Linux box, everything is updated not just the OS. That is not the case on Windows where each browser, pdf viewer etc has its own updater service or not.

I’ve been doing IT software monkeying for several decades for many companies, some of which you will have heard of. Trust me: the Windows model is not the best. It certainly should not be a reason to fear Linux.

Most distros have a “Politely notify that some updates are available, would you mind awfully if I install them?” … cracks on in the background and then suggests a reboot only if the kernel was updated.

That is not a Windows experience.

3d modeling for printing

I’ve never used a 3d printer before but want to get one. I have a bit experience in blender but not too much. My question is: How do you model for a 3d print? For example, if I want to print a hollow cylinder, I go into blender, create cylinder and delete the side faces. If I print this, the walls will be pretty thin. Do I...

gerdesj,

Start off with Thingiverse or similar. I recommend something like: www.thingiverse.com/thing:3553160 There are a lot of models there - those are .STL that you “slice” and send to your printer. There is this: www.thingiverse.com/thing:2187167 which is CAD models with the working left in - OpenSCAD in this case. You load it up, generate a .STL and then pass that to the slicer.

I have a large plastic cabinet in my garden for storing a lawn mower etc. The hinges died years ago. I have printed new ones. At least 20kg of plastic waste has been avoided being dumped a lot longer. I am well aware (now) that I should not have bought the bloody thing in the first place!

If you go the OpenSCAD route, you might like this: github.com/JustinSDK/dotSCAD - the author sadly passed away recently but his work is legendary in my opinion.

Once you get printing sorted out, then move on to your own stuff. … or not - give it a go! I have a large bag of very strangely shaped PETG experiments that went badly wrong and need recycling.

gerdesj,

No. Those tools are tried and well tested. Yes there may still be bugs lurking but simply rewriting in Rust does not guarantee safety. I do hope that this: doc.rust-lang.org/book/ch19-01-unsafe-rust.html doesn’t get used in that repo.

That said, I’ll take a look in say five years and see how they are getting on.

What's the difference between package manager and why are there so many?

Are they so different that it’s justified to have so many different distributions? So far I guess that different package manager are the reason that divides the linux community. One may be on KDE and one on GNOME but they can use each other’s packages but usually you are bound to one manager

gerdesj,

Gentoo has alternatives to Portage too.

gerdesj,

So you “make config” once and then you just tweak it from time to time! I used to run make config until I discovered xconfig (when X was xfree86) and settled on menuconfig.

I was still using menuconfig on Gentoo until around five years ago. OK I still have one or two Larry’s lying around doing useful stuff but generally I just copy the old kernel config to the new one and compile away with genkernel.

make config did take a while back in the day. You literally run through the entire kernel’s options one by one: y/n/m for drivers. I haven’t done that since 2.0.x days. Then you forget to sort out lilo and reach for the boot floppy. No I don’t miss those days.

gerdesj,

They will if enough people whine about it.

In the old days (I’m 50+) tumbleweed drifted through ~/ apart from my drivel and I’d have a folder for that so /home/gerdesj/docs was the root of my stuff. I also had ~/tmp/ for not important stuff. I don’t have too much imagination and ~/ was pretty clean. I was aware of dot files and there were a shit load of them but I didn’t see them unless I wanted to.

This really isn’t the most important issue ever but it would be nice if apps dumped their shit in a consistently logical way. XDG is the standard.

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