Posts by Chronic The Weedhog

Linux on Windows 10: Will penguin treats in Creators Update be enough to lure you?

Already there

I've been using bash on Windows via the Anniversary update for a while now, and have had fairly decent results with it overall. That said, on it's own, it leaves much to be desired... but it wasn't designed to be a complete Linux distribution running under the Windows hood to begin with, so what it does has been acceptable to me as I determine whether to do anything at all with it... meanwhile, I have more than enough Linux systems (workstations and servers) to take care of my needs there while MS does whatever they do.

I had been using apt and aptitude for software management, but tonight I'll install an Xserver, Mate-Desktop (from source, if necessary), and Synaptic to see what I can get it doing once it has a fill environment under it. I would have done this sooner, but PSVR has been eating up all of my time lately. :)

Go nuts, brother: Ubuntu 16.04 beta – no more auto data-spaffing

Re: Zippy Zebra

That's a very good question! :)

I've been wondering that as well.

Re: close window button

Ubuntu-Tweak will let you do that, all day, and also works on just about every derivative based on Ubuntu as well for tweaking other elements of the OS aside from the desktop environment.

see: http://ubuntu-tweak.com/

Re: Big warning 14.04LTS to 16.04LTS upgrade

From reading over the links you provided, it looks like the biggest issue has to do with pre-existing swap partitions, that any existing swap will need to be removed and re-created... at least that's the case with server upgrades.

That concerned me when I read it because I have several Ubuntu servers that I'd like to upgrade within a month or so of the new release. One of my older servers has been upgraded already from 10.04 to 12.04 to 14.04, and it looks like it *might* work out to upgrade it directly again... but in light of these warnings, I'll most certainly ensure that I have a solid backup of at least the contents that I want to restore later so that if the upgrade goes sideways, I can get my services back up that I depend on.

Thanks for the info! :)

Re: It's the server version that got my attention

Thanks for bringing up the server release. I tend to start with that release even for my desktop builds because I prefer to roll my own desktop environment from Ubuntu Server + Mate Desktop, similar to Ubuntu Mate but leaner.

I like that build because I believe it's more solid than the desktop release. I could be wrong, but it seems like the developers would consider the security of the server platform to be of utmost importance because of the likelihood of that build ending up in a mission-critical role.

Lately, I've been doing a similar build from Raspbian-Lite + Mate, which has replaced all of my x86 based Linux endpoints, as well as 1 server (which is headless, with no local desktop installed; just webmin for remote admin beyond using SSH for most things). The last build I did --turned out really well, so I imaged it... and killed the source-copy SD-card in the process... luckily it was only an 8GB disc and not worth a lot so I was able to replace it easily. Anyway, the image I made worked perfectly for making quickly spun out duplicate loadouts that I only have to change the hostname on, and I modded the workstation image before making the backup to include x11vnc configured to relay the live desktop session, Network Manager to control eth0 & WLAN0 (where appropriate & detected), as well as a complete install of Mate-1.8 that I've heavily tweaked to my network environment. This means now that I can loadout a fresh RPi3 with the image in under 5 minutes and have the system ready for use within 10mins of starting on it.

I'd really like to see Ubuntu 16.04 get a solid armhf port that works identically to the x86 build, along with ports of *all* of the x86 packages that can reasonably run on armhf-type processors. WINE may be one of the few that will be difficult at best, and likely impossible to do properly.

Anyway, I'll be on the lookout for an armhf release of Ubuntu 16.04 server, and will likely order a board specifically for accommodating it. Once I've had some time to work with it, I'll likely come back here and drop a review of what I find. From past experience, I hold pretty high hopes for it because Linux on armhf is very fast overall. The last server I built using RPi2 + Raspbian-Lite was able to run a full LAMP stack, Mumble-Server, UnrealIRCD + ircservices-for-UNIX-v5.x, webmin, and a motionEye server daemon with a single local cam relaying video from my server rack to my security console all on a single board, with a runtime average of under 0.50. Normally, I'd panic if I saw a production x86 based server running that taxed, but the RPi2 running in that configuration did really well with zero stability issues.

Re: Just Tried It Out

Thanks for the head's up about Gnome Software.

I didn't care much for USC and always installed Synaptic on every system I used with a desktop-env, likely for the same reason as you: complete control over the package install process. So long as Synaptic never goes away, we're golden! ;)

FTC gives FBI the finger over govt backdoor encryption demands

Ultimately, this will backfire.

Hackers, terrorists (not lumping the two together, just listing), and other cyber-criminals will simply use illegal encryption methods again, no different than they did in the era of bans on cryptography exports (1990s).

Those who don't want to bother, but are still concerned about surveillance will in many cases stop using digital communications altogether, embracing the adage made famous by the film "Enemy of the state", in which it was said by John Voit, "pretty soon, the only privacy you'll have left is what's in your head... and maybe that's enough".

I personally know people who have left the net entirely since the Snowden Disclosures. Some of them have sworn to never return until they have quantum cryptography to keep *all* elements out of their systems, forever. Personally, I make a living from my tech knowledge, so I'm here to stay. But this should be something that should concern the feds more than cryptography, is the possibility that if they keep pushing, they'll just scare away the people that they're trying to catch, that those people will go underground and never be found.

Microsoft to Linux users: Explain yourself

Re: Well done Microsoft

You know... you're right, really.

We use the word 'community' loosely. It's closer to what I would compare to say, the various factions of the Luxan race from the show 'Farscape', where yes... they're the same species, and the same race, but they're fractured into clans that war amongst one another until an outsider comes along, at which point they drop the clubs and pick up the swords for the purpose of giving their collective enemies a real thrashing... a lot like Orks, really... especially Orks from the Warhammmer 40000 PC games.

-- -- -- --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb_qHP7VaZE

Re: To quote General Akbar, "It's a Trap!"

That's exactly right, and Microsoft has no one to blame but Nadella's predecessors, particularly Ballmer. Ballmer created so much bad blood between Microsoft and the Linux community that it may now be easier to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian situation than to ever get the Linux community working in lockstep with Microsoft on anything. I think to put it more accurately would be to say that there are those of us who want only to watch Microsoft go extinct as they struggle to adapt to a market that has for the most part, left them behind.

The one thing MS may have going for them in the immediate future is "HoloLens", their upcoming 'augmented reality' HMD/Visor. If the price is inexpensive enough to get some market penetration, then they may have something on their hands that can keep them alive as a technology leader for another decade. But what then?

I'll grant them this... since Satya Nadella took over Microsoft, it *is* becoming a much different company. I don't think we should let our guard down just yet though, because the controlling stock-holders on the board of investors are still many of the same people, demanding many of the same things from the company's leadership.

Still though, regardless of leadership changes, I don't feel that it serves the community's interests to work intensely with Microsoft, or any other proprietary OS vendor, because more often than not what we see stem from that cooperation is things like Caldera Linux turning into the SCO-vs-Red Hat / SCO-vs-IBM cases, which served no real purpose in the end other than to make fools of the people who brought the case, enrich those whom they sought to crush, and left Microsoft looking like someone who paid for a failed assassination. No... after the fiasco with Microsoft funding SCO's legal proceedings against Red Hat via Baystar Capitol, I don't think it's wise to do anything with Microsoft other than that which directly works to destroy them.

Feds dig up law from 1789 to demand Apple, Google decrypt smartphones, slabs

<quote> Until the law gets twisted so that anything that lacks an override of some sort is tantamount to espionage. Apple and Google are both US-based companies, so what happens when that kind of law or interpretation or ruling is trust in their face? </quote>

You make a good point.

If a law of that sort were to pass here in the USA, it would have to be accompanied by laws that forbid anyone from leaving the nation without permission, because otherwise the companies affected by this would simply relocate their corporate HQs to nations that would rather have the tax income than to be bothered about what anyone has encrypted on their phone, USB stick, or other encrypted device.

If this was going down in China, Russia, or even Romania, I would expect far different results, and a far different response. For starters, in several of those places, it would have been illegal to sell a device with encryption preinstalled that doesn't have a method for federal circumvention. But take some place, like say, the Cayman Islands, Pitcairn Island, or even any large nation that doesn't particularly agree with the methods and ways of the "5 eyes" nations.... any of those places would be more than happy to take on any one of America's corp-HQs, so long as doing so doesn't result in all out war.

Now, here's the problem with the USA creating laws like those... our nation was born of insurgency and rebellion, and among a large number of the populace, that spirit still lives. While the government's military capabilities have grown exponentially since this nation's beginnings, the last few decades have shown that even a super-power can be lead into a war without end that they cannot resolve on their own without violating the very laws they helped to forge internationally in the first place (such as laws against ethnic cleansing and genocide). The sort of reversal of overall national and international policy required to allow for the aforementioned scenario would most certainly degenerate swiftly into a bloodbath in the streets. That might sounds extreme, but considering that one of the most popularly known acts attributed to kicking off the Revolutionary War was the Boston Tea Party, it doesn't seem so far fetched that nation filled with reality show fans and people ready to riot at the drop of a hat would be more than happy to thrown down all over again over something with just as trivial beginnings just to make a much grander point in the end.

My advice to our legislators would be to tread carefully, always.

Re: still have a backdoor though right?

and for that, we thank you! >8)

Rise of the Machines: FIRST HUMAN VICTIM – 2015

Re: Crime as a Service?

"Dirty Deeds.... done dirt cheap!"

Re: And this affects me how?

I suppose that would be the M.O. of someone who has nothing to fear from the law, but for the rest of the planet, stealth is standard operating procedure... unless you have $h1+ for brains.

But you're right though to a high degree. If someone's looking to kill someone, especially in a clandestine manner, tampering to the target's vehicle is a tenuous solution that will only lead to an investigation which no federal agency is going to want to have going on, and the more likely method of assassination will be something much harder to trace forensically. Poisoning works well, especially when the toxin is made from environmental agents (black mold, spider venom, other natural toxins with methods of entering a body without murder being suspect).

But no... the brake thing... good luck with that.

US Supremes just blew Aereo out of the water

Re: Cue the Chinese manufacturers...

That's not a bad idea, but considering that all you would need technically is a way to reach a listening port to authenticate against in order to access the stream, there would be no need for an external 'server-service' (as you referred to it).

Example: Several of the more robust off-the-shelf SOHO routers support Dynamic DNS services, such as DynDNS or No-IP. But, even without a router with built-in-support for dynamic DNS, you can still use these services. Just about every one of those services offers clients for Windows, and most also offer clients for Linux & OSX as well.

Essentially, you would only need a working dns-mask (ex: aereo-001.no-ip.us ), and 1 port forwarding rule (possibly 2 ports, or a range, depending on requirements) to securely authenticate against a device like this that is hosted on your home network.

If the device utilizes a DVR/PVR function, then it would require local storage. But if you look at DLNA server-suites, such as 'Serviio', you'll find that a large number of the more rebust solutions in this class tend to offer 're-encoding' which basically allows the source to stream at multiple resolutions... sort of like picking 480p mode on Youtube, as opposed to using whatever auto-resolution automatically loads with the video in question.

But yeah, given a proper re-working, this would have made for a pretty cool personal media access device.

** On a side note though: I agree with the dissenting Justices on this case, but for a particularly different reason. If Aereo was simply intercepting 'over-the-air' broadcasts, then what right do the broadcasters have to now come along and say "Hey! You have to pay us!" for what is otherwise free. I've got news for these broadcasters... they've already been paid by their advertisers, sponsors and any applicable grants. No one, regardless of whether it is an individual or a company, is liable for fees to accessing what is streamed freely over broadcast-airwaves. If the broadcasters don't agree with that, then quit broadcasting and secure their damned streams! Of course, the fallout from taking away what has essentially been a free service since the dawn of Television would likely be more than any of these broadcasters are able to endure... and that may happen anyway, just because of this US-SC decision. Unlike the era during which television came about, prior to the availability of services like Cable TV, Satellite, services like NetFlix, Hulu, and Crackle, or software like XBMC, consumers basically had the choice of 'either watch what the *big 3* are broadcasting, or nothing'. Now, consumers have a freedom of choice that allows them to basically drive traditional broadcasters into extinction. Most of the people that actually watch broadcast 'OTA' content today are either located in rural settings with no other options, are too broke to afford better, or simply just don't care that much about TV.

Locked-up crims write prison software that puts squeeze on grub supplier

Re: Well, if and when

Actually you get an upvote, at least from me, for understanding just how screwed up our judicial system really is. :)

We could easily spend a day or more discussing what all is wrong with both systems, especially that of the US, but I'll just conclude that a large number of our worst laws are those that were made out of outrage or public outcry about problems that didn't actually need a legal remedy, but rather a social remedy. Our prohibition laws (those behind the 'war on drugs') are quite possibly the worst of the laws on our books, because in many cases the laws have *created* a criminal element where one would not have otherwise existed. So in essence, the war on drugs has been used as a way to subjugate the population while pushing forth a draconian agenda.

I believe Douglas Adams said it best, "Those who should lead, can't. Those who do lead, shouldn't".

( To be continued... )

if year > 2013 then PC != Personal Computer

Only if I host the Personal Cloud in-house.

I agree with several of the comments here, where it comes down to ownership of data and possession of the same. I host a private cloud of my own, based on VMWare ESXI & Ubuntu, and do have plans to expand its capabilities. However, I'm as tech savvy as they get, and I'm not about to host any of my private data or services on some other system outside of my complete & total control. While the OEMs are rushing to follow Gartner's lead, manufacturers of custom PC parts will continue doing business as usual for so long as there are customers. If that means harvesting PC scrapheaps to keep my network alive then so be it.

I'm no fan of tablets, nor all of the new under-powered so called PC replacement technologies. While I love my Zotac ZboxHD ID41, its only about 60% as capable as my primary workstation, which was custom built, in-house. No... I'm looking more toward server-room / datacenter equipment for my lab & network nowadays, even if that means buying refurbished systems from Ebay stores.

Nokia exec: Young fashonistas 'fed up' with iPhone

clueless

I would have bought a Maemo or Meego phone from Nokia and been proud to do so. but as soon as I read (a long time ago, now) that they dropped out of the Meego project in favor of Microsoft, I have turned down free phones from Nokia, offered by my work to all our IT staff. WinPho, no different than Win8, has an interface made for morons. While my employers buy ever deeper into the Microsoft money-pit, the same company lobbying our governments to bring more expatriot workers into American IT -further erroding our economy, I'm busy migrating my infrastructure to one purely based on Linux. As far as I'm concerned, Nokia has aligned themselves with the IT equivalent of Al Qaida, Microsoft, the most hated company in IT... Aside from SCO, which Microsoft funded to pursue Red Hat & IBM in an attempt to keep from being racked up in another anti-trust case. They both suck and should be destroyed.

Jobs: 'I'll spend my dying breath destroying Android'

Speaking of rip-offs

Has anyone here checked out IOS5 yet? I installed it over the weekend on 2 iPhones I have at home, and found that IOS5 rips off Android's pull-down notification tab in several ways. Sure, they're cosmetically different, but the underlying structure, and purpose are nearly identical.

Now, don't get me wrong.. I'm no fan of Apple. For that matter, I absolutely hate the iPhone... it's too dumbed-down for my tastes, and I actually *could* like the platform a lot more, if it weren't for their development policy. Maybe their grandparents need technology that will *save them from themselves*, but I don't, and generally I refuse to buy any computing device unless I can hack it, mod it, or otherwise change it. This isn't always the case, but when the possibility is there, I take advantage of it.

Jobs... what an arsehole!

Ubuntu seeks Android-packin' Windows deserters

I agree on all points

My experience with Unity, Gnome 3, 10.10, and 10.04 have been the same. I've belayed testing 11.04 until the actual release of final code, but from what I've seen in the 10.10 netbook distro told me much of what I needed to know. Granted, there will be somethings fixed in 11.04 that were broken or unsavory about 10.10-netbook, but personally, I hate the Unity desktop, and I've been using Linux in one form or another since 1996.

10.04 is a great release, and quite possibly the best Linux release I've ever used, because it's solid, fast, secure, and I can morph it into any kind of installation I want with ease. 10.10 is great too, but I hate Unity, so I use it with Gnome 2 instead (I have it installed only on 2 systems, both of which are USB based), while I have 4 servers at home and 3 servers at work running 10.04. I stick with Ubuntu because I like how well integrated everything tends to be, unlike Debian (which I also like, alot, but it feels a bit archaic in comparison).

Anyway, getting back to my point, I did a couple of installations of Ubuntu 10.10 on netbooks over the past few weekends (I do custom system design as side work in the evenings and on weekends, just to keep my skills razor sharp), and by the end of each build, both the system owner & I agreed that Unity was too 'android / iphone like', and that it had no place on a serious system. While I prefer Gnome, I also like LXDE & XFCE alot too, and in the end, that's what we went with for the default desktop environments on both netbooks. I really hope that by the release of 12.04, all of these issues will either be resolved, or at least, I hope that Gnome 2 is forked, and continues development under a new project name. Primarily, because I would hate to have to drop my fave distro due to a lack of insight on Canonical's part. But also because I have no intention of ever using a PC like it's a phone... perish the thought.

That said though... on an Ubuntu based tablet, such as the Tenq P07, or something similar, it might be much more acceptable.... but then there's another issue... I really like Compiz, and Unity throws out Compiz in favor of Mutter, which isn't bad looking, but I like my cube desktop. I like having a desktop that I can see thru to other layers of running applications.

You may be right...

Though, I think it would only be the absolute n00bz who don't understand Linux to begin with. The more seasoned users will know already that you can easily modify your default DM/DE.

PS3 jailbreak judge refuses to rescind GeoHot order

improper handling

It's not just odd, m8. It's enough to get the whole thing pushed into mistrial. First off, anytime a defendant's computer is called into evidence, it must be confiscated by a qualified 'digital forensics examiner', and a solid 'chain of evidence' must be maintained end-to-end, or it can invalidate the evidence entirely.

Personally, I hope that GeoHotz' attorneys read this posting, because it's something they could use. I've been extensively trained in digital forensics, incident handling & response, and ethical hacking (CPTS) within the USA, which has left me with a ton of knowledge about the way evidence is supposed to be handled in a digital crimes case. Granted, this isn't a criminal case, but rather is a law suite. The thing is, the moment that judge ordered that George's computer be entered as evidence, it brought about a need for that system (or systems) to be handled according to digital forensic standards, as established by the US-DoD and used by USSS (US Secret Service; holds dominion over all digital crimes cases that cross state lines) in every case since 1991 (search for 'The Hacker Crackdown', by Bruce Sterling; literary freeware). Any mishandling is considered tampering with evidence, and can cause the whole case to be thrown out, causing Sony to restart the whole process.