Posts by bombastic bob

Agent P waxes lyrical about 14 years of systemd

Re: Reading this makes me cry

From the article: We don't want encrypted drives, TPM modules, sealed validated boot processes, managed home directories that aren't actual directories anymore, or pretty much any of these features

Poettering's view of the future is (apparently) to turn Linux into Windows, and to re-re-invent DBus etc. (again) so that the BSD's and non-systemd-infected Linux flavors are broken, and to have that [another LOTR reference, you're welcome] "One Init to RULE THEM ALL" (etc.)

Oracle starts laying mines in JavaScript trademark battle

Re: Rename ja ascript

"Ja aScript" - the glottal stop is painful even my inner monologue...

Re: Green grass over here in C#/.Net

the snark is STRONG with this one...

Re: essentially a Windows only thing once you get beyond the basics.

The .NET platform (pronounced as "dot net" "Boatload of CRAP")

fixed it for ya. The open source stuff, last I checked, is STILL called "mono". Like the disease.

For ME, there was never MORE DISAPPOINTMENT regarding Linux and open source than that one version of Debian that SUDDENLY included that ONE SINGLE Gnome 2 application "Tomboy" which hauled in a GARGANTUAN NUMBER of Mono shared lib packages JUST to run "Tomboy". I was livid and broke the meta-package dependencies by FORCIBLY UNINSTALLING all of that! Tomboy later was excluded from the meta package, so Debian package maintainers "got it".

Re: EcmaScript

How about: "[CENSORED]Script" ??

You can substitute in whatever term you want for '[CENSORED]' based on your frustration level at the moment

[work-unsafe profanity] WHY does this [CENSORED]Script language NOT HAVE [name useful feature] on EVERY PLATFORM???

Re: EcmaScript

in 1990 I had a class in OS/2 programming, and i was looking at using OS/2 for business software (year later did windows version, smarter). I was told about something called "sequel server" which I attempted to research AND COULD FIND NOTHING ON IT. A couple of years later I heard about SQL (the lingo, ALWAYS pronounced Es Queue El) and realized that IBM market-speak pronounced the PRODUCT name "sequel server".

I was appropriately nauseous, and will generally remind people who try calling the lingo or an open source database "something sequel something" because it is NOT "a sequel" to ANYTHING! The name is misleading; CONCISE and accurate communication is important.

Es Queue El - the lingo

My Es Queue El - the database server

Postgr Es Queue El - [an,the] other database server

[it's "settled science" - heh {me ducks from flying tomatoes}]

Democrats demand to know WTF is up with that DOGE server on OPM's network

Re: Fishy

Elon is pretty tech savvy and his team of young hackers probably understand security better than most people. It's a fair bet they're using well designed Linux systems (with AI etc.) to do their thing. I would not worry about China nor Russia back-dooring the DOGE machines. THEY quite possibly back-doored the US GOVERNMENT machines to GAIN ACCESS!!!

Some time in the next year or so, along with layoffs and department closures, expect a REAL I.T. overhaul in the US Gummint. And we KNOW Elon likes open source, so I would not be surprised at seeing Linux throughout! Or, maybe NetBSD or FreeBSD. ANYTHING besides Windows servers and workstations, right?

Trump scrubs all mention of DEI, gender, climate change from federal websites

Re: This brings back memories

And "Climate Change" is NATURAL, NOT caused by CO2, and ESPECIALLY NOT caused by HUMAN ACTIVITY.

Expect Congress to make a law that CODIFIES these things, such that an executive order can NOT reverse it!

The USA is sick of WEF and IPCC telling us what to do. Your net zero insanity will DESTROY economies and DEI will DESTROY society!

[yes we on he west side of the pond voted FOR this.]

Musk’s DOGE ship gets ‘full’ access to Treasury payment system, sinks USAID

Hmmm, sounds like a good idea, for anything beyond that which is specified in the US Constitution

Re: OK

I happen to agree with what he said, whether or not you believe it to be trolling. I am pretty sure a huge number of US'ians do as well.

"Move fast and break things" - it's how the swamp will get DRAINED.

You should check out the kinds of payments USAID was ACTUALLY MAKING. Lots of activity on X regarding this.

I have a strong suspicion that Musk is having more fun finding waste fraud and abuse, and would rather do THAT than scheme up some of his own. Advantage of 2 very wealthy people doing this like Trunp and Musk, ia that they really do not need the money, so what motivation is there to SCAM for it???

Trump’s tariffs, cuts may well put tech in a chokehold, say analysts

Re: That's the point

The chickens will would not have come home to roost because they will be would have been dead, killed by a Biden-esque FDA panic response to avian flu which was SUPPOSED to have become 'the next pandemic'. But now, Trump is in office!

Fixed it for ya

Windows 10's demise nears, but Linux is forever

Re: You may be preaching to

Mate. TraditionalOK theme. NOT 2D FLATASS!!!

And always say NO to WAYLAND!

Re: You may be preaching to

BSD singing harmony. Yeah I do Linux, too!

How Windows got to version 3 – an illustrated history

To make sense of the industry today, you need to know where things came from and how they evolved

In FreeBSD anything NOT actually part of the OS goes into /usr/local/xxx and things in /bin and /sbin (vs /usr/bin and /usr/sbin ) are the core features needed to make the OS work at all... generally speaking. "man hier" explains

Unfortunately many Linux distros use a symlink for /usr/bin (or is it the other way round...?) to /bin (similar /sbin) and dump EVERYTHING in there, even some obscure package you install from outside of the distro.

I guess that's sorta consistent with the PDP11 reference you made...

Re: Thanks Liam!

Thia was pretty comprehensive, but it's missing some important points in the evolution from OS/2 PM 1.2 to Windows 3.0. Solitaire was *mentioned* but its marketing importance OVERLOOKED.

Aside from the under the hood features there were TWO major factors... no, THREE, THREE major factors, that made Windows 3.0 the huge success it became.

1. Unlike OS/2 it ran on just about EVERY PC. It did NOT need a boatload of "OEM Support". I had taken a class in OS/2 PM Programming at a local city college and understood the SUPERIORITY of OS/2's API. Unfortunately, ONLY PS/2 machines seemed to work with OS/2 PM 1.2 (and the 2D FLATNESS of the earlier 2.0-like UI made 1.1 UNDESIRABLE!)

2. With Windows 3.0's "New shiny 3D SKEUOMORPHIC LOOK" (something HORRIBLY LACKING since Windows 8) , as well as DOS compatibility, it just LOOKED COOL running in the store, AND for your old DOS applications, it was a bit like a DOS upgrade. I actually did BOTH at once. It was like getting a Model A Ford that came in colors OTHER than black.

3. Windows 3.0 Solitaire. I do not ,now HOW many copies of windows weer sold JUST FROM THIS, but seeing it on the monitor and hearing people comment sticks in my mind.

and maybe a 4th... Micros~1 actually LISTENED to USERS *AND* DEVELOPERS!!! The OS itself showed this on every level, and CONTINUED to do so, minus ME, Vista, and ANYTHING AFTER 8.0 !!!

MOSTLY it was "pretty". But SOMEWHERE along the way, some "MENSA CANDIDATE" (read: Brain Donor) **FELT** that EVERYONE! ELSE! MUST! CHANGE!!! So a "New, shiny?" (read: a horrible plastic fake-look cheaply stamped-out pile of CRAP) interface was FOISTED UPON US ALL, by a man who was LATER FIRED [though his legacy lived on... but why?]. That became the TIFKAM interface designed for a low-CPU-horsepower limited resolution PHONE DISPLAY that really NEVER HAPPENED, thus *RUINING* the customization and PLEASANT appearance we all wanted, and ACTUALLY HAD in 7.

In short, it's the rise to 3, the evolution to 7, and the FALL of a once decent desktop+OS into a CRAPPY look that is a LOT more like the Windows 1.x and 2.x that were SO UNSUCCESSFUL!!! And even FORCING us to use it gains NO FANS. We mostly have NO OTHER CHOICE.

Those of us grey hairs who have WATCHED THIS must acknowledge this truth. Unfortunately Micros~1 NO LONGER LISTENS.

Shove your office mandates, people still prefer working from home

Re: I'm surprised RTO doesn't improve morale

Sometimes it might work well to be part-time "in office", then bring laptop home and finish up there. Meeting times from 10AM to 3PM, do collabs, get questions answered, blah blah then go home at 3-3:30.

Both directions you avoid traffic and major crowds. You finish up by eating lunch late and continue into evening. I've done that in the past. Alternately stagger hours to avoid "rush hour" commutes. Usually works well if you can be flexible on occasion. Not so good for hourly wage-work though(but contract and salary work well this way).

Japan's wooden satellite exits International Space Station

Re: building the spacecraft out of materials with less of an environmental impact is appealing

well if you use paper with carbon fiber... and line the inside with a sacrificial melty material... you could MAYBE make solid boosters "that way". Not re-usable though.

"tracking a wooden satellite using RADAR will be much more difficult than with a metal one."

Sonic screwdrivers won't work on 'em either.

/me keeps thinking "IKEA satellite company" for some reason...

Los Angeles wildfires force tens of thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

Re: There is more than one fire

it all tends to grow back after an occasional good rain. Southern CA, including LA and San Diego (where I am) is "Coastal Desert" so when it DOES rain, infrequently as it often is, it tends to storm and sometimes flood. If land management is done right, undergrowth and excess brush is removed, wires are relocated underground, water supplies are upgraded, etc. If enviro wacko "save the latest endangered species of the week" nutbags get in the way, and/or politicians squander all of the funds and apply DEI bureaucracy and red tape to every "solution", you get a lot of "the last couple of days" when conditions are ripe.

Re: Why pray?

a conclusion I came to a while back. You can always tell him off, though.

but then again, who really knows? It might be psychokinetic.

Re: Running Out of Water

a bit too soon.?

Most of the water problems are from houses with automatic fire sprinkler systems. What happens when a few hundred houses have their sprinkler systems activate? Yeah well there ya go...

[I still blame gummint but for the lack of infrastructure upgrades while shelling out tons o' money to illegal aliens and welfare scammers...]

Re: Data backups?

there are quite a few "ancient computing" fans out there. Might be easier than a lot of people might think.

Encryption backdoor debate 'done and dusted,' former White House tech advisor says

Re: Treason

I doubt that either Vivek or Elon are fans of back-doorable encryption, so no problem!

I'm pretty optimistic on this one.

Re: Treason

"All brought in with fear mongering"

That's how it's done, just about EVERY! SINGLE! TIME!

see icon

CAPTCHAs now run Doom – on nightmare mode

Re: Complete with cheat code support!

I did not have much luck with the chainsaw, either

CAPTCHA's days are numbered? PROMISE???

Since most web users find even the most basic CAPTCHA an annoying hoop to jump through

It is one of those things we all wish could be UN-invented...

[it irritates me SO much I cannot comment any further - just see icon]

Re: Complete with cheat code support!

I still like playing PRBoom on open source OS's - they have all new maps for Doom I and II and you can STILL play the originals [assuming you have the maps for a licensed copy].

still FUN after all these years

Boffins carve up C so code can be converted to Rust

Re: Down vote?

using "unsafe Rust" in a kernel is like using mono-compatible "C-Pound plus .Net" to write Linux-only applications... In other words, POINTLESS.

I thought FORTRAN was created for scientific stuff, but COBOL was the lingo for printing out accounting stuff, right?

That's how I remember it, anyway. I did a grok to verify it, seems to concur, language name being derived from "FORmula TRANslation", originally intended for scientific use.

Although the ASK/MANMAN system (business database stuff for HP and VAX minis) is, in fact, written in FORTRAN...

Jimmy Carter set the solar, space, and environmental pace

Re: He was one of us

Carter was definitely intelligent, a nuclear officer in the Navy, etc. However he was also a micro-manager and a globalist/socialist. THIS is what killed his presidency.

He should have listened to people like JFK, who was a supply-side economist. Instead he went for "big gummint" and rationing. Predictable outcome happened.

Sometimes "smart people" (especially 'Academics') are REALLY DUMB that way, as evidenced by THE RESULTS of their policies. Many good examples exist, from LBJ's "whiz kids" to Obama's presidency. Like the Argentinian president says, ¡Afuera!

Re: A loss no doubt

obituaries always glow over any positives they find, and leave out the negatives, like the overwhelming DYSTOPIA effects from double-digit stag-flation, Iranian hostage crisis, Afghanistan invasion by USSR [which helped spawn Taliban etc.], WEAK foreign policies, 14% real unemployment, gasoline lines and restrictions (a gas line would sometimes wrap around the block by my house), and a general "malaise" that was criticized by the very SAME president whose policies CAUSED it. The resulting LANDSLIDE election of Ronald Reagan led to REVERSALS of these ridiculous policies. which were not tried again until Obaka, then even MORE with BIDAS, the latter of which wins the "worst President" trophy back from Mr. Carter.

Jimmy Carter was a great FORMER President. FORMER. Terrible in office, though... the road to DYSTOPIA is paved with good intentions and BAD ideas. Except with Bidas (and probably Obaka) they were BAD INTENTIONS, *NOT* GOOD...

Schneider Electric warns of future where datacenters eat the grid

Re: How about

that's sorta like co-generation. Putting power plants within reach of urban areas and selling the hot water (and making/selling chilled water with absorption chillers) works too.

Efficiency is good.

carbon-based fuel power plants in the USA

Whether the US will be willing to build new generating capacity in the volumes implied by the AI enthusiasts remains to be seen.

It WILL happen. It's a BIG REASON why a majority of US'ians voted FOR our next Prez.

"Drill baby drill". I would NOT be surprised to see DOGE and Trump getting Con-Grab to ELIMINATE the EPA!!! At the very least, ALL policies attempting to regulate CO2 will GO AWAY, perhaps even for NATIONAL SECURITY reasons. It is INEVITABLE. Americans by FAR are REJECTING the Climate Scam! And we want our PROSPERITY BACK!

"Energy Crisis model" => limit power consumption

IF ONLY people recognized that the "Climate Scam / Climate Cult" NONSENSE and "renewable energy sources" FANTASY were a COMPLETE LIE and fossil fuel and nuclear power generation are the ONLY things that REALLY make sense, then we would have *NO* "energy crisis" for which to give up our money, freedom and technological progress to "SOLVE"...

Article: It also suggests accelerating deployment of on-site renewable energy generation combined with advanced energy storage solutions

You LITERALLY can NOT produce enough power with so called "renewable" energy sources, many of which POLLUTE and consume FOSSIL FUEL RESOURCES to make them "over there" (read: China), just so that GREENIES can FEELZ GOOD about it "over here", at levels possibly HIGHER than the 'renewables' allegedly "offset". And putting "everyone has an EV now" demand on the grid is UNDOUBTEDLY WORSE than anything AI could demand.

That's just the laws of physics in a REAL WORLD, ya know? Run the numbers, you'll see.

If you need MORE TRONS, then MAKE THEM! Build a nuke or fossil fuel plant next to the data center. Natural gas turbine would do NICELY. And maybe cover building roofs and parking areas with solar panels [that are NOT made by the CCP] to supplement the grid, where it kinda makes sense! [after all, why not!]

Eight things that should not have happened last year, but did

Re: We all know that 'AI' is not really artificial intelligence.

How about AI search instead of google? But the summary will need to be more informative, NOT sound "authoritative" nor be filled with "paid for" (or pre-programmed) BIAS. So a search engine that looks like 'grok' (but with less "fluff" in the output) is where I think we're headed. Grok provides you with links to the pages it summarizes.

Grok is STILL affected by intarweb bias, so you could mentally remove a lot of the 'biased fluff' and pay attention to the list of web pages and summary info, and THEN it can be WAY faster/better than google or any other (real) search engine! I have started using it that way. What will cause the google's of the world to panic is how it would be WAY harder to monetize or be used to CONTROL THE NARRATIVE (if it is EVER to be TRULY USEFUL). I'd also expect MORE COMPETITION in this regard. THAT In My Bombastic Opinion is what we'll see change in 2025.

Axiom Space shuffles space station assembly sequence – to get it standalone sooner

Re: European space station

Where else are you going to buy large human rated pressure vessels qualified for use in space?

Goodyear, except they might smell a bit like tires...(steel belted radial space station modules - they got truck tires that big)

Re: Hollywood pitch

Makes me think of David Bowie... and Peter Schilling in the 80's version

Guide for the perplexed – Google is no longer the best search engine

Re: This was predicted - in El Reg - years ago.

"Governments deciding what technology they want to succeed is even worse"

Gummints picking the winners and losers, whether from lobbyist favors/kickbacks, the tax code, a political agenda driving regulation/legislation, or OUTRIGHT CORPORATE WELFARE, *IS* the heart of corruption in ANY government at ANY level, and the OPPPOSITE of free-market capitalism.

It is *THE* worst!

Re: This was predicted - in El Reg - years ago.

When I compare Grok (over on X, which is now free to all users) I get REAL results quickly, when Google and even DuckDuckGo led me down a lot of dead-end rabbit holes [partially due to it being a Win32 programming question, the predominance of Stack Overflow and it typically NOT helping, and being the kind of "GDI world transform" problem hardly anyone wants to deal with]. So instead of getting circle-jerked by Micros~1's own API documentation, Grok SUMMARIZED the entire issue by LOCATING SOME OBVIOUS Micros~1 SAMPLE CODE that demonstrated EXACTLY what I needed to know, a feature that the OLD MSDN DOCS (prior to 2012, before it went "all online") did MUCH BETTER in my opinion, but I got there EVEN FASTER due to Grok [thanks, Elon!].

It's probably NOT necessary to point out the APPARENT LACK OF ALGORITHMIC BIAS in Grok [you won't see woke-biased 'race placement' in an AI generated image of George Washington as far as I can tell, unless you ask for it], but I mention it anyway. And I have generally avoided google for a while now, MOSTLY because of TRACKING and ALGORITHMIC BIAS, ONLY doing google searches when DuckDuckGo searches aren't working well enough. And I doubt I'll be using ChatGPT or any of the others any time soon, for similar reasons. Still, DuckDuckGo (and I suppose Google) would still work for a lot of things where I get results that are useful on the first 2 pages. [the "site:" feature is the most useful feature I use to weed out MOST of the crap]

Oh, and Grok DOES LET ME SEE THE 15 PAGES ITS ALGORITHM FOUND... [at least as far as I can tell, correct me if I'm wrong please]

(yeah that wish was mentioned in the article, GOOD POINT by the way)

PIRATE Icon for the obvious reason.

US reportedly mulls TP-Link router ban over national security risk

Would have been nice to know about 3 weeks ago

Well, they have 2 things going for them: they're cheap, and they actually work.

I got a cheap TP-Link range extender that doubles as an AP. The reason was simple: a relative that lives with me likes using Nintendo gaming devices, but they tend to use B mode (even the newest ones) which KILLS network throughput during multiplayer games [let's say "Among Us"] when I'm trying to do development work on an embedded device across the wifi network. So editing files using X11 starts to SUCK because B mode screws the throughput for everything ELSE. Solution, a 2nd AP but with DHCP etc. turned OFF. Ethernet cable to a convenient place, and it works! (the thing looks like a wall-wart)

When I got it I was VERY disappointed at their docs and setup instructions, which said NOTHING about AP mode, so I gave it a one-star review and then hacked the solution. Turns out you need internet connectivity AND ethernet to the device simultaneously, THEN go to some remote web page, and it re-directs to a config page on the device itself where you can set it up, which is BS as far as I am concerned. And if you have "noscript" active it misleadingly tells you to UPGRADE YOUR BROWSER rather than "enable script".

So it's really "cheap crap but it works". No great loss if they get banned. That's My Bombastic Opinion at any rate...

Interpol wants everyone to stop saying 'pig butchering'

Sus Scrofa Domesticus

That's pretty "sus"...

Xfce 4.20 is out: Wayland support lands, but some pieces are still missing

Re: Still?

"at last, it's possible to use Wayland"

wheeee...

"Wayland people are engaged in re-inventing the wheel."

The way POETTERING re-invented audio and init

Intel sued again over struggling foundry business

Foundering foundry business

You missed a good opportunity for bad PUN-ishment!

(well I AM ex-Navy, why WOULDN'T I think of this right away?)

US airspace closures, lack of answers deepen East Coast drone mystery

Trump probably knows already

Trump has a history of revealing a LOT of things other presidents won't. He's big on transparency. He gets briefings and PROBABLY KNOWS ALREADY, but speaks carefully as he's not in office yet (so it might be a crime to "confirm or deny"). But he CAN say a lot, if it SOUNDS like an opinion.

Imagine the Trump admin NOT getting to the bottom (once and for all) of the Kennedy assassinations from the 60's, with RFKJr. as a member of his cabinet... you KNOW this is getting revealed if there's something to find. THAT and a zillion OTHER conspiracies. No need for tinfoil hats. "Deep State" is already on notice. Truth.

Re: The Idiocracy takes flight

Today I saw night vision videos on Fox News that identified a quadrotor drone in one panel (from Monday evening I believe) and a flock of geese from last night. So like always there are legit sightings and people who want to see something but it turns out to be something else.

In My Bombastic Opinion this may simple be a classified military operation, similar to development of the stealth fighter. "Drone War" is a distinct possibility and you KNOW the military industrial complex wants IN. If I am correct it may even be joint development, as these things are also being reported near UK bases and Ramstein DE. So if I take that to the next level, the US, UK, DE, and maybe Israel are developing drone-related tech in which they are capable of "going dark" and escaping (this was reported from a police helicopter crew) and operating over densely populated areas is part of the testing. For all we know, the PEOPLE are part of the testing...

Occam's Razor, they're "ours", it's classified, and gummint is lying about it, just like they lie about area 51 [where classified research like stealth fighter] haas been eveloped.

In any case, UK has a laser to shoot 'em down now.

Silent NASA lander gives boffins insight into Martian dust

NASA sends robot "red light squeegee guy" to Mars to wash Mars lander solar panels

As described in a (potential) "Babylon Bee" article

(are there Squeegee guys in UK?)

systemd begrudgingly drops a safety net while a challenger appears, GNU Shepherd 1.0

Re: 42% less unix philosophy

All sysdtemD does for ME is get in the way, especially on embedded things (like devices with an RPi as the controller). it's WORST feature is the default config, when you spend HOURS trying to figure out what it did that causes your serial port to get noise on the line (turned out some stupid MODEM SERVICE started and fornicated the serial connection and if I recall correctly I had to disable MORE THAN ONE THING to FIX it).

In any case if you are doing something OTHER than setting up Poettering's personal laptop (alluding to a similar comment in another post in this thread) it's QUITE POSSIBLE that something easily done with SysV init weil take bastardized workarounds or not be possible at ALL...

[try setting up the network to be either an AP *OR* a client, support scanning to set it up, AND optionally use an ethernet port instead of OR along with it, and see if you can leave systemD and it's minion processors to do it... so I shut them OFF and use the remnants of SysV networking and shell scripting invoked by rc.local]

Still I should have a look at the new GNU thing, find a distro that has it, test in a VM, etc.

Aliens, spy balloons, or drones? SUV-sized mystery objects spotted in US skies

If they flew over Texas, Louisiana, or Florida

If they flew over Texas, Louisiana, or Florida, we'd be finding their carcasses scattered all over the place.

Easy to get rid of: Just declare "open season" on the things, and let Bubba and Bo get out there with shotguns and blow 'em away!!!

[and STOP acting like a bunch of drenched female cats]

Facing sale or ban, TikTok tossed under national security bus by appeals court

Why don't all other countries take the same approach to US-cintrolled companies gathering data on their citizens?

Perhaps the data is being shared with them?

(GDPR helps, I think - we need something similar in the USA so we can see what's being tracked and control it individually, especially with 2FA more and more often demanding a CELL PHONE NUMBER)

Re: Not just TikTok

maybe not yet, but certainly possible I recall Furbies being banned in certain places because they used a microphone for certain functionality. And some time ago I visited a military base where they would not allow cell phones to be brought by visitors onto the ships that were docked there.