* Posts by Mike_R

90 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Oct 2015

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Windows 10's demise nears, but Linux is forever

Mike_R

Re: Satire?

Suggestion: look for a teenager in your neighborhood who is "into computers"

Microsoft won't let customers opt out of passkey push

Mike_R
Linux

Solution to "Microsoft won't let customers opt out of passkey push"

See icon

Seems to work for me...

Microsoft flashes Win10 users with more full-screen ads for Windows 11

Mike_R

Re: Linux in the new year

Mint is probably the easiest to get into gradually.

If you do not suffer from any level of technophobia MX Linux has an extremely wide variety of GUI (point & click) tools, and an extremely helpful support forum.

though the learning curve might be a trifle steeper.

Another item that might influence you decision: Do have a friendly neighbor/acquaintance/neighborhood juvenile who could offer help in moments of crisis?

Mike_R
Linux

Re: MS update contains a logic bomb

@lsdnip

I googled "boot mint does not find windows" and found at least seven posts addressing the problem in different combinations: "windows won't boot" "mint won't boot" and so on.

Did you try finding a solution to your problem? Contact Microsoft support (lol)? ask on a mint support forum? Google/DuckDuck...

Mike_R
Linux

MS update contains a logic bomb

Running a desktop, dual booting Win 10 and my preferred distro (MX) Linux.

Couple of days ago installed Win 10 updates (No, I didn't watch. Not after the first 15 minutes)

After the update completed, the boot process had been changed: No more Linux. Only boot directly to Windows.

Colour me Angry. I think steam was coming out of my ears.

It took some knowledgeable support from a Linux forum (free and exceedingly helpful) to climb back to normal dual boot operation.

Windows can stay meanwhile (guess I'm an old softie) but at EOL its OUT.

side note: Heard of similar happening with windows 11 and Linux.

Just a warning.

Teen serial swatter-for-hire busted, pleads guilty, could face 20 years

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Intersting...

Might I recommend having a look at

http://someonewhocares.org/hosts/

Works for me...

Undergrad thought he had mastered Unix in weeks. Then he discovered rm -rf

Mike_R
Windows

Re: Prisoners here, of our own device

Similar episode on VMS (this was before OpenVMS renaming)

On a remote system (lawyer's office as I recall) with one user responsible for changing tapes, and unfortunately with system access.

User noticed there were identical files in SYS$COMMON and SYS$SYSTEM (IIRC the directories names correctly, it was three decades ago)

So obviously one set was redundant, and could be deleted, and was.

Unfortunately the files were the the same files, linked to two different directories.

Great opportunity to test a system restore (or re-install - memory fails me...see icon)

Ex-Microsoft engineer resurrects PDP-11 from junkyard parts

Mike_R
Windows

Re: What makes a minicomputer?

Microcomputer - switch it off at the end of the day

Minicomputer - send a message to all terminals..."System going down...|

Mainframe - "what do you mean 'Going down...'"

(started on RSTS, late '60s, PDP-11/70 see icon)

CrowdStrike shares sink as global IT outage savages systems worldwide

Mike_R
Linux

it DID happen on Linux also, but was easily fixed

https://www.neowin.net/news/crowdstrike-broke-debian-and-rocky-linux-months-ago-but-no-one-noticed/

Mike_R
Linux

>if CroudStrike was not installed, you don't have a problem.

... And if M$ Windows were not installed:

1) There would be no cause for CloudStrike

2) and the problem would not arise

After delay due to xz, Ubuntu 24.04 'Noble Numbat' belatedly hits beta

Mike_R
Windows

Re: "it's sad to see them hit the end of their useful lives"

And 20.04 with ESM is supported to 2030

as my grandmother used to say "...I should live so long." see icon --->

Microsoft squashes SmartScreen security bypass bug exploited in the wild

Mike_R
Linux

Re: The bigger question:

Or, (as a home user) see icon --->

Linus Torvalds declares Linux 6.8 is probably back on track for a regular release cycle

Mike_R
Linux

On yet another hand

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”

Thomas Watson, president of IBM, 1943

Closure of Windows 10 upgrade path still catching users by surprise

Mike_R
Linux

Oh, come on...

See icon

------------------------------------------------------------->

You're not imagining things – USB memory sticks are getting worse

Mike_R
Linux

Re: ValiDrive

For Linux try f3 (lowercase)

F3 (Fight Flash Fraud or Fight Fake Flash) tests the full capacity of a

flash card (flash drive, flash disk, pendrive).

F3 writes to the card and then checks if can read it. It will assure you

have not been bought a card with a smaller capacity than stated. Note that

the main goal of F3 is not to fix your removable media. However, there

are resources to mark the invalid areas.

GNOME developer proposes removing the X11 session

Mike_R
Linux

Re: This is what you get...

"strong-arming people into adopting Wayland"

Why does systemd come to mind...

USENET, the OG social network, rises again like a text-only phoenix

Mike_R

Re: Latest Thunderbird has wrecked access to Usenet News

Dunno 'bout that; just checked TB 115 to read risks.comp, worked fine.

antiX 23: Anarchic for sure, but 'design by committee' isn't always the best for Linux

Mike_R
Linux

Re: KDE or GNOME hard-depends on systemd?

Data point:

Currently running MX-23, no systemd, no SNAP, and GNOME (with gnome-session-flashback, no less)

HW: HP ProDesk, Intel i5

Upgraded from MX-21 about a week ago, no problems before and none since

Arm wrestles assembly language guru's domains away citing trademark issues

Mike_R
Facepalm

What about

Might I call your attention to:

https://www.armandhammer.com/baking-soda

Want tech cred? Learn how to email like a pro

Mike_R
Windows

Minor nitpick

<quote>

Email is older than you might expect; for instance, it predates the internet. CTSS users at the MIT Computation Center were emailing each other via the MAILBOX system in 1965. In 1971, Ray Tomlinson extended TENEX's SENDMSG to send from one computer to another, separating the person and the computer's names with an @ symbol.

</quote>

IIRC using MAIL on RSTS/E, and later on VMS in the mid-60's- 70's (that's the previous century, for you whipper-snappers)

Way before the Internet, way before virii, there were even Mail-bombs that would blank or otherwise frazzle your VT-100 screen.

... back to my rocking chair. This place really needs a "Grumpy old geezer" icom.

Western Digital sued over claims of data-trashing SanDisk, My Passport SSDs

Mike_R
Linux

Re: I lost 3 years worth of music and photography

So simply restore your latest full backup. Oh...

Will Flatpak and Snap replace desktop Linux native apps?

Mike_R
Linux

Will Flatpak and Snap replace desktop Linux native apps?

This is where we recall Betteridge's law

See e.g. https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/Betteridges-law-of-headlines

'nuff said.

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Using Snap comes at a cost

From experience on Ubuntu 20.04, to disable and/or purge snap Google (or DuckDuck..) "Linux nosnap"

e.g. https://winaero.com/enable-or-disable-snap-in-linux-mint-20/#To_Disable_Span_in_Linux_Mint_20 (works on Ubuntu, also)

Getting rid of systemd is more complicated, you would probably have to switch distro (see mxlinux etc.)

When it comes to Linux distros, one person's molehill is another's mountain

Mike_R
Linux

Re: SNAP ---Grrrrr

When Canonical started to force snap and systemd is when I started shopping distros

For almost a year now having switched from Ubuntu 22.04 to mxlinux wildflower, really minimal bumps, and some advantages, backup using built-in image creator -- on Ubuntu it was Remastersys, until that disappeared

Still use (runs and hides) GNOME, because that's what my fingers are used to, and I'm very attached to my fingers.

Because of personal history (RSTS --> VMS --> early Minix --> Ubuntu, sometimes two or three in parallel) my personal preferences tend to CLI.

So, different strokes for different folks.

My antagonism to systemd stems from it's ignoring the "Do one thing, and do it well" maxim. Removing systemd has an added bonus too - no snaps.

Microsoft pushes users to the Edge in Outlook, Teams

Mike_R
Linux

A solution

For enterprise users:

Tough

For Home/Individual user:

See icon

Fancy trying the granddaddy of Windows NT for free? Now's your chance

Mike_R
Windows

Re: And don't forget TPU and Eve.

TPU had (has?) the LEARN command:

Create a temporary edit macro by demonstration, run it a definable number of times

Useful in 100K-line files for specific (anchored) global edits

TPU also had the option of defining keys, macros e.g. entering text in a right-to-left language, box editing, much fun stuff...

icon ===> show my greybeard

Mike_R
Windows

Re: The modern museum

Last December I finally left my last job (aged 79) supporting VMS - the "open" is silent - at the multi-node Charon emulation site of a Local Government department.

There were no young 'uns to be found to support VMS, just a couple of us old fogies. Almost a decade there, and in all that time "it just worked", any problems were on the human side, with several dozen programmers (COBOL) and several hundred users.

Now it's all moved to several Windows machines.

Sic transit gloria mundi

PC tech turns doctor to diagnose PC's constant crashes as a case of arthritis

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Don't get me started...

or "remediate" when you could say "remedy", or (horrors) "fixed"

By order of Canonical: Official Ubuntu flavors must stop including Flatpak by default

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Automatic updates are the bane of my life

see https://askubuntu.com/questions/1204571/how-to-install-chromium-without-snap

Debian dev to the rescue after proposal to remove Itanium from Linux kernel

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Alpha != Itanium

There are still several versions of Alpha emulators available capable of running (on Windows mainly, but IIRC also Linux) and at least until fairly recently a hobby site which provided OpenVMS licenses - of course not relevant for Linux.

Fresh versions of Ubuntu Touch, Mir display server, and Unity arrive

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Not coming here

To save you looking up the blog:

You’ve as much empowerment with this as if you were using proprietary software, i.e. none. This is in effect similar to a commercial proprietary solution, but with two major differences: It runs as root, and it installs itself without asking you.

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Not coming here

> It's less intrusive than systemd,

So when (if) we remove systemd, as an added benefit we get rid of snap,

together deleting a maze of inter-dependencies, complications, and mount points.

Simplify, Simplify.....

University students recruit AI to write essays for them. Now what?

Mike_R
Windows

Re: ChatGPT - Hmm -- and spell checkers

To often I see correct spelling compounded by spell checkers. Prime examples:

confusing "loose" and "lose", "fare" and "fair" - correctly spelled, but contextually confused.

(not to mention spell-checkers confusion between American and English spelling)

icon: Because grumpy old nit-picker

Linux Snap package tool fixes make-me-root bugs

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Disable snap for simplicity

Or MX linux (which also does away with systemd, and has a working backup image snapshot system)

Or Devuan

Or c.f.:

https://www.ubuntupit.com/best-systemd-free-linux-distributions

Strong support for Snap and Ubuntu Core as Canonical meet IRL

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Snap!!! Trash!!! - So remove Snap -- permanently!!

Google (or duck-duck or whatever) is your friend

See e.g.:

https://ubuntuhandbook.org/index.php/2022/04/remove-snap-block-ubuntu-2204/

To keep snap away permanently (quote from the above):

sudo gedit /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref

When the file opens, paste lines below to refuse snapd from any repository:

<code>

# To prevent repository packages from triggering the installation of snap,

# this file forbids snapd from being installed by APT.

Package: snapd

Pin: release a=*

Pin-Priority: -10

</code>

Version 252 of systemd, as expected, locks down the Linux boot process

Mike_R
Linux

This is the best advertisment

for either

Devuan (see https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=devuan )

or

MX linux (see https://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mx )

Been on Ubuntu since Warty, I feel I've been ejected/rejected...

Mike_R
Linux

Re: I'm so happy

to read the essay:

https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rdriley/487/papers/Thompson_1984_ReflectionsonTrustingTrust.pdf

Linux Lite 6.2: Latest release from distro with a misleading name

Mike_R
Linux

Re: One question

Worked for me:

https://cialu.net/how-to-disable-and-remove-completely-snaps-in-ubuntu-linux/

(currently running without snap on 20.04 and 22.04)

Microsoft's Lennart Poettering proposes tightening up Linux boot process

Mike_R
Linux

Re: There are villains in this story but LP is not one of them

Suggestion: Have a look at MX Linux; some faults but two possibly great advantages:

No pottering by Poettering

A very (in my opinion) convenient backup method

Mike_R
Linux

Options...

Best advertisment for Devuan that I've seen in a long time

Ubuntu 22.10 is out, with an extra remix in the family: Unity

Mike_R
Unhappy

Re: "As usual, there are various other desktops"

Nit pick:

<quote>

Ubuntu itself got a great hipe

</quote>

hipe (plural hipes)

(wrestling) A throw in which the wrestler lifts his opponent from the ground, swings him to one side, knocks up his nearer thigh from the back with the knee, and throws him on his back.

Huh?

Mike_R
Linux

1. I understood that while Unity may be the default (as it once was) you can switch it off. My personal choice is gnome-flashback-session, and has been since the first Unity incarnation.

2. Up to and including Ubuntu 22.04 (again, from personal experience) it is possible to purge all snap/snapd and use apt, apt-get etc.

Google is your friend in this case -- or whatever helps you search for "Ubuntu remove snap"

Canonical displays controversial 'ad' in shell update prog

Mike_R
Linux

Relax, folks, just get rid of it

Start at:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1434512/how-to-get-rid-of-ubuntu-pro-advertisement-when-updating-apt

for several options, some of which worked for me.

Or:

https://lmgtfy.app/?q=ubuntu+remove+message+about+%20%22Ubuntu+Pro%22

Microsoft's problem child, Windows 11, is here. Will you run it? Can you run it? Do you even WANT to run it?

Mike_R
Linux

Re: Want to run it?

1) You can run Ubuntu without snap. Google is your friend

2) You can run Mint, which does without snap as a matter of principle

HTH

EU proposes regulations for tablet battery life, spare parts

Mike_R

Re: Dippy Cops

The law in Israel on this subject is:

1) You are obliged to carry a spare bulb kit.

2) If stopped by a cop for a missing light *The policeman is obliged to help you repair the missing light*

Being stopped for a missing light-bulb happens very seldom now...

You can never have too many backups. Also, you can never have too many backups

Mike_R
Windows

Re: Hardly on topic

Been there, too.

Still have the PDP/70 front panel with the switches, and the labels marking how to boot the system disk (60MB, IIRC) or the 1/2" tape drive.

Doctor gave patients the wrong test results due to 'printer problems'

Mike_R

Re: Photocopier challange - Reverse into parking space

After passing an Army driving test, that stuck with me in civilian life

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