Re: [PLUG] October PLUG Meeting: Firejail and Linux VPNs

[Michael Dexter]

All,

I have posted Mark's slides on the site:

https://pdxlinux.org/2023-10-05-Secure-Linux-VPN-Use.pdf

Have a great weekend,

Michael

Re: [PLUG] Java errors

[Michael Ewan]

Try removing the -Dsun.java2d.uiScale=3 option and let the JVM choose.

On Fri, Oct 6, 2023 at 1:57 AM John Jason Jordan  wrote:

> SUCCESS!!
>
> This command did the job:
>
> PATH=/usr/java/jre1.8.0_381/bin/
>
> followed by the launch script.
>
> The above path is for Oracle Java 8 which I downloaded and installed
> manually myself. I could probably just as easily have used openjdk17 or
> Oracle 17, both of which are also installed, but with Oracle 8 JRE I
> knew where it was and with the other two I'd have to figure it out.
>
> Now my only question is, does that PATH command create a permanent
> path, or will it go away, like after a reboot. Never mind. I just added
> it to the launch script, which now says:
>
> #!/bin/bash
> cd /home/jjj/Software/TreeForm103/TreeForm/
> PATH=/usr/java/jre1.8.0_381/bin/
> java -Dsun.java2d.uiScale=3 -Xmx256m -Xms64m -jar TreeForm.jar
>
> The program runs perfectly, except that the fonts are about 1mm. I can
> still use the program because I know what the text says, even if I can
> no longer really read it. I added the '-Dsun.java2d.uiScale=3,' which
> was suggested to me as a way to increase the size of fonts, but in this
> case it had no effect. The two -Xm... comments were in the original
> launch scrip written by the developer. I don't know what they do, but
> leaving them out makes no difference.
>
> If anyone can suggest alternatives for the -Dsun... option to increase
> font sizes in Java applications, I'd be happy to do some experimenting.
>
>
> On Mon, 2 Oct 2023 13:35:05 -0700
> John Jason Jordan  dijo:
>
> >   Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError:
> >   sun.misc.Launcher at
> >   userInterface.Start.(Start.java:54)
> >
> >I get the same error message whether I run from the launch script with
> >its two options or straight from the command line without them.
> >
> >The only way I know how to tell what versions of Java are installed is
> >to launch LibreOffice Writer and go to Tools > Options > Advanced,
> >where it displays the versions of Java that LO found. It now lists
> >Oracle 8, Oracle 17, and Debian 17, where it used to include Oracle 21
> >as well. There's probably a faster, simpler way to get a list of
> >installed Javas from the command line, but I don't know it. For testing
> >it might also be useful if I could specify which of the installed Javas
> >the app is supposed to use. As it is, it just picks one based on who
> >knows what criteria.
> >
> >In Xubuntu it appears that the installed Javas include JB-Java-jdk8.d.
> >On that the net leads me to openjdk8, and more links. The TreeForm app
> >there just runs, and I can't tell what Java it's actually using.
> >
> >
> >On Sun, 1 Oct 2023 10:32:59 -0700
> >Michael Ewan  dijo:
> >
> >>Unfortunately it sounds like there is a static string in the Java
> >>source or possibly in the jar file.
> >>You can disassemble the jar file with the "jar" command from the Java
> >>runtime.
> >>
> >>
> >>On Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 6:31 PM John Jason Jordan 
> >>wrote:
> >>
> >>> I opened the launch script in a text editor and all it says is
> >>>
> >>> cd /home/jjj/Software/TreeForm103/TreeForm/
> >>> java -Xmx256m -Xms64m -jar TreeForm.jar
> >>>
> >>> With the command line in ~/Software/TreeForm103/TreeForm I just
> >>> copied the above line and ran it, and I got the same error message.
> >>> Then I deleted the -Xm... options and ran it bare, and again I got
> >>> the same error message. It might be useful to know what those
> >>> options do. Window size, maybe? In any event, they don't seem
> >>> related to the error message.
> >>>
> >>> Checking in Synaptic I have had OpenJDK installed the whole time. Is
> >>> there a way to tell the java -jar command which java to use? As for
> >>> paths, do you mean the path to the java? I know where the Oracle
> >>> Java 8 is located, because there were 'install' instructions telling
> >>> me to put it in /usr/java/jre1.8.0_381, so that's where I put it. It
> >>> must be correct because LibreOffice found it and listed it as
> >>> available. I don't know where the others are.
> >>>
> >>> There is a Help file with TreeForm, which says at the top:
> >>>
> >>> To install this software in your computer, unzip the folder
> >>> in any folder of your choosing.
> >>> This software requires Java 1.4.2 or higher to run. The Java
> >>> runtime can be downloaded from the Java
> >>> Website.
> >>>
> >>> Michael Ewan  dijo:
> >>> >Your start script may be calling for a specific path rather than a
> >>> >relative path in your JRE.
> >>> >Also try using OpenJDK instead of Oracle Java. Do a text search in
> >>> >your source code for that path.
> >>>
> >>> >>$ ./TreeForm_launch_script
> >>> >>Error: could not open
> >>> >> `/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-21-oracle-x64/lib/jvm.cfg'
> >>>
> >>>
>

Re: [PLUG] 2nd try, no response: Re: October PLUG Meeting: Firejail and Linux VPNs

[Michael Dexter]

On 10/4/23 11:01 PM, Russell Senior wrote:
Michael is in charge of AV. As I understand it, a bunch of the 
historical presentations have been recorded, but are thus far 
unpublished. So, if you want to see the talk, you should actually show 
up in person to have the best chance.


That ball's in my court and fortunately I now have a workflow that 
cranks out three recordings a week but they're with simply Zoom calls 
which makes for much less editing.


I'll bring the camera!

Michael

Re: [PLUG] October PLUG Meeting: Firejail and Linux VPNs

[Michael Dexter]

On 10/3/23 3:47 PM, MC_Sequoia wrote:
"The Center has experienced multiple COVID infections, one of which 
landed someone in the hospital in a coma." Was this fairly recent?


Within days. I'm not saying the Center as a building is "infected", but 
the broader risk is there. "You are welcome to get COVID, but it won't 
be from PLUG." ... And please don't bring it to PLUG.


Michael

[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] October PLUG Meeting: Firejail and Linux VPNs

[Michael Dexter]

Portland Linux/Unix Group General Meeting Announcement

Who: Mark/Xe1phix
What: Firejail and Linux VPNs
Where: 5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland
When: Thursday, October 5th, 2023 at 7pm
Why: The pursuit of technology freedom

In this presentation, Xe1phix will cover:

> Firejail - Sandbox -
  > Namespace isolation (network namespaces, mount namespaces, user 
namespaces, PID namespaces),

  > Seccomp-BPF - Syscall filtering
  > Linux Capabilities (POSIX 1003.1e) filter
> AppArmor - Kernel module used to sandbox programs
> DNS-Over-HTTPS (DoH) - Encrypted DNS resolution using Mullvad DNS
> OpenVPN - Secure VPN setup
> Wireguard - Secure VPN setup
  > Wireguard tunnels - Multihop VPN connections.
> Telegram - Instant Messenger
  > Securely connecting to Telegram using Wireguard SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Securely connecting to Telegram using OpenVPN SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Sandboxing Telegram with Firejail
  > Sandboxing Telegram with AppArmor
> qBittorrent
  > Securely connecting to qBittorrent using Wireguard SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Securely connecting to qBittorrent using OpenVPN SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Using IPFilters to blacklist bad peers
> ProtonVPN - Trusted VPN setup
  > DNS leak protection
  > VPN Killswitch
> IPTables - Netfilter packet filter/firewall
> OPNSense/PFSense - OpenVPN setup
> Network forensics cheatsheets
  > TCPDump, TShark, ngrep, ss, nfdump, etc
> Process logging cheatsheets
  > Journalctl, lsof, ps, fuser, etc.

Xe1phix is a Linux systems engineer (Linux+, LPIC-1, LPIC-2).

He has studied Linux for 12 years, and has read over 200 books on Linux 
security. His primary focus, and passion in life is studying:


> Linux system hardening/security
> Linux memory forensics & malware analysis
> Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)


Rules and Requests:

Please bring and properly fit a mask unless actively presenting. The 
Center has experienced multiple COVID infections, one of which landed 
someone in the hospital in a coma.


PLUG is open to everyone and does not tolerate abusive behavior on its 
mailing lists or at its meetings


Do not leave valuables in your car


Calagator Page: https://calagator.org/events/1250480716

Google Maps Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/5500+SW+Dosch+Rd,+Portland,+OR+97239

Some might head to Hillsdale Brewery & Public House near the Library:
https://www.mcmenamins.com/hillsdale-brewery-public-house

Rideshares likely available

PLUG Page with information about all PLUG events: http://pdxlinux.org/

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
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[PLUG] October PLUG Meeting: Firejail and Linux VPNs

[Michael Dexter]

Portland Linux/Unix Group General Meeting Announcement

Who: Mark/Xe1phix
What: Firejail and Linux VPNs
Where: 5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland
When: Thursday, October 5th, 2023 at 7pm
Why: The pursuit of technology freedom

In this presentation, Xe1phix will cover:

> Firejail - Sandbox -
  > Namespace isolation (network namespaces, mount namespaces, user 
namespaces, PID namespaces),

  > Seccomp-BPF - Syscall filtering
  > Linux Capabilities (POSIX 1003.1e) filter
> AppArmor - Kernel module used to sandbox programs
> DNS-Over-HTTPS (DoH) - Encrypted DNS resolution using Mullvad DNS
> OpenVPN - Secure VPN setup
> Wireguard - Secure VPN setup
  > Wireguard tunnels - Multihop VPN connections.
> Telegram - Instant Messenger
  > Securely connecting to Telegram using Wireguard SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Securely connecting to Telegram using OpenVPN SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Sandboxing Telegram with Firejail
  > Sandboxing Telegram with AppArmor
> qBittorrent
  > Securely connecting to qBittorrent using Wireguard SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Securely connecting to qBittorrent using OpenVPN SOCKS5 proxy.
  > Using IPFilters to blacklist bad peers
> ProtonVPN - Trusted VPN setup
  > DNS leak protection
  > VPN Killswitch
> IPTables - Netfilter packet filter/firewall
> OPNSense/PFSense - OpenVPN setup
> Network forensics cheatsheets
  > TCPDump, TShark, ngrep, ss, nfdump, etc
> Process logging cheatsheets
  > Journalctl, lsof, ps, fuser, etc.

Xe1phix is a Linux systems engineer (Linux+, LPIC-1, LPIC-2).

He has studied Linux for 12 years, and has read over 200 books on Linux 
security. His primary focus, and passion in life is studying:


> Linux system hardening/security
> Linux memory forensics & malware analysis
> Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS)


Rules and Requests:

Please bring and properly fit a mask unless actively presenting. The 
Center has experienced multiple COVID infections, one of which landed 
someone in the hospital in a coma.


PLUG is open to everyone and does not tolerate abusive behavior on its 
mailing lists or at its meetings


Do not leave valuables in your car


Calagator Page: https://calagator.org/events/1250480716

Google Maps Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/5500+SW+Dosch+Rd,+Portland,+OR+97239

Some might head to Hillsdale Brewery & Public House near the Library:
https://www.mcmenamins.com/hillsdale-brewery-public-house

Rideshares likely available

PLUG Page with information about all PLUG events: http://pdxlinux.org/

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

Re: [PLUG] Java errors

[Michael Ewan]

Unfortunately it sounds like there is a static string in the Java source or
possibly in the jar file.
You can disassemble the jar file with the "jar" command from the Java
runtime.


On Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 6:31 PM John Jason Jordan  wrote:

> I opened the launch script in a text editor and all it says is
>
> cd /home/jjj/Software/TreeForm103/TreeForm/
> java -Xmx256m -Xms64m -jar TreeForm.jar
>
> With the command line in ~/Software/TreeForm103/TreeForm I just copied
> the above line and ran it, and I got the same error message. Then I
> deleted the -Xm... options and ran it bare, and again I got the same
> error message. It might be useful to know what those options do. Window
> size, maybe? In any event, they don't seem related to the error message.
>
> Checking in Synaptic I have had OpenJDK installed the whole time. Is
> there a way to tell the java -jar command which java to use? As for
> paths, do you mean the path to the java? I know where the Oracle Java 8
> is located, because there were 'install' instructions telling me to put
> it in /usr/java/jre1.8.0_381, so that's where I put it. It must be
> correct because LibreOffice found it and listed it as available. I don't
> know where the others are.
>
> There is a Help file with TreeForm, which says at the top:
>
> To install this software in your computer, unzip the folder in
> any folder of your choosing.
> This software requires Java 1.4.2 or higher to run. The Java
> runtime can be downloaded from the Java Website.
>
> Michael Ewan  dijo:
> >Your start script may be calling for a specific path rather than a
> >relative path in your JRE.
> >Also try using OpenJDK instead of Oracle Java. Do a text search in your
> >source code for that path.
>
> >>$ ./TreeForm_launch_script
> >>Error: could not open `/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-21-oracle-x64/lib/jvm.cfg'
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Java errors

[Michael Ewan]

Your start script may be calling for a specific path rather than a relative
path in your JRE.
Also try using OpenJDK instead of Oracle Java. Do a text search in your
source code for that path.

On Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 2:13 PM John Jason Jordan  wrote:

> I have a little application for drawing phrase structure trees that was
> written in Java, in roughly 2013. The author included a launch script,
> and it runs fine on Xubuntu 22.04.3, but on Sparky Linux I get:
>
>$ ./TreeForm_launch_script
>Error: could not open `/usr/lib/jvm/jdk-21-oracle-x64/lib/jvm.cfg'
>
> There is a document, also written in 2013, stating that it needed JRE
> 1.42 or later. Such is not available for SparkyLinux, but it wasn't
> available in Xubuntu either. The default in SparkyLinux is Debian 17,
> and I installed jre-8u381-linux-x64 and both jdk17 and jdk21, all
> downloaded from Oracle. I assume they are 'installed' correctly,
> because LibreOffice needs a JRE for some functions, and it has a
> utility to choose which java it is supposed to use; and all four appear
> in the list of available javas.
>
> I have no idea what the above error message means, and less than that
> about how to fix it. I know zero about such matters. Can someone hit me
> over the head with a clue?
>

Re: [PLUG] New CUPS, ancient printers

[Michael Ewan]

A tiny bit of history for those that may not have been around then.
Richard Stallman started the FSF and the whole open source movement because
he could not fix printing issues due to closed source drivers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Stallman#cite_note-freeasinfreedom-Chap1-25


On Fri, Sep 29, 2023 at 11:50 AM Keith Lofstrom  wrote:

> Does modern CUPS 2.3.3op2 (Debian 11) and contemporary
> Ubuntu work with 25yo HP4050n and HP4100n postscript 2
> laser (not deskjet) printers?  I'm encountering
> configuration issues, which may be PEBKAC ...
>
> ... and may be "printer vendors are in charge of CUPS
> now, and we don't want you using inexpensive old printers
> that use cheap 3rd party toner, and that users can repair".
>
> Dunno.  I will assume my own ignorance until I learn that
> supporting old printers is intentionally impossible.  Best
> case, there is a non-vendor geek-run website or forum for
> supporting legacy printers - I might have some knowledge
> and hacks to share.
>
> My ancient printers may be primitive and heavy, but they
> are built like tanks, and cost-per-page is tiny.  With a
> lifetime supply of replacement parts, I expect to get
> more paper-miles out of my printers than Indy car miles.
>
> Keith L.
>
> --
> Keith Lofstrom  kei...@keithl.com
>

[PLUG] October PLUG Soft Announcement

[Michael Dexter]

Hello All,

I am so glad that this list is active again with so many familiar faces!

I have a security talk on tap for the 5th of October but the speaker's 
been a bit difficult to reach! Hopefully they'll come through!


The venue in Hillsdale is confirmed and I will have T-Mobile 5G hotspot 
to exercise.


The speaker comes first and I hope they'll confirm shortly.

Failing that, we could do an informal end-of-summer show-and-tell.

Failing that... I am happy to give one of my "Russell doesn't want to 
hear another $*#@ BSD talk" talks:


Falling in Love with FreeBSD, Again, or

The FreeBSD Appliance: Leveraging FreeBSD and Strategic Scripting to 
Deliver Storage and Virtualization Services


I could also write something up on filing bug reports and reviews.

Or maybe you have something you can't wait to share!

Let's call this an informal poll. We'll have a meeting either way.

Have a great weekend!

Michael

Re: [PLUG] Change hard drive FS

[Michael Ewan]

I am glad you have not had any problems.  I have had the opposite
experience with ext4 but never a problem with xfs, hence my suggestion.

On Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 1:25 PM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Tue, 19 Sep 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:
>
> > You will ultimately have problems with a corrupted file system with ext4,
> > almost guaranteed.  Xfs is a much more robust file system but if you do
> not
> > trust it, then try zfs or btrfs.
>
> Michael,
>
> I've used ext2, ext3, and ext4 with no issues on any of them. I'll stay
> with
> what's worked flawlessly with me since 1997.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rich
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Change hard drive FS

[Michael Ewan]

You will ultimately have problems with a corrupted file system with ext4,
almost guaranteed.  Xfs is a much more robust file system but if you do not
trust it, then try zfs or btrfs.

On Sun, Sep 17, 2023 at 6:26 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> A while ago, when I had backup issues with the logical volume on the
> external MediaSonic Pro enclosure, I removed the LV and formatted the two
> drives to xfs upon advice here. My dirvish backup is on /dev/sde1 and when
> that's done rsync copies daily changes to /dev/sdf1.
>
> I've since learned that xfs has issues and can confirm that's so: the main
> backup drive, /dev/sde1, keeps reporting errors to the kernel which advises
> me to run xfs_repair. (The second backup drive, /dev/sdf1, had to be
> repaired one time.)
>
> I bought a 1T flash drive (each backup hard drive has ~500G on it) and
> today's the day to replace xfs with ext4 on both /dev/sde1 and /dev/sdf1.
>
> It should be a simple process and I'm asking for validation (or correction,
> if warranted) for it:
>
> 1. Use fdisk to install ext4 on 1T flash drive.
> 2. Mount flash drive on /mnt.
> 3. Use scp -R to copy all files from /dev/sde1 to /mnt.
> 4. Use cfdisk to remove xfs from /dev/sde1 and replace it with ext4.
> 5. Use scp -R to copy files from /mnt to /dev/sde1.
>
> Then do the same for /dev/sdf1.
>
> Your thoughts?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
>
>

Re: [PLUG] No Speaker for September yet, anybody want to or have a lead?

[Michael Dexter]

On 9/3/23 11:21 AM, Michael Ewan wrote:
Remind me why we had a problem with the PSU venue, was it access to the 
building, i.e. someone with an ID card to let folks in after hours?

Just curious now that I am a staff employee at PSU.


Accurate or not, the narrative I heard was regarding access to the 
building by the homeless. You are welcome to inquire again but to keep 
in mind that some people would like to attend PLUG anonymously and 
prefer not give ID etc.


Michael

Re: [PLUG-ANNOUNCE] [PLUG] No Speaker for September yet, anybody want to or have a lead?

[Michael Dexter]

On 9/3/23 11:21 AM, Michael Ewan wrote:
Remind me why we had a problem with the PSU venue, was it access to the 
building, i.e. someone with an ID card to let folks in after hours?

Just curious now that I am a staff employee at PSU.


Accurate or not, the narrative I heard was regarding access to the 
building by the homeless. You are welcome to inquire again but to keep 
in mind that some people would like to attend PLUG anonymously and 
prefer not give ID etc.


Michael
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PLUG-announce mailing list
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Re: [PLUG] No Speaker for September yet, anybody want to or have a lead?

[Michael Ewan]

Remind me why we had a problem with the PSU venue, was it access to the
building, i.e. someone with an ID card to let folks in after hours?
Just curious now that I am a staff employee at PSU.


On Sun, Sep 3, 2023 at 3:47 AM Russell Senior  wrote:

> We think we should defer you until a later date and go with the social
> hour this month while the weather is still decent. The PLUG general
> monthly meetings are the first thursday of the month, so the next date
> will be October 5th. Or November 2. Let us know what works better for
> you and what you'd like to talk about.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> Russell Senior
> PLUG Volunteer
> russ...@pdxlinux.org
>
> On 9/1/23 16:50, markrobertcurry wrote:
> > Hello Russell & PLUG,
> > It would depend on which talk PLUG would be most interested in me giving.
> > If you pick  one of he talks I listed that's already completed, I'm
> > prepared to do it whenever.
> > If you pick one of the talks that are 85% completion, I'll need more
> > time to finalize it.
> > If you pick the talk I remastered for BSidesPDX:
> > (How To Create A Persistent, LUKS Encrypted USB With A LUKS
> > Killswitch Using Parrot Linux)
> > I rewrote all the slides, and they're ready to present.
> > I also recorded video tutorials of the whole process.
> > which will make it way easier for anyone interested in following along
> > (making it more of a workshop than a talk)
> > (I forgot the syntax during a live demo once, i'll never let that
> > happen again)
> > I also made a cheatsheet with all the CLI syntax used in the talk.
> > (along with a corresponding descriptions).
> > Honestly, I'm honored and super excited to get the chance to talk at a
> > Linux User Group!
> > I'm completely flexible as to when you would like me to give the talk.
> > I eagerly await the decision of the LUG board members.
> >
> > Thank you for time, and I appreciate you responding to my CFP submission.
> > (I submitted talks to all the Portland InfoSec Meetups a month ago,
> > and only 2/8 of them responded)
> > I expected the InfoSec community in Portland to be much more put
> > together than it appears.
> > I moved here from from Iowa to work at Intel.
> > And the InfoSec monthly meetups were incredible!
> > Top of the industry CSOs would be there, and between 700-1,000
> > attendees would show up each month.
> > I could really use some help meeting other people in the industry,
> > anyone's help would be greatly appreciated!
> >
> >
> > Sent from Proton Secure Email
> >
> >
> >
> >  Original Message 
> > On Aug 30, 2023, 12:52 PM, Russell Senior < russ...@pdxlinux.org> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Thanks Mark! I forwarded this to Michael (also cc'd here). Would
> > you prefer this month or a later one? It might be better for us to
> > defer you until the weather is worse and the outdoor patio is less
> > viable, although if you are warming it up for BSides, then maybe
> > this month is better for you. -- Russell Senior PLUG Volunteer
> > russ...@pdxlinux.org On 8/29/23 20:06, markrobertcurry wrote: >
> > Hello Russell (and PLUG), > I am a Linux Engineer, I have studied
> > Linux for 12yr now. > I have given talks at 9 InfoSec conferences
> > over the years. > I recently remastered an old talk I gave years
> > ago titled: > "How To Create A Persistent, LUKS Encrypted USB With
> > A LUKS Killswitch > Using Parrot Linux" > I rewrote it for BSides
> > this year, but I think it would be a great > talk to give at a
> > PLUG meetup as well. > > Here is the CFP for the talk: > > ##
> > -- ##
> > > > In this presentation, I will cover: > > > Securely wipe
> > files/device partitions (6 different methods). > > Format the USB
> > device with Parrot Linux hybrid ISO. > > Create an Ext3 filesystem
> > on the persistent partition. > > Create LUKS encrypted container
> > on the persistent partition. > > Create a mount point, and mount
> > the new LUKS encrypted partition. > > Dump the header information
> > of a LUKS device. > > Add a nuke slot to the LUKS header. > >
> > Create a binary backup of the LUKS header and keyslot area. > >
> > Encrypt the LUKS header with OpenSSL for secure storage. > >
> > Decrypt the LUKS header with OpenSSL for secure storage. > > Erase
> > all LUKS key slots

Re: [PLUG] No Speaker for September yet, anybody want to or have a lead?

[Michael Dexter]

I can offer the new venue, but was also thinking that we should take 
advantage of the good weather.


Michael

On 8/28/23 9:39 PM, Russell Senior wrote:

Hi folks,

Neither Michael (last I checked) nor I have a speaker lined up for 
September 7. Does anyone have something they'd like to talk about or 
know anyone who might? If not, we are rapidly heading for another UnPLUG 
at, presumably, Rose City Book Pub again. I joked last month that the 
last speaker was responsible for finding the next speaker, or they had 
to speak again. But everyone just laughed. I thought it sounded like a 
great idea.


Anyway, ANY IDEAS? Reply to plug@pdxlinux.org or me.

Thanks!

Re: [PLUG-ANNOUNCE] [PLUG] No Speaker for September yet, anybody want to or have a lead?

[Michael Dexter]

I can offer the new venue, but was also thinking that we should take 
advantage of the good weather.


Michael

On 8/28/23 9:39 PM, Russell Senior wrote:

Hi folks,

Neither Michael (last I checked) nor I have a speaker lined up for 
September 7. Does anyone have something they'd like to talk about or 
know anyone who might? If not, we are rapidly heading for another UnPLUG 
at, presumably, Rose City Book Pub again. I joked last month that the 
last speaker was responsible for finding the next speaker, or they had 
to speak again. But everyone just laughed. I thought it sounded like a 
great idea.


Anyway, ANY IDEAS? Reply to p...@pdxlinux.org or me.

Thanks!




___
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Re: [PLUG] looking for a 3d surface plotting program (besides gnuplot)

[Michael Ewan]

Python and Pandas, then there are several graphing libraries to use, such
as Bokeh or Seaborn.  Seaborn will give you great looking visualizations,
Bokeh adds an interactive interface.
https://seaborn.pydata.org/
http://bokeh.org/

On Sat, Aug 12, 2023 at 5:42 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Fri, 11 Aug 2023, American Citizen wrote:
>
> > Has anyone used 3d surface plotting software (other than gnuplot splot
> > with pm3d) ??
>
> Randall,
>
> Three suggestions:
>
> 1. As Brian suggested, python3 and pandas. This would be my first choice
> for
> data sets such as yours for the shortest learning curve.
> 
>
> 2. PSTricks. I've used this when precise control of vector graphics is
> required. 
>
> 3. The R Project, the most comprehensive statistical data analysis toolkit
> available. Currently there are more than 6,000 packages in the
> Comprehensive
> R Archive Network covering every type of data, physical, chemical,
> biological, social, etc.
> 
>
> Looks like a really interesting data analysis project. Good luch with it.
>
> Rich
>
>

[PLUG] Seeking a Universal Remote

[Michael Rasmussen]

Looking for a universal remote for TVs that is Linux programmable. I 
have a Logitech  Harmony 650 that works fine - until I need to change 
it.


Any suggestions?

--

   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] Replacing github public key

[Michael Ewan]

That file name mismatch would be a problem.

On Thu, Aug 3, 2023 at 3:56 AM Russell Senior  wrote:

> > "Rich" == Rich Shepard  writes:
>
> Rich> -rw--- 1 rshepard users 1766 Jul 31 07:16 id_rsa.github
> Rich> -rw-r--r-- 1 rshepard users  406 Jul 31 07:16 id_rsa_github.pub
>
> I don't know if that's a typo, but the private key (the one without the
> .pub suffix) has filename punctuation that does not match the public key
> ('.github' instead of a '_github'). Perhaps that was your problem.
>
>
> --
> Russell Senior
> russ...@pdxlinux.org
>

Re: [PLUG] Ramnode & Arch & qcow2 - RESOLVED

[Michael Rasmussen]

On 2023-08-02 09:23, Michael Rasmussen wrote:

Have you done a successful Arch Linux install of qcow2 on Ramnode?

I am needing to create a #cloud-config

Need examples of what works.


What worked was switching from (the recommended)

  Arch-Linux-x86_64-cloudimg
to
  Arch-Linux-x86_64-basic

after that it is a case of getting a console session and going to work 
on the full configuration.


No #cloud-config needed.


--
   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

[PLUG] Ramnode & Arch & qcow2

[Michael Rasmussen]

Have you done a successful Arch Linux install of qcow2 on Ramnode?

I am needing to create a #cloud-config

Need examples of what works.

--

   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] Github question

[Michael Ewan]

That is the tricky part.  My Github account was linked in some corporate
magic with my company email, and even though I remember the password it
wants to verify with my old inaccessible company email.  I guess I will
need to create a new account and forget about whatever I was working on in
my personal account.

On Mon, Jul 31, 2023 at 3:13 PM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Mon, 31 Jul 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:
>
> > How does one delete a GitHub account? I have one from my previous
> employer
> > that I need to delete and use a previous personal (school) account.
>
> Login to your github account. In the upper, right corner there's a symbol
> at
> the right end; click on it.
>
> Select Settings -> My Account and that should allow you to delete it.
> Otherwise it's somewhere else in the settings menu.
>
> Rich
>

[PLUG] Github question

[Michael Ewan]

How does one delete a GitHub account? I have one from my previous employer
that I need to delete and use a previous personal (school) account.

[PLUG] Upgrage Breaks MediaWiki - why?

[Michael Rasmussen]

Short Story:
Running MediaWiki, a php based app
Upgraded my Archlinux host with `pacman -Syu`
MediaWiki Breaks with this error:

Installing some PHP extensions is required.
Required components
You are missing a required extension to PHP that MediaWiki requires to 
run. Please install:

intl (more information)

Long Story:
intl has been required since v1.36 - several versions back that I have 
used all along


I checked php.ini to verify that it had not be chanced in the process. I 
found:


extension=intl.so
[intl]
;intl.default_locale =
; happens within intl functions. The value is the level of the error 
produced.

intl.error_level = E_WARNING
intl.use_exceptions = 0

So that is in place and functional.

Do you have any idea about what to check? Arch normally reliable source 
of help has come up dry thus far.


--

   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] SSD swap partition and/or swap file

[Michael Ewan]

A slight correction to the sar command line from my previous email.  Sar
will give you an average, if you want high resolution real time data, then
run sar with a time argument, such as 'sar -B 5' for a report every 5
seconds.

On Fri, Jul 28, 2023 at 4:05 PM Keith Lofstrom  wrote:

> Question about swap file vs swap partition.
>
> I have a dozen spinny disks with too many ancient
> distros on too many machines.
>
> I am slowly consolidating to a few Debian 12 Bookworm
> machines with Samsung terabyte SSDs.
>
>
> When large-RAM low-power fast motherboards become cheap
> enough, I will migrate to those.  More RAM may imply
> larger swap areas (a semi-religious debate I hope to
> avoid). I want to be ready if the "large swap" zealots
> win the debate and design software dependent on swap.
>
> SSD swap seems MUCH better than spinny-disk swap,
> very fast access compared to moving a spinny disk head
> across a platter ... though way slower than RAM.
>
> 
>
> Large SSD swap also facilitates fast hibernate, though
> Debian startup and shutdown are amazingly fast using
> an SSD (10 seconds startup/login, 2 second shutdown).
>
> Perhaps I don't need hibernate-to-swap.
>
> 
>
> One of my recent SSD experiments resulted in a too-small
> swap partition.  Inept resizing attempts borked the file
> system.
>
> But ... I can also create a huge swap file on a regular
> ext4 file system, and easily up-size the swap file when
> I install more RAM.  Resizing a partition is more complex.
>
> I've read some online debates about swap partitions vs.
> swap files.  Most of the debates are from the spinny disk
> era; the speed tradeoffs have changed radically.
> My main concern is reliability, software compatibility,
> and ease of maintenance rather than maximum speed.
>
> 
>
> I suspect I will need SOME separate-partition swap, but
> I hope I can get by with a few gigabytes, relying mostly
> on a big swap file, growing that swap file over time as
> I migrate to motherboards and laptops with more RAM.
>
> At 69.9 years of age, I should also minimize complexity,
> deploying systems that I can maintain with an 80 or 90
> y.o. brain someday.  My father-in-law is 105, and his
> Windoze computer took many days to decrapify.  I won't
> have a son-in-law to do that for me.
>
> So, that's a lot of yammering, another sequela of excess
> age.  In summary:
>
> "Optimum SSD swap? ?? ???"
>
> Keith
>
> --
> Keith Lofstrom  kei...@keithl.com
>

Re: [PLUG] SSD swap partition and/or swap file

[Michael Ewan]

There is a difference between swap and paging, but both use the "swap"
space.  Modern memory management and cheap ram have mostly done away with
swapping however paging happens all the time.  The best thing to do is
install sar if not already installed via 'apt-get install sysstat'.  Sar
will give you paging stats, start the service and check the results after a
few hours of normal operation with 'sar -B' and 'sar -S'.  Bottom line,
swap is very bad, some small amount of paging is normal when there is not
enough RAM for everything that is running on the system.  Back when I was
running large UNIX (not Linux) hosts for MRP applications, we sized the the
system RAM so there was never page outs, the same could be accomplished for
a largish Linux box.  Using sar you can gauge how much paging space you
will need.  Most estimates you will find in the literature will be way too
large.  Using a swap file on SSD will allow fine tuning.  With enough RAM
you would not need swap space at all, but you should configure some small
amount to avoid crashes.

On Fri, Jul 28, 2023 at 4:05 PM Keith Lofstrom  wrote:

> Question about swap file vs swap partition.
>
> I have a dozen spinny disks with too many ancient
> distros on too many machines.
>
> I am slowly consolidating to a few Debian 12 Bookworm
> machines with Samsung terabyte SSDs.
>
>
> When large-RAM low-power fast motherboards become cheap
> enough, I will migrate to those.  More RAM may imply
> larger swap areas (a semi-religious debate I hope to
> avoid). I want to be ready if the "large swap" zealots
> win the debate and design software dependent on swap.
>
> SSD swap seems MUCH better than spinny-disk swap,
> very fast access compared to moving a spinny disk head
> across a platter ... though way slower than RAM.
>
> 
>
> Large SSD swap also facilitates fast hibernate, though
> Debian startup and shutdown are amazingly fast using
> an SSD (10 seconds startup/login, 2 second shutdown).
>
> Perhaps I don't need hibernate-to-swap.
>
> 
>
> One of my recent SSD experiments resulted in a too-small
> swap partition.  Inept resizing attempts borked the file
> system.
>
> But ... I can also create a huge swap file on a regular
> ext4 file system, and easily up-size the swap file when
> I install more RAM.  Resizing a partition is more complex.
>
> I've read some online debates about swap partitions vs.
> swap files.  Most of the debates are from the spinny disk
> era; the speed tradeoffs have changed radically.
> My main concern is reliability, software compatibility,
> and ease of maintenance rather than maximum speed.
>
> 
>
> I suspect I will need SOME separate-partition swap, but
> I hope I can get by with a few gigabytes, relying mostly
> on a big swap file, growing that swap file over time as
> I migrate to motherboards and laptops with more RAM.
>
> At 69.9 years of age, I should also minimize complexity,
> deploying systems that I can maintain with an 80 or 90
> y.o. brain someday.  My father-in-law is 105, and his
> Windoze computer took many days to decrapify.  I won't
> have a son-in-law to do that for me.
>
> So, that's a lot of yammering, another sequela of excess
> age.  In summary:
>
> "Optimum SSD swap? ?? ???"
>
> Keith
>
> --
> Keith Lofstrom  kei...@keithl.com
>

Re: [PLUG] Help with weird device errors

[Michael Ewan]

It looks like the floppy drive was the culprit, I removed and blacklisted
the driver and now I am not getting those errors.  Now on to making sure
these second hand disks are worth using (smartctl and smartd to the
rescue).  I was heading in the direction of disabling it in the BIOS but
the driver was easier.  Thanks Russell

On Sat, Jul 15, 2023 at 10:26 PM Russell Senior 
wrote:

> It might be unrelated. Or maybe somehow touching a disk is triggering a
> probe of the floppy. Just wild speculation. Trying to disable the drive in
> bios or rmmod'ing the floppy driver might change the behavior.
>
> On Sat, Jul 15, 2023, 22:23 Michael Ewan  wrote:
>
> > I did think of removing the floppy in BIOS, but the question still
> presents
> > itself, why do I get errors when accessing a mounted disk?
> >
> > On Sat, Jul 15, 2023 at 10:15 PM Russell Senior <
> russ...@personaltelco.net
> > >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > This might be relevant:
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/53513/linux-disable-dev-fd0-floppy
> > >
> > > --
> > > Russell
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jul 15, 2023 at 9:28 PM Michael Ewan 
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I am setting up a file server, currently Ubuntu Server 22.04.  I have
> > > three
> > > > 1TB data disks, two act normally, the third is telling me there are
> > > errors
> > > > on the floppy device.  Could someone shed some light on this?
> Thanks.
> > > > The disks are in an LVM volume group, the logical volumes are
> specified
> > > as
> > > > the whole disk to isolate one from the other.  They have an XFS file
> > > > system.  I was running Bonnie++ to exercise the disks.  Here is the
> > dmesg
> > > > output.
> > > > This is repeatable.
> > > >
> > > > [105001.499913] xfs filesystem being mounted at /data2 supports
> > > timestamps
> > > > until 2038 (0x7fff)
> > > > [111473.198440] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > > > [111473.198449] print_req_error: 4 callbacks suppressed
> > > > [111473.198451] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > > > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > > > [111473.198526] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > > > [111473.198529] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > > > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > > > [111473.198543] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async
> > page
> > > > read
> > > > [111475.418535] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > > > [111475.418543] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > > > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > > > [111475.418627] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > > > [111475.418630] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > > > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > > > [111475.418645] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async
> > page
> > > > read
> > > > [111476.023674] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > > > [111476.023682] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > > > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > > > [111476.023812] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > > > [111476.023815] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > > > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > > > [111476.023825] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async
> > page
> > > > read
> > >
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] Help with weird device errors

[Michael Ewan]

I did think of removing the floppy in BIOS, but the question still presents
itself, why do I get errors when accessing a mounted disk?

On Sat, Jul 15, 2023 at 10:15 PM Russell Senior 
wrote:

> This might be relevant:
>
>
> https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/53513/linux-disable-dev-fd0-floppy
>
> --
> Russell
>
> On Sat, Jul 15, 2023 at 9:28 PM Michael Ewan 
> wrote:
> >
> > I am setting up a file server, currently Ubuntu Server 22.04.  I have
> three
> > 1TB data disks, two act normally, the third is telling me there are
> errors
> > on the floppy device.  Could someone shed some light on this?  Thanks.
> > The disks are in an LVM volume group, the logical volumes are specified
> as
> > the whole disk to isolate one from the other.  They have an XFS file
> > system.  I was running Bonnie++ to exercise the disks.  Here is the dmesg
> > output.
> > This is repeatable.
> >
> > [105001.499913] xfs filesystem being mounted at /data2 supports
> timestamps
> > until 2038 (0x7fff)
> > [111473.198440] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > [111473.198449] print_req_error: 4 callbacks suppressed
> > [111473.198451] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > [111473.198526] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > [111473.198529] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > [111473.198543] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async page
> > read
> > [111475.418535] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > [111475.418543] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > [111475.418627] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > [111475.418630] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > [111475.418645] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async page
> > read
> > [111476.023674] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > [111476.023682] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > [111476.023812] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
> > [111476.023815] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
> > 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
> > [111476.023825] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async page
> > read
>

[PLUG] Help with weird device errors

[Michael Ewan]

I am setting up a file server, currently Ubuntu Server 22.04.  I have three
1TB data disks, two act normally, the third is telling me there are errors
on the floppy device.  Could someone shed some light on this?  Thanks.
The disks are in an LVM volume group, the logical volumes are specified as
the whole disk to isolate one from the other.  They have an XFS file
system.  I was running Bonnie++ to exercise the disks.  Here is the dmesg
output.
This is repeatable.

[105001.499913] xfs filesystem being mounted at /data2 supports timestamps
until 2038 (0x7fff)
[111473.198440] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
[111473.198449] print_req_error: 4 callbacks suppressed
[111473.198451] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[111473.198526] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
[111473.198529] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[111473.198543] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async page
read
[111475.418535] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
[111475.418543] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[111475.418627] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
[111475.418630] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[111475.418645] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async page
read
[111476.023674] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
[111476.023682] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[111476.023812] floppy0: disk absent or changed during operation
[111476.023815] blk_update_request: I/O error, dev fd0, sector 0 op
0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[111476.023825] Buffer I/O error on dev fd0, logical block 0, async page
read

[PLUG] FOSSY.us is this week!

[Michael Dexter]

All,

Filling the void left by OSCON and Open Source Bridge, FOSSY is coming 
to town and its organizers are focused on sustainability!


The site is https://2023.fossy.us/ and tickets range from $60 to $1000, 
depending on what you can afford.


There is a wide range of topic including my talk on Friday!

I hope to see you there!

All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] FOSSY.us is this week!

[Michael Dexter]

All,

Filling the void left by OSCON and Open Source Bridge, FOSSY is coming 
to town and its organizers are focused on sustainability!


The site is https://2023.fossy.us/ and tickets range from $60 to $1000, 
depending on what you can afford.


There is a wide range of topic including my talk on Friday!

I hope to see you there!

All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
___
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PLUG-announce mailing list
PLUG-announce@pdxlinux.org
https://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce

Re: [PLUG] Ubuntu messed up LO!

[Michael Ewan]

Synaptic, Apt, or whatever all use dpkg under the covers.

Do 'dpkg --list' to see what is installed.

Make a list of things you want to remove, i.e. 'dpkg --list | grep
'somepattern' > files.txt

Then use 'dpkg deinstall' or 'dpkg -r' for each package you want to remove,
you can gang them up on the command line if there are just a few.
There are various --force-[something] options if you run into trouble with
dependencies or broken packages.






On Mon, Jun 26, 2023 at 2:07 PM John Jason Jordan  wrote:

> I had LO downloaded from LO (not the Ubuntu repositories) and installed
> on my Xubuntu 22.04 laptop. Today I decided to do a system update, using
> the Update Manager utility. When the Update Manager finished sniffing
> the internet and my computer it came up with over 250 packages that
> needed to be updated. I scanned through the list and saw a lot of LO
> packages, so I painstakingly went through the entire list and
> deselected all the LO packages. If I had not done so, I reasoned, the
> updates would overwrite my installed non-Ubuntu version. When I
> finished I clicked the button to start the update.
>
> As I watched the progress, imagine my horror as LO packages displayed as
> being installed. WTH? I don't know how this happened, but I figured the
> thing to do was let the update finish, reboot, and then open Synaptic
> package manager, select all the LO packages and mark them to be
> deleted, then click on Synaptic's Apply button to finish the task. My
> plan was to get rid of god only knows what mess was installed after the
> update, then download the current latest from LO and install it.
>
> Sadly, this failed. Synaptic said it couldn't delete the packages
> because I had 'broken' packages that needed to be fixed. Guess which
> packages were broken? Yup, you guessed it - every one of the LO
> packages that I was trying to uninstall.
>
> Just for kicks and giggles, before further attempts to resolve the
> problems, I decided to see what would happen if I tried to launch
> Writer, the only package I really use. Amazingly a Writer window
> opened, ready to start writing. The only problem was that my floating
> toolbar for formatting was missing, but that is easily fixed.
>
> Questions:
>
> 1) I had 7.3.7.2 (that's what it says in Writer's Help - About). If I
> download and install 7.4.7 or 7.5.4 (the latest from LO), will it
> overwrite all the messed up packages? Or will it fail to complete the
> installation and leave me with an even bigger mess?
>
> 2) What would be a command line tool to fix the broken pages? I'd
> settle for just uninstalling them. After all, they're going to be
> replaced anyway.
>
> Observations and suggestions welcome!
>

Re: [PLUG] Off Topic: I'd like to volunteer for ARRL Field Day

[Michael Barnes]

I would have suggested Clark County, but I thought you were looking for a
SW Portland area group. Clark County is a great bunch of folks. I used to
attend their meetings when I lived in Scappoose. Now they're just too far
away. I did hear them a couple times during Field Day, but was never able
to work them. Glad you got to participate.

Michael WA7SKG


On Mon, Jun 26, 2023, 00:28 elcaset  wrote:

> Thank you both for your suggestions.  I ended up going to the Clark County
> Amateur Radio Club in Vancouver, & had a great time with them.  It was the
> only local Field Day that was accessible via public transit.
>
> On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 12:25 PM Johnathan Mantey 
> wrote:
>
> > Try contacting Ev Curry (W6ABM.arrl.net). He can probably guide you.
> >
> > On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 11:01 AM elcaset  wrote:
> >
> > > Thanks, Michael, I'll check it out.  73
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jun 24, 2023 at 4:49 AM Michael Barnes 
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > The Oregon Tualatin Valley ARC (OTVARC) usually does Field Day out at
> > > Stub
> > > > Stewart State Park. Great bunch of folks and they put on a great FD
> > > > operation. I'm on the road, so I have to do FD on my own this year.
> > Good
> > > > luck.
> > > > 73,
> > > > Michael WA7SKG
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > On Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 19:06 elcaset  wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Also, my callsign is KE7VXT.
> > > > >
> > > > > On Fri, Jun 23, 2023 at 3:23 PM elcaset 
> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > I live in shelton, WA near Olympia.  For the next few weeks, I'm
> > > > staying
> > > > > > in SW Portland.  Does anybody know if there's a Field Day here
> > that I
> > > > can
> > > > > > volunteer with?  I've got my Extra licence, & have volunteered at
> > > other
> > > > > > Field Day events in Washington, but it's been a few years.  It
> > > doesn't
> > > > > have
> > > > > > to be a large group.  I've found three Field Day events in the
> > > greater
> > > > > > Portland area, but don't know any of those folks.  At least not
> > yet.
> > > > > > Thanks!
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] Off Topic: I'd like to volunteer for ARRL Field Day

[Michael Barnes]

The Oregon Tualatin Valley ARC (OTVARC) usually does Field Day out at Stub
Stewart State Park. Great bunch of folks and they put on a great FD
operation. I'm on the road, so I have to do FD on my own this year. Good
luck.
73,
Michael WA7SKG


On Fri, Jun 23, 2023, 19:06 elcaset  wrote:

> Also, my callsign is KE7VXT.
>
> On Fri, Jun 23, 2023 at 3:23 PM elcaset  wrote:
>
> > I live in shelton, WA near Olympia.  For the next few weeks, I'm staying
> > in SW Portland.  Does anybody know if there's a Field Day here that I can
> > volunteer with?  I've got my Extra licence, & have volunteered at other
> > Field Day events in Washington, but it's been a few years.  It doesn't
> have
> > to be a large group.  I've found three Field Day events in the greater
> > Portland area, but don't know any of those folks.  At least not yet.
> > Thanks!
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] A hardware issue [UPDATE]

[Michael Ewan]

Most times to repair a system partition, you will need to boot from a USB
stick, then run fsck on the damaged partition.
You can simply check the condition with 'sudo fsck /dev/sda1'.
On my Linux Mint box I was able to umount, fsck, and mount the /boot/efi.
In your case it would be
sudo umount /boot/efi
sudo fsck /dev/sda1
sudo mount /boot/efi



On Thu, Jun 15, 2023 at 9:34 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Thu, 15 Jun 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:
>
> > /dev/sda1 is /boot/efi type vfat (rw)
>
> This is a separate SSD and the /boot partition is the only content.
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] Question on a quick CLI program for validating a csv file

[Michael Ewan]

That AWK method seems overly complicated when Python or even Perl CSV
libraries will do that already, and is much easier to implement and read
later.

On Sun, May 21, 2023 at 1:11 PM Russell Senior 
wrote:

>
> https://stackoverflow.com/questions/29642102/how-to-make-awk-ignore-the-field-delimiter-inside-double-quotes
>
> On Sun, May 21, 2023 at 1:05 PM Russell Senior 
> wrote:
>
> > Rich Shepard  writes:
> >
> > > I download .csv files from agency databases where strings are double
> > quoted
> > > and contain commas within them, as well as using commas to separated
> > fields.
> > >
> > > I start my gawk script with
> > > BEGIN { FS="," }
> > > and it separates (or counts, or selects) fields ignoring commas within
> > > quoted strings.
> >
> > a) gawk DOES NOT do anything magical about "quoted" delimiters.
> > b) -F, in the command line and FS="," in the script are equivalent.
> >
> > $ cat /tmp/test.csv
> > A,B,C
> > D,"e,f,g",F
> > $ gawk 'BEGIN { FS="," } { print NF,$0 }' /tmp/test.csv
> > 3 A,B,C
> > 5 D,"e,f,g",F
> >
> > Please note the number of fields computed: gawk IS NOT ignoring commas
> > within quoted strings.
> >
> >
> > --
> > Russell Senior
> > russ...@personaltelco.net
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] Question on a quick CLI program for validating a csv file

[Michael Ewan]

Another way in Python is to use the CSV library and read the data line by
line, checking the data quality each step.
The CSV library will handle different delimiters, quoted fields, and
variable fields.

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import csv

with open('file.csv', 'r') as infile:
# reader provides a list of lists
lines = csv.reader(infile, delimiter=',')
for line in lines:
# check for proper length
print(len(line))



On Sun, May 21, 2023 at 5:42 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Sat, 20 May 2023, American Citizen wrote:
>
> > 1. using awk -F, fails when a cell contains a quoted cell with an
> embedded
> > comma
>
> I download .csv files from agency databases where strings are double quoted
> and contain commas within them, as well as using commas to separated
> fields.
>
> I start my gawk script with
> BEGIN { FS="," }
> and it separates (or counts, or selects) fields ignoring commas within
> quoted strings.
>
> Rich
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Question on a quick CLI program for validating a csv file

[Michael Ewan]

Use Python and Pandas.

import pandas as pd
df = pd.read_csv('filename', sep=',')
print(df.head())
print(df.shape)
# then do a boat load more operations on your data


On Sat, May 20, 2023 at 5:37 PM American Citizen 
wrote:

> Hello all:
>
> I am using the xsv program for most csv file operations since it is
> quite fast.
>
> There is one command which I wish it had, called "length" which would
> give the fields per record (delineated by a line-feed or new line)
>
> awk or gawk does have NF variable and I can use this to verify the
> integrity of a tab-delimited csv file, quickly and even have awk spit
> out the bad records which have the field count not matching the expected
> field count
>
> But awk fails to give the correct NF number if the csv files is comma
> delimited, since some of the fields can contain quotes to encapsulate a
> comma inside a string. This misleads awk, of course.
>
> If I try to use xsv to convert a comma delimited file to a tab, it will
> work if the csv file is valid, but if some record is corrupted, then xsv
> crashes with an error report. xsv only wants valid csv data.
>
> Does anyone know a validator for "pipe" delimited or "comma" delimited
> csv files? I need to validate both headered and no-headered csv files.
>
> Thanks for suggesting some quick CLI programs which does this quite well
>
> Randall
>
>
>

[PLUG] FOSSY Conference in Portland in July: CFP CLOSES THURSDAY

[Michael Dexter]

All!

First there was OSCON, then there was Open Source Bridge, and now, 
filling the void left by these is FOSSY, hosted by the wonderful 
Software Freedom Conservancy!


FOSSY will be hosted at the Oregon Convention Center July 13-16th.

Consider giving a talk! The call for proposals is open until THIS 
THURSDAY and I encourage you to submit:


https://2023.fossy.us/call-for-proposals/

All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] FOSSY Conference in Portland in July: CFP CLOSES THURSDAY

[Michael Dexter]

All!

First there was OSCON, then there was Open Source Bridge, and now, 
filling the void left by these is FOSSY, hosted by the wonderful 
Software Freedom Conservancy!


FOSSY will be hosted at the Oregon Convention Center July 13-16th.

Consider giving a talk! The call for proposals is open until THIS 
THURSDAY and I encourage you to submit:


https://2023.fossy.us/call-for-proposals/

All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
___
PLUG: https://pdxlinux.org
PLUG-announce mailing list
PLUG-announce@pdxlinux.org
https://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce

Re: [PLUG] Any Ubiquiti Experts?

[Michael Barnes]

Thanks anyhow, folks. I was hoping for something simple. I'm afraid 80-90%
of this disussion has gone way over my head. As I age, I think I have
forgotten more about this networking stuff than I knew in the first place.
I didn't think it was all that difficult to understand the layout, it is
pretty simple. Outside gain antenna > Ubiquiti Bullet > Netgear WAN port >
wifi/ethernet to devices. Log into Bullet and select available wifi network
from scan list. Sometimes the available wifi network is distant or very
weak, hence the big gain antenna. At times, no network was available, so I
connected to my phone as a hotspot. Sometimes adequate AT signal is not
available or I used up my monthly data allocation, so I acquired the
Verizon hotspot. The Bullet shows the Verizon device on the scanned network
list, but does not allow it to be selected.
I have a very limited budget and even more limited skillset anymore.
Obtaining the Verizon equipment and service was a huge hit. Acquiring
additional equipment is simply out of the question for both financial and
logistical reasons.

Thank you all for your time anyhow. Unfortunately, it was more an exercise
in frustration and futility for me.

Michael


On Thu, May 11, 2023, 21:55 Ted Mittelstaedt  wrote:

>
> -Original Message-
> From: PLUG  On Behalf Of Russell Senior
> Sent: Thursday, May 11, 2023 2:46 PM
> To: Portland Linux/Unix Group 
> Subject: Re: [PLUG] Any Ubiquiti Experts?
>
> On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 1:07 PM Ted Mittelstaedt 
>
> >Bridging when both ends are cooperating is not difficult (see 4-address
> mode). The Verizon hotspot is not >cooperating.
>
> I've had no issues bridging using dd-wrt to my phone in portable setups
> where a device with an ethernet port needed to get on the Internet and
> there was no Ethernet port available.  Possibly if you have never used
> dd-wrt you are drawing conclusions based on inferior wifi bridging
> implementations in openwrt??
>
> >I always recommend routing at the station over trying to bridge *UNLESS
> YOU CONTROL BOTH ENDS*.
>
> I have to disagree with this one.  Inserting routers at both ends of a
> wifi bridge is actually best network practices.  And I mean a real router
> not an address translator.  For starters it eliminates all the TCP/IP
> broadcast traffic which just adds useless traffic to the wifi link.
>
> The issue is not in the network design on this one.  The issue is in the
> "ISP handoff" or rather the border.  Best practices is to have the ISP
> handoff a PUBLIC IP address whether it's DHCP supplied or static.
>
> The moment the ISP hands you a PRIVATE number you are off in the weeds and
> you really need to recognize you are in the insane asylum.  And you are in
> an insane asylum inside of a sinking ship if you don't have control over
> the NAT device.
>
> >My recollection of the ubiquiti firmware on the M-class devices is that
> station-mode implies routing. I use >a lot of ubiquiti hardware, but rarely
> their software.
>
> My go-to is Ubiquiti hardware and software  for corporate WDS installs.
> But I don't judge them to be "the best"  Their propensity for the software
> update of the month is highly annoying, frankly.  They are just the
> cheapest out there that is "corporatized" LOL
>
> >OpenWrt is for people who want to treat their device as a tiny computer
> that happens to have wifi >interfaces... that is, for people who want to be
> able to construct their own solutions for their particular >problem.
>
> Then quit being myopic about it and spend the money on a Raspberry Pi or
> it's clone the Le Potato or whatever they call it, and plug in a wireless
> USB stick and have a REAL computer not a toy with a crappy power supply, a
> weak CPU and a propensity for locking up (with certain flaky hardware)
>
> >OpenWrt is not religious, it is entirely practical if you can't build the
> system you want because some >megacorporation doesn't release required
> programming information for their equipment and reliable >reverse
> engineering isn't available. OpenWrt doesn't support some hardware, mostly
> Broadcom, because >they can't build modern kernels or implement desired
> features with it.
>
> Except that dd-wrt somehow CAN build kernels and implement desired
> features.   As can TomatoNG.  You are just quoting the OpenWRT bullshit
> excuses they use to justify not doing the work to support some devices.
> And OpenWRT does in fact support a lot of Broadcom.  Dd-wrt also runs
> modern kernels on SOCs that have ports of modern kernels to them.
>
> I get it, like any OSS project they have limited development time and
> can't get around to all hardware so they concentrate on a core hardware
> template.   Dd-wrt 

Re: [PLUG] Any Ubiquiti Experts?

[Michael Barnes]

On Wed, May 10, 2023 at 7:35 PM Tomas Kuchta 
wrote:

> On Wed, May 10, 2023, 17:47 Michael Barnes  wrote:
>
> > I have a local network using an Ubiquiti Bullet M2 feeding a Netgear
> router
> > that serves my various devices. The Bullet serves as an access point and
> > pulls from an available wifi source.
> > I got a hotspot from Verizon for internet access. When I log into the
> > Bullet to select a source, the hotspot shows up on the list, but is not
> > selectable. It has good signal strength, just not the little circle that
> > allows me to select it.
> > .
>
>
> I am confused about your network topology. So, you get in internet over
> wifi from somewhere, received by the bullet - that feeds Netgear router by
> what? (Ethernet cable?) Then you get your other wifi devices connected to
> Netgear or back to bullet on different vlan or ?? Very confusing  Now
> you want the bullet to be able to get internet from 2nd source (hotspot),
> but only when it is on?
>
> It loos like pretty complex order. Perhaps you need some low level access
> to the Linux network config on the bullet. If that is so, please consider
> a) simplifying your network topology and b) installing wrt on the bullet so
> that you can configure the network and routing directly.
>
> -T
>
> Tomas
>

Sorry if it was confusing.

The bullet is connected to an antenna that picks up internet via wifi. The
ethernet from the bullet goes through a POE injector into the Internet/WAN
port  of the Netgear router. My various devices (TV, Portal, a couple
Raspberry Pis, etc.) all connect to the Netgear router. Most of the time
there is local wifi available for me to connect to, but not always. When
wifi is not available, I have turned on the hotspot on my phone and
connected to it. However, when I leave, the network looses internet.
Lately, I've been having to use my phone a lot and have used up my meager
(6GB) monthly data allocation. Trying to resolve this, I obtained a
Verizon  hotspot with 100GB monthly data. When I log into the bullet to
tell it what wifi to connect to, it shows the hotspot on the list, but does
not have the little circle that allows that source to be selected.

Otherwise, every time I change the internet source, I have to go to every
device and log onto the new wifi. With up to seven or more devices, and
sometimes changing internet sources daily, that is a real pain. It is so
much easier to just have everything connected to the local network and only
change the bullet access point. And since lately local wifi hasn't always
been available to me, I wanted to use the hotspot.

Does that clarify it at all? Any ideas on why the bullet connects to pretty
much everything but the Verizon hotspot? I am suspecting the issue is with
the Verizon hotspot, but not sure.

Michael

[PLUG] Any Ubiquiti Experts?

[Michael Barnes]

I have a local network using an Ubiquiti Bullet M2 feeding a Netgear router
that serves my various devices. The Bullet serves as an access point and
pulls from an available wifi source.
I got a hotspot from Verizon for internet access. When I log into the
Bullet to select a source, the hotspot shows up on the list, but is not
selectable. It has good signal strength, just not the little circle that
allows me to select it.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Michael

Re: [PLUG] git not recognizing 'branch' command [FIXED]

[Michael Ewan]

git branch -r command
does the command on the remote repo, everything else works local.  For
example
git branch
lists the branches on the local repo
git branch -r
lists the branches on the remote repo


On Thu, May 4, 2023 at 3:53 PM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Thu, 4 May 2023, c wrote:
>
> > What command are you using?
>
> Purcell,
>
> git master -m main
>
> That's supposed to work locally
>
> > I tried:
> > git branch -m master main
> > and it worked in a quick test on my machine.
>
> It worked here, too. I thougt it was for remote repos, not local ones.
> Apparently it works for both.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] Renaming file with back slashes and spaces

[Michael Ewan]

Ha!  I completely missed that Richard was quoting the \ chars.


On Thu, May 4, 2023 at 10:01 AM Russell Senior 
wrote:

> The filename does NOT have backslashes, just spaces. The backslashes are
> displayed to *quote* the spaces. That is, show that the spaces are part of
> the filename instead of whitespace delimiters between different filenames.
>
> On Thu, May 4, 2023, 08:39 Rich Shepard  wrote:
>
> > I have a file from an agency in which words are sepatated by back slashes
> > and spaces. Wrapping the name in double quotes (as user and root) fails:
> >
> > [root@caddis /home/rshepard/projects# mv "Topo\ TNM\ Style\ Template\
> > Users\ Guide.pdf" Users-Guide.pdf
> > mv: cannot stat 'Topo\ TNM\ Style\ Template\ Users\ Guide.pdf': No such
> > file or directory
> >
> > What have I missed?
> >
> > TIA,
> >
> > Rich
> >
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] Renaming file with back slashes and spaces

[Michael Ewan]

Do an 'ls -b' to see if there are any 8-bit characters in the name.
You can also do 'mv Topo*pdf user-guide.pdf'


On Thu, May 4, 2023 at 8:39 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> I have a file from an agency in which words are sepatated by back slashes
> and spaces. Wrapping the name in double quotes (as user and root) fails:
>
> [root@caddis /home/rshepard/projects# mv "Topo\ TNM\ Style\ Template\
> Users\ Guide.pdf" Users-Guide.pdf
> mv: cannot stat 'Topo\ TNM\ Style\ Template\ Users\ Guide.pdf': No such
> file or directory
>
> What have I missed?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
>
>

Re: [PLUG] What are the permissions for .ssh/authorized_keys?

[Michael Ewan]

Also, ssh can silently fail to connect if the permissions are too loose.

On Wed, Apr 26, 2023, 6:19 AM Rich Shepard  wrote:

> On Wed, 26 Apr 2023, Jeffrey Borcean wrote:
>
> > 0600 / -rw---
>
> Thanks, Jeffrey. I did not find this with my web searches.
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] MediaWiki configuration

[Michael Rasmussen]

Could you elaborate on your problems?
I am a MediaWiki user.

---
   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

On 2023-04-20 19:25, Keith Lofstrom wrote:

Any recent MediaWiki deployers on the list?

For many years, I have operated many old MoinMoin (Python)
wikis on many old distros.  MoinMoin isn't getting much
maintenance attention, while Python is evolving beyond
compatibility with MoinMoin code.

MediaWiki (PHP), the engine underneath Wikipedia, currently
has the majority share of new wiki deployments, and is
actively (perhaps TOO actively) maintained and enhanced.

So, I hope to "futureproof" my wikis by converting them to
MediaWiki.  There are cheesy scripts for that.

As I write this, I have not yet successfully configured
a functional MediaWiki instance.  There are many tutorials
online about that, but most are years out of date.
For example, procedures for setting up mysql, rather than
the current mariaDB.

I'm probably not asking the right questions or looking at
the best tutorial websites.

IF YOU HAVE SET UP MEDIAWIKI RECENTLY, CAN YOU POINT ME
AT GOOD /RECENT/ TUTORIALS?

Perhaps the most useful thing would be an "ls -lR" listing
of the files and programs and libraries used by a recent
implementation of MediaWiki, so I know what files are
supposed to be there, permissions and ownerships and sizes.

And yes, I will sign an NDA if necessary, and can even
offer boilerplate forms for that.

Keith L.

P.S.; I know there are rental MediaWikiFarms, but I hope
to continue integrating my wikis with legacy html pages
and online executables.  MediaWiki has many extensions
that might help with this.

Re: [PLUG] 3rd party vpn Defense evasion

[Michael Rasmussen]

On 2023-04-18 12:01, Ishak Micheil wrote:
John is a contractor,  hires someone else to do the work. Vdi setup,  
he

shares his creds with the subcontractor who possibly actually in a
different country.  Using  VPN services prior to logging in to mask 
thier

locations .


Ahh, you've discovered the root of your problem: J Jason Jordan is a 
terrorist as he wrote in his post earlier in this thread.



--
   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] Audio card for clear voice output

[Michael Barnes]

As a broadcast engineer who has dealt with computerized automation systems
providing professional audio for FM radio stations, pretty much all I have
used over the years for on-air play have been Audioscience cards. Not
cheap, but they do the job. Linux friendly. Available with various
combinations of input and output channels and analog and AES digital. Just
be careful with the used market, as there are many out there that may not
fit current motherboards.
Another caveat, you will need to get breakout cables/boxes to interface
your audio. The cards have various connectors depending on model, usually
some type of SCSI connector that the breakout cables end in XLRs.

Michael

On Sun, Apr 16, 2023, 14:20 King Beowulf 
wrote:

> On 4/16/23 06:42, Rich Shepard wrote:
> > The audio voice output quality from my Asus Prime X470-Pro is distorted
> and
> > unacceptable. I finally figured out that this is the issue with online
> > meetings and news/youtube videos, not the speakers (although I just
> replaced
> > the Creative Pebbles with ProSonus studio monitors).
> ...
> >
> > Please provide recommendations for an add-in PCIe audio card that outputs
> > clear voice as well as music to speakers and headphones/headsets.
> >
>
> Rich,
>
> Most of the Creative Labs Soundblaster Audigy series are well supported
> with high quality.  You go have to check and pick the card by chipset
> and not by price as there are various gaps in some functionality in the
> myriad of available models.
>
> https://alsa-project.org/wiki/Matrix:Vendor-Creative_Labs
>
> (Alas, this list is not up to date.)
>
> Slackware-15.0 uses ALSA 1.25 and allows for replacing pulseausio with
> pipewire.  Highly recommended.  PA literally sucks donkey balls. In
> Slackware-15.0 use:
> /usr/sbin/pipewire-enable.sh
> /usr/sbin/pipewire-disable.sh
>
> 2 years back I upgraded my motherboard sound (AMD Starship/Matisse HD
> Audio Controller) and switched to the Core3D chipset on the CL
> Soundblaster Z ($99.99 in 2021). The new motherboard did have only old
> timey PCI slots so I was not able to recycle the nice SB Audigy 2 card I
> was using.
>
>
> https://www.newegg.com/creative-sound-blaster-z/p/N82E16829102048?Item=N82E16829102048
>
> The newer version is
> https://www.newegg.com/creative-sound-blaster-z-se/p/N82E16829102110
>
> audio quality is excellent. The catch with Core3D is that you need a
> newer kernel that the one Slackware-14.2 ships with 4.4.x).  IIRC,
> Core3D support hit around kernel-4.18+
>
> I paired this with a Beyerdynamic headset (gaming version, there are
> others) - cat ate through the cord of a middling Turtle Beach headset.
> https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16826380033?Item=N82E16826380033
>
> I usually skip trying to set stuff in the PA mixer GUI, other than to
> disable the webcam audio and GPU's HDMI audio.  Alsamixer suffices, and
> Slackbuilds.org has a equalizer plugin.
>
> -Ed
>
>
>

Re: [PLUG] rsync command syntax

[Michael Ewan]

Doing rsync in cron you might add the
 --log-file=filename
 option

On Sat, Apr 15, 2023, 9:58 AM Vince Winter 
wrote:

> If you have a trailing / on src, it will only copy contents. If you leave /
> off on src, it copy the directory.
>
> -a is archive mode. Which is likely fine unless you need more.
>
> This should be fine for a basic rsync cronjob.
>
>rsync -a  
>
> You can get much more complex with rsync if you want but unlikely to be
> needed.
>
> On Sat, Apr 15, 2023, 17:59 Rich Shepard  wrote:
>
> > On Sat, 15 Apr 2023, Randy Bush wrote:
> >
> > > i am also too subtle. you might use the man page and check out those
> > > parameter choices.
> >
> > randy,
> >
> > I saw in the man page that
> > --archive, -a  archive mode is -rlptgoD (no -A,-X,-U,-N,-H)
> > which looked like your first example.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Rich
> >
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] rsync command syntax

[Michael Ewan]

Yes.  However, compression (z) is not necessary when on the same machine.
Compression is only effective on a slow network connection.

On Sat, Apr 15, 2023 at 8:17 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> I want to write a cron job for root to copy the daily backup from
> /media/bkup1/ to /media/bkup2/. Is this rsync command sufficient?
>
> rsync -avz /media/bkup1 /media/bkup2
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] External drive issue

[Michael Ewan]

I generally keep at least three copies of important stuff, the original,
the rsync backup, and another rsync on a different machine (that one also
has cloud backup). For really important stuff I have an air gap off site
disk with a copy of everything (the problem there is remembering to refresh
it).

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 11:44 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Mar 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:
>
> > Note, mkfs.xfs is done on the raid1 disk set, not on the individual
> drives.
>
> Michael,
>
> Got it. I'm seriouly considering formatting both with xfs, installing
> dirvish on /dev/sde1 then using rsync to keep /dev/sdf1 as a mirror. Not
> being combined into a logical volume I shouldn't again lose all backups
> because the lv failed and wiped both disks.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] External drive issue

[Michael Ewan]

Note, mkfs.xfs is done on the raid1 disk set, not on the individual drives.

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 11:10 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Mar 2023, Michael Ewan wrote:
>
> > Do not use EXT4, it will cause you problems down the road.  Use xfs
> > instead, it has higher reliability and better performance.
>
> Michael,
>
> Okay. I can install xfs on those two drives.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] External drive issue

[Michael Ewan]

In my experience, using lvm2 to mirror your disks should work for you and
be the easiest to recover since each disk has a copy of the vg
description, then vgscan will find your configuration for you.  Skip using
md unless you need multipath access to a device.

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 9:36 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Fri, 24 Mar 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:
>
> > Checking cfdisk for both /dev/sde and /dev/sdf shows both having free
> space
> > for the entire disk.
>
> A question for the professional sysadmins: having both disks in a mirrored
> RAID1 array as a logical volumn fail, does it make sense to rebuild the
> RAID, vgs and lv?
>
> Since a mirrored copy didn't save my backup history, perhaps I should use
> only one disk for backp and save the other as a spare.
>
> Your professional opinion?
>
> TIA,
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] External drive issue

[Michael Ewan]

Do not use EXT4, it will cause you problems down the road.  Use xfs
instead, it has higher reliability and better performance.

On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 9:24 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Thu, 23 Mar 2023, Rich Shepard wrote:
>
> > I turned off the desktop and removed the power cord to replace the video
> > card. The MediaSonic Probox also powered down. When I plugged in the
> desktop
> > and turned it on, along with the Probox, the two single drives in the
> Probox
> > (/data2 and /data3) automatically mounted, but the 2-drive logical
> volume,
> > /dev/md0 did not mount. When I try to mount it manually I find that it
> > /doesn't exist.
>
> Checking cfdisk for both /dev/sde and /dev/sdf shows both having free space
> for the entire disk. I interpret this to mean that I need to re-format each
> with ext4, re-build the raid1 array, then recreate virtual groups and the
> logical partition (as /dev/md0) and mount it as /media/backup. Sigh. I've
> no
> idea how it became FUBAR'd.
>
> Rich
>

[PLUG] Test 3.0

[Michael Dexter]

Hello all,

Test.

Michael

Re: [PLUG] Venue for next month ...

[Michael Ewan]

If you can find a member at Intel or a sponsor there, the auditoriums
are free to use and are outside the security area.  The Hawthorne
Farms site is ideal since it is on the MAX line.  Of course that
implies people will want to travel to Hillsboro.

On Sat, Mar 4, 2023 at 10:04 PM Russell Senior  wrote:
>
> There is more work to do in exploring the General Meeting venue solution
> space. The Portland Building was nice, and vaguely workable, with some
> downsides:
>
>a) building access is at least as bad as PSU. Outside door locked,
> calls to building security were not particularly welcome due to the walk
> involved for the poor guy, meaning we had to station someone at the door
> to let people in.
>
>b) they are going to want to start charging, unless we can find a
> bureau sponsor (which is possible);
>
>c) they want a city employee to babysit us (which *might* be
> possible, but it's hard to imagine, I have some feelers out);
>
> I am going to keep pushing, because I think it's bad policy to treat
> community groups as unwanted aliens in public buildings, but I'm just
> one person. Victory is not assured.
>
> On the plus side, no one was frisked for nail clippers.
>
> I am going to ping the PSU people again, but I think the most likely
> venue for April at this point is probably back at the Latvian Center.
>
>
> --
> Russell Senior
> russ...@pdxlinux.org

[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] February PLUG Meeting: Zoneminder (in person!)

[Michael Dexter]

Portland Linux/Unix Group General Meeting Announcement

Who: Ted Mittelstaedt
What: Setting up inexpensive home security cameras with ZoneMinder to 
secure your home or business

Where: 5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland
When: Thursday, February 2nd, 2023 at 7pm
Why: The pursuit of technology freedom

Today there are a number of inexpensive home security cameras on the 
market that can be used to decrease the chance that your home or 
property will be tampered with.  There's been a rash of catalytic 
converter and gasoline thefts in the Portland area in recent years, 
these require expensive replacements and repair of vehicle gas tanks 
that have been drilled into.  Many homes in Portland do not have garages 
and residents use street parking.  With the increasing use of electric 
vehicles and portable charging cables, the potential for theft and 
mischief exists as well.  While a camera system may not prevent a theft, 
a good system can get a clear picture of the perpetrators and allow 
police to make an arrest.  These systems also serve as a visual 
deterrent.  This presentation will cover several camera systems and 
different concerns for mounting, cabling, and camera selection as well 
as recording camera data using ZoneMinder running on Linux and 
considerations for setting up this system.


Rules and Requests:

Please bring and properly fit a mask unless actively presenting

PLUG is open to everyone and does not tolerate abusive behavior on its 
mailing lists or at its meetings


Do not leave valuables in your car


Calagator Page: https://calagator.org/events/1250480212

Google Maps Link:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/5500+SW+Dosch+Rd,+Portland,+OR+97239

Some might head to Hillsdale Brewery & Public House near the Library:
https://www.mcmenamins.com/hillsdale-brewery-public-house

Rideshares likely available

PLUG Page with information about all PLUG events: http://pdxlinux.org/

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
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[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] PLUG February 2nd In-Person Meeting SOFT Announcement

[Michael Dexter]

All,

I am still waiting on the announcement text from the presenter but here 
is a second soft announcement of the February meeting:


Topic: Ted Mittelstaedt on Zoneminder, the open source video 
recording/surveillance system


Date: February 2nd, 2023

Time: 7PM as per tradition

Setup: 6:30PM with Kevin volunteering. We need to set up chairs

Address: 5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland, OR 97239

It is the first building on the left with two driveways up from the 
street and can be found here on Google Maps:


https://www.google.com/maps/place/5500+SW+Dosch+Rd,+Portland,+OR+97239

This is in Hillsdale and has the advantage that I have a key and control 
over the A/V. PSU became hostile under pressure from the homeless and 
most public spaces such as libraries follow "business hours", as someone 
kindly pointed out.


The ISP will be making a mail transition and worse case, this is the 
ONLY announcement until that is worked out. :-)



Rules:

Please wear a mask unless actively presenting/announcing

Please help with chairs if you are able bodied

Please do not leave visible valuables in your car. We have had one smash 
and grab situation in the last six months but it involved a 
highly-visible purse in the front seat of a car. (Don't do that!)


Please contribute! Officially they want a fee but I volunteer 
extensively. We'll figure something out.


I cannot say if this is long-term venue, but I have been involved with 
it for decades.


All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
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[PLUG] PLUG February 2nd In-Person Meeting SOFT Announcement

[Michael Dexter]

All,

I am still waiting on the announcement text from the presenter but here 
is a second soft announcement of the February meeting:


Topic: Ted Mittelstaedt on Zoneminder, the open source video 
recording/surveillance system


Date: February 2nd, 2023

Time: 7PM as per tradition

Setup: 6:30PM with Kevin volunteering. We need to set up chairs

Address: 5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland, OR 97239

It is the first building on the left with two driveways up from the 
street and can be found here on Google Maps:


https://www.google.com/maps/place/5500+SW+Dosch+Rd,+Portland,+OR+97239

This is in Hillsdale and has the advantage that I have a key and control 
over the A/V. PSU became hostile under pressure from the homeless and 
most public spaces such as libraries follow "business hours", as someone 
kindly pointed out.


The ISP will be making a mail transition and worse case, this is the 
ONLY announcement until that is worked out. :-)



Rules:

Please wear a mask unless actively presenting/announcing

Please help with chairs if you are able bodied

Please do not leave visible valuables in your car. We have had one smash 
and grab situation in the last six months but it involved a 
highly-visible purse in the front seat of a car. (Don't do that!)


Please contribute! Officially they want a fee but I volunteer 
extensively. We'll figure something out.


I cannot say if this is long-term venue, but I have been involved with 
it for decades.


All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

Re: [PLUG] Alternative Meeting Locations

[Michael Dexter]

All,

On 1/25/23 6:57 AM, Kevin Williams wrote:

Alternative meeting locations would be fine. Are we thinking this for the March 
meeting and after? Are we still good for a 6:30 start time at the Hillsdale 
location?


I am waiting on the announcement text for the February meeting and the 
official start would be 7PM.


I can stand by this venue.

Michael

Re: [PLUG] Alternative Meeting Locations

[Michael Dexter]

On 1/24/23 4:05 PM, Dick Steffens wrote:
Have "we" looked into holding in-person meetings at one of the area 
libraries? Some of them have or are planning spaces suitable for meetings.


Russell certainly did plus I believe the Multnomah building. 7PM to 9PM 
is probably a bit late for some facilities.


Do feel free to verify the options.

All the best,

Michael

Re: [PLUG] Alternative Meeting Locations

[Michael Ewan]

The Beaverton city library has some nice meeting facilities.  It is
also fairly close to the Beaverton Transit Center for access from
downtown PDX or Hillsboro.

On Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 4:05 PM Dick Steffens  wrote:
>
> Have "we" looked into holding in-person meetings at one of the area
> libraries? Some of them have or are planning spaces suitable for meetings.
>
> https://multcolib.org/about/building-libraries-together
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Dick Steffens

Re: [PLUG] Powered USB-A hub

[Michael Barnes]

On Tue, Jan 17, 2023 at 3:22 PM Galen Seitz  wrote:

> On 1/17/23 09:43, Rich Shepard wrote:
> > On Tue, 17 Jan 2023, Galen Seitz wrote:
> >
> >> Sorry, I haven't been following this thread too closely, but if this is
> a
> >> device you already own, you can look this up yourself. First use lsusb
> to
> >> find the vendor and product ID values for the USB device of interest.
> >> Then
> >> use lsusb again to get more information about the device.
> >
> > Galen,
> >
> > What a valuable lesson!
> >
> > # lsusb -v -d 1235:8211 | egrep 'iProduct|MaxPower'
> >iProduct3 Scarlett Solo USB
> >  MaxPower  500mA
> >
> > This suggests to me that a less expensive hub with fewer ports that has
> at
> > least 50W published power would work with all three devices.
>
> FYI, the typical 4 port powered USB 2.0 hub is supplied with a 5V
> adapter that is capable of ~2A, or about 500 mA per port.  With a USB
> 3.0 hub where the per port current limit is 900 mA, the max adapter
> current should be higher, but it's unlikely the adapter would be sized
> to allow the max current on every port.
>
> Hubs that have high (>15W) wattage are likely intended to support some
> sort of charging of phones/tablets/etc where communication regarding the
> larger current capability is communicated through a different mechanism.
>
> Once again, the above does not directly apply to USB C hubs that support
> power delivery.
>
> Rich, if you have three devices that draw 500 mA, a hub with a 2A
> adapter should be sufficient.  Look for a hub with a 2.5A or 3A adapter
> if one or two of your devices draw 900 mA.
>
> BTW, I can guarantee you that virtually all of the crazy USB-powered
> things you can buy do *not* have USB descriptors.  Your Ronco USB fan,
> light, and turnip twaddler connect to VUSB (5V) and immediately attempt
> to draw whatever they need, regardless of any intended USB constraints.
> Buyer beware.
>
>
> galen
> --
> Galen Seitz
> gal...@seitzassoc.com
>

I didn't go back and re-read all the comments, but just wanted to throw a
few things out.
First for USB powered devices/charging (phones, laptop coolers, keyboard
lights, etc.), I strongly recommend not using a USB hub for these. If you
are not using a data connection, then just get a multi-port USB charger.
Look at the available current *per port* then be sure the overall
capability supports that much. For example, it may show six ports at 2.5
amps per port, however the total capacity is only 10 amps. That means you
cannot expect to get 2.5 amps to each device if you have more than four
high current devices plugged in.

Computer USB ports (doesn't really matter if USB 2/3/?) typically only
source 500 ma. Even most powered USB data hubs are limited to 500ma per
port. Check the specs carefully. This is normally fine for most data
devices. You definitely want a powered hub for data devices, though, so
each one will have its full 500ma available to the device. A non-powered
hub must share the entire 500ma available current from the computer with
all devices, and some will come up short, giving unpredictable results.

Just some thoughts.

Michael

[PLUG] PLUG "Marketing" and hosting input welcome

[Michael Dexter]

Hello again,

A lot has changed since PLUG last met in person back in ...

March of 2020 when we had a home lab show and tell

* Work From Home went from a luxury to the norm, providing a slap in the 
face to disabled people who never doubted that it could be a thing.


* As a result, online literacy improved, for lack of a better term.

* Twitter, which I was using for PLUG announcements went kinda weird.

* The Fediverse rapidly went from a little known club of sorts to a 
compelling alternative.


* The company volunteering the PLUG hosting was bought, aiming to 
eventually move the site to a VMware environment.


* The cloud lost some of its shine with more and more self-hosted 
options emerging



That said, how, beyond maybe a web site from this century, do think PLUG 
should present itself to the world?


I don't envision it self-hosting services yet, especially the mailing 
lists, but I do encourage it to "dog food" open source software whenever 
possible. Are YOU on Mastodon/the Fediverse?


Do one of you want to shepherd a Facebook or LinkedIn presence beyond 
what is there already?


Are people still using Calagator? I see that it's still up and running 
and has events.


What other new and old resources should we consider?

David and I have always been in favor of simple solutions because they 
can be sustained for a decade or two with little maintenance. However... 
just last week I got a recorded meeting of a different topic posted to 
YouTube within hours of recording it. YouTube Studio has come a LONG way 
since I used it last and I should be able to finally get previous 
meeting recordings up. However... the YouTube factor remains: it is 
proprietary and a near-monopoly. Vimeo exists but I fear it would both 
paid and has far lower traffic.


There's my brain dump on these topics, what's yours?

All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

[PLUG] PLUG February 2nd In-Person Meeting Soft Announcement

[Michael Dexter]

Tap tap... is this thing on?

Hello everyone.

I have confirmed the venue in Hillsdale and am awaiting final speaker 
confirmation. I hope to post all details shortly.


Topic: Zoneminder from an extremely-knowledgeable local presenter


Some facts, policies, and requests:

I would appreciate a person or two to arrive 30 minutes in advance to 
help with chairs.


The venue officially wants payment but, full disclosure, supposedly PLUG 
has unclaimed donations with the State of Oregon. I have started the 
paperwork to find out more about this. Regardless of what the venue 
eventually costs, I will pass round a hat for donations for the center 
as I am very involved with it and trust me, things like new carpet would 
be nice. Every bit helps.


We CAN have food and beverages there if that is of interest to people. 
There are table available but I do not think we want to drag them out.


There is a Hillsdale McMenamins and food cards at the nearby high school 
that might still be open but how about "bring something if you like, 
clean it up if you spill it".


As if those topics are not controversial enough, let's talk masks.

My last two in-person tech conferences and two upcoming ones have strict 
masking and testing policies. They also kindly provide both quality 
masks and tests. We all want COVID-19 to be over and how about we 
continue to take steps toward that goal.


Until further notice, I would like to enforce a mask policy for everyone 
but the active speaker, following the example of my recent conferences. 
I will bring a few sealed masks for those who need them and I am doing 
my best to have a streaming option for those who cannot risk any 
exposure or profoundly object to the mask policy.



That all said, I have begun updating the web site and will keep filling 
in the various little bits that need to take place behind the scenes.


Please check the site to see if I missed any of the softPLUG meetings in 
the Past Meeting Topics. Speaking of the site... it's dated as heck. I 
prefer keep it static but I will not rule out using a site generator or 
a SUPER modular HTML5 template. I am looking or one for another project 
but I am open to suggestions of a strategy that can last another decade 
or so.


All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] PLUG February 2nd In-Person Meeting Soft Announcement

[Michael Dexter]

Tap tap... is this thing on?

Hello everyone.

I have confirmed the venue in Hillsdale and am awaiting final speaker 
confirmation. I hope to post all details shortly.


Topic: Zoneminder from an extremely-knowledgeable local presenter


Some facts, policies, and requests:

I would appreciate a person or two to arrive 30 minutes in advance to 
help with chairs.


The venue officially wants payment but, full disclosure, supposedly PLUG 
has unclaimed donations with the State of Oregon. I have started the 
paperwork to find out more about this. Regardless of what the venue 
eventually costs, I will pass round a hat for donations for the center 
as I am very involved with it and trust me, things like new carpet would 
be nice. Every bit helps.


We CAN have food and beverages there if that is of interest to people. 
There are table available but I do not think we want to drag them out.


There is a Hillsdale McMenamins and food cards at the nearby high school 
that might still be open but how about "bring something if you like, 
clean it up if you spill it".


As if those topics are not controversial enough, let's talk masks.

My last two in-person tech conferences and two upcoming ones have strict 
masking and testing policies. They also kindly provide both quality 
masks and tests. We all want COVID-19 to be over and how about we 
continue to take steps toward that goal.


Until further notice, I would like to enforce a mask policy for everyone 
but the active speaker, following the example of my recent conferences. 
I will bring a few sealed masks for those who need them and I am doing 
my best to have a streaming option for those who cannot risk any 
exposure or profoundly object to the mask policy.



That all said, I have begun updating the web site and will keep filling 
in the various little bits that need to take place behind the scenes.


Please check the site to see if I missed any of the softPLUG meetings in 
the Past Meeting Topics. Speaking of the site... it's dated as heck. I 
prefer keep it static but I will not rule out using a site generator or 
a SUPER modular HTML5 template. I am looking or one for another project 
but I am open to suggestions of a strategy that can last another decade 
or so.


All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer
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Re: [PLUG] Question on Linux Firewalls (and hardware)

[Michael Ewan]

That hardware should be sufficient.  I was running a firewall on an
old Pentium 4 box for some time, it is still sitting here waiting to
be reinstalled.  The firewall I used was Untangle, it is free for
personal use, with extended features costing.  Untangle is Debian
based but supplied as an appliance application, it boots up as the
firewall and then you configure things such as logging, inbound nic,
outbound nic, dmz, etc via a console or web interface.

On Thu, Jan 19, 2023 at 3:04 PM American Citizen
 wrote:
>
> To all:
>
> If possible I would like to talk privately to anyone who has installed a
> Linux Firewall, preferably OPNsense, onto a linux box as right now I am
> trying to get up to speed on firewall issues and current
> state-of-the-art. I am considering using a Beelink mini-pc as the
> platform, but it will have to be loaded with one of the linux flavors OS.
>
> See https://www.amazon.com/Beelink-Intel-2-9Ghz-USB3-0-Type-C/dp/B09J4D6TMG/
>
> I am trying to determine if this is a good choice for the hardware or
> not? I am NOT going to use Win11, of course.
>
> - Randall
>
>

[PLUG] Aiming for a February in-person meeting!

[Michael Dexter]

PLUGgers!

Happy New Year!

I hope you are all healthy, happy, and rested!

I am close to finalizing a great speaker for February for an in-person 
meeting. Feel free to meet online this week.


All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

Re: [PLUG] question on finding a good html editor

[Michael Ewan]

You could try vscode, it has extensive support for editing HTML and has
extensions that can be added for preview.  Not exactly WYSIWYG, but might
work for you.  I have not used vscode in this way, but I do use it for
Python development on Linux.

On Wed, Dec 28, 2022 at 12:01 PM American Citizen 
wrote:

> Hi:
>
> I am using bluefish to examine the html code of my website,
> unfortunately bluefish complained about the very long length of the
> lines, and then proceeded to split them, after receiving an
> acknowledgment from me to go ahead.
>
> Question:
>
> Are there any other good html editors (linux) out there? Apparently
> finding a WYSIWYG screen under the editor which works well is
> problematic too.
>
> - Randall
>
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Comparing 2 files and printing lines that are different

[Michael Ewan]

There is also meld (graphical) that allows you to view changes and also
apply one side or the other.

On Wed, Dec 28, 2022 at 11:15 PM  wrote:

> On Wed, 28 Dec 2022 16:38:50 +
> Ben Koenig  wrote:
>
> >
> > Diff could definitely work here but comm seems to directly address what
> I want without any fancy formatting. I was able to slide comm into my shell
> script and didn't need to add much complexity.
> >
> > I'm going with the butter knife for this sandwich, even if the swiss
> army knife has more features. :)
> > -Ben
>
> argh. must have missed the email about comm. I didn't even know about that
> !
>
> Looks really useful.
>
> diff worked great for my application because i did want a specially
> formatted output and it wasn't really that bad to set-up.
>
>
>
> --
> Brian
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Remind or Tkremind

[Michael Ewan]

Have you considered Google calendar?  You could set a recurring event and a
notice that goes to email, and your phone.


On Mon, Dec 19, 2022 at 8:37 PM John Jason Jordan  wrote:

> I need an little application that will pop up a reminder on the same
> day of every month, and crucially, *leave it on the screen until I
> manually close the window*. There are lots of notify tools, but they
> just pop up a little notice for 10-20 seconds and then the notice
> disappears.
>
> So far the only thing I have found is Remind, and its GUI tool,
> Tkremind. I've installed both, and they run, but there is no
> documentation other than a man page, which I can't figure out. That is,
> I created a reminder, but it never appears, so clearly I haven't done
> it right.
>
> The purpose is to pay a bill that comes due every month on the 20th,
> and each month with a different amount. I could set up an auto-pay with
> my bank, but not if the amount varies. The vendor also has an auto-pay
> option, but to use it I have to give them my credit card number and
> authorization to charge it for whatever they want. No thanks, I'm not
> that stupid.
>
> I could probably figure out how to use cron, but cron needs to call a
> program to do the announcement. Or at least I think it does. Cron is a
> mystery to me.
>
> Surely there exists a simple, understandable reminder app. Any
> suggestions?
>

Re: [PLUG] Linux laptop recommendations?

[Michael Rasmussen]

On 2022-12-18 17:16, David Fleck wrote:

possible improvements. I'm intrigued by System76 and wonder if anybody
has had experience with them (OpenSUSE or not), or any other model
that they've found works well with Linux.


I have had a few, five or six, System76 laptops. They are fine systems. 
The support has been great. My tendency is to go with the 
long-battery-life systems not the desktop replacement huge honking ones.


PopOS! is enough that I use it and am happy with it.

Send an offline message is you have any specific questions.

--
   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] Linux laptop recommendations?

[Michael Ewan]

A friend of mine worked at System76, a total Linux geek, and said they were
very good laptops.

On Sun, Dec 18, 2022 at 5:16 PM David Fleck  wrote:

> My ThinkPad E531 is showing signs of age and the effects of one too many
> beverages spilled onto the keyboard, and I am now seriously looking for a
> replacement laptop. Asking for any recommendations from the group for a
> replacement.
>
> I use the laptop for web browsing and lightweight programming (generally
> command-line scripting), along with some video HDMI streaming and
> occasional DVD watching. The E531 has a built-in DVD-RW drive, which
> appears to be a vanishing feature in modern laptops. I can live without it,
> though - presumably I could find an external drive.
>
> I'm somewhat partial to ThinkPads (I like the overall form factor and it's
> worked very well with OpenSUSE for me) but always interested in possible
> improvements. I'm intrigued by System76 and wonder if anybody has had
> experience with them (OpenSUSE or not), or any other model that they've
> found works well with Linux.
>
> Thanks in advance for all responses--
>
> --
> - David Fleck

[PLUG] MS2131i-8 USB Cellular Modem

[Michael Barnes]

I recently acquired a MS2131i-8 USB Cellular Modem. Supposedly, I can just
plug it into a USB port and use it to access the Internet. Not a lot of
other details.

Nothing seems to happen plugging it in, no indications on dmesg or
anything. On Windows, it gave a popup saying no driver available.

Anybody know anything about these?

Thanks,
Michael

Re: [PLUG] December 2022 - softPLUG Jitsi Meeting

[Michael Dexter]

All,

Thank you for organizing this.

News: The Hillsdale venue is available and I am reaching out to some 
local "big names" (though that has never been a requirement).


Sorry to have missed this week's slot and that leaves the question of 
January 5th, which is fortunately is more buffered from New Years' than 
some previous years.


Get those feelers out for speakers! I can make the event happen but only 
with a steady stream of speakers. The venue would also need one or two 
people to arrive early to set up chairs.


All the best,

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

On 11/29/22 8:42 AM, Kevin Williams wrote:

Looking forward to softPLUG!

On Mon, Nov 28, 2022, at 9:53 PM, Ben Koenig wrote:

Hi all,

December 1st is the 1st Thursday of December!

For newer members, this is when we typically host our monthly PLUG Talks for 
advanced and/or interesting topics. However, pending a return to in-person 
meetings I am hosting a casual, online meeting via Jitsi. There is no specific 
topic, this is just an opportunity to interact outside the confines of our 
email inboxen. All Linux (and BSD!) related questions/gossip/news are welcome.

Who: You!
When: Thursday, 12/1/2022 @ 7:00PM Pacific Time
Where:https://meet.jit.si/PDXLinux

Note regarding in-person events: I don't know what the latest is so if anyone 
has a plan to resume traditional PLUG talks this month just let me know. 
Virtual Meetings are easy to reschedule :-)

Feel free to hop in whenever works for you. I'm holding the virtual door open 
until 8PM.
-Ben

Re: [PLUG] PLUG Venue Options

[Michael Ewan]

Get in touch with sriram.ramkris...@intel.com, he has a lot of big name
contacts in the Linux community.

On Tue, Nov 22, 2022 at 11:33 PM Russell Senior 
wrote:

> On Tue, Nov 8, 2022, 23:51 Russell Senior 
> wrote:
>
> > Okay, to follow up with results of my poll (now that several days have
> > gone by and new responses have tailed off):
> >
> > [...]
> >
> > 5 of 21 said they could help recruit speakers!
> >
>
> So the 5 people who said they could recruit speakers (and I shouldn't admit
> this, but I don't know who you are), any suggestions? If so, please let me
> or Michael know. We still have a couple weeks before the next first
> Thursday!
>
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] a question regarding something like nohup or disown

[Michael Ewan]

Somebody may have a better idea, but knowing you may lose the session you
generally would want to start any jobs with nohup and make sure any output
of the job is sent to log files for later processing when you check and see
the job has ended.  You might consider a job execution framework such as
Apache Airflow that would handle all the job creation and management for
you with a web page management dashboard.

On Tue, Nov 8, 2022 at 1:42 PM American Citizen 
wrote:

> Hi:
>
> I am running the KDE Plasmashell desktop, but it has memory leaks and
> eventually I will run out of system memory.
>
> If I logout, I will lose certain running jobs, which I really want to
> keep running.
>
> However if I start a shell, and do the %jobs -l command, nothing is
> there, so I cannot use %disown -r command nor prepend nohup in front of
> some command line execution with a background exec &.
>
> Just how can I attach a nohup to certain running pids, such that if I
> have to logout of the desktop session, these jobs still keep running?
>
> So far, the examples I have seen of nohup and disown, assume that one
> has a current shell open. They don't discuss what happens after the fact?
>
> Currently, if I logout of the desktop session, or restart the desktop, I
> lose the running programs.
>
> Any idea on how to stop this?
>
>
>
>

Re: [PLUG] PLUG Venue Options

[Michael Dexter]

That's pretty close to me and has the advantage of easier parking for those of 
us who would drive.

> I can walk there :-)
> For me, that's almost straight shot from home for me.

This is as accessible to me at PSU.


Surely there are some downsides. Many, many downsides. :-)

Michael

Re: [PLUG] PLUG Venue Options

[Michael Dexter]

On 11/3/22 11:36 AM, Michael Ewan wrote:

The 54, 56, or 61 buses stop there.


Thank you for looking that up!

Russell is reaching out to another downtown venue.

Michael

Re: [PLUG] PLUG Venue Options

[Michael Ewan]

The 54, 56, or 61 buses stop there.

On Thu, Nov 3, 2022 at 11:08 AM Michael Dexter  wrote:

> All,
>
> I have spent months inquiring about the future of PSU as a PLUG venue
> and have nothing conclusive.
>
> I know that public transportation is important to many of you.
>
> Please advise if this address is easily accessible for you:
>
> 5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland, OR 97239
>
> It is off Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway near Hillsdale.
>
> Michael Dexter
> PLUG Volunteer
>

[PLUG] PLUG Venue Options

[Michael Dexter]

All,

I have spent months inquiring about the future of PSU as a PLUG venue 
and have nothing conclusive.


I know that public transportation is important to many of you.

Please advise if this address is easily accessible for you:

5500 SW Dosch Rd, Portland, OR 97239

It is off Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway near Hillsdale.

Michael Dexter
PLUG Volunteer

Re: [PLUG] Brave browser: clear cache

[Michael Ewan]

In Brave 1.44 under  Settings --> Privacy and Security --> Clear Browsing
Data,  there are several checkboxes for what you want to delete, history,
cache, cookies, etc.

On Tue, Oct 18, 2022 at 10:00 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Tue, 18 Oct 2022, Jason Barnett wrote:
>
> > Settings --> Privacy and Security --> Clear Browsing Data
>
> Jason,
>
> That's what I did but didn't know if that cleared stored pages or only the
> history.
>
> Rich
>

[PLUG] Linux Kernel Meet-Up Tonight

[Michael Dexter]

Hello all,

Drew F a PLUG speaker is hosting a Linux Kernel meet-up tonight:

https://www.meetup.com/portland-linux-kernel-meetup/?_cookie-check=kUYjw-_-V80dTSWU

I have inquired again about PSU as a venue for in-person PLUG meetings.

All the best,

Michael Dexter

[PLUG] Firefox Updates In Mint

[Michael Barnes]

I am running Mint on my main desktop machine. Everything I find on the web
says that Firefox should automatically update, however, mine is still on
88.0 when the current version is 105. Apparently I am missing something
somewhere. I periodically run "sudo apt update" and "sudo apt upgrade" and
it does lots of things, but I can't tell if anything Firefox related is in
the list.

Interestingly, I found several pages that talk about Ubuntu/Mint Firefox
upgrades and all mention versions 83, 89, 99, 102, and 103, none say
anything about the version 88 I have on my system.

Thanks for any ideas.

Michael

Re: [PLUG] Off topic but not sure who to ask

[Michael Ewan]

I had to call Comcast once about a connection problem.  They started with
the script, I interrupted and said I was a Senior Systems Programmer at
Intel Corporation, please just tell me what you want me to test and I will
do that.  The response was great, "thank goodness, someone intelligent,
lets start with a trace route."


On Wed, Sep 21, 2022 at 9:22 PM Ben Koenig 
wrote:

> Scripted tech support strikes again.
>
> https://xkcd.com/806/
>
> -Ben
> Sent from ProtonMail mobile
>
>  Original Message 
> On Sep 21, 2022, 5:35 PM, Chuck Hast wrote:
>
> > UPDATE. Google finally relented and told my wife that they were going to
> send the device to her home address. Now we are just awaiting the RMA info
> page to answer any other questions they may have. I guess someone finally
> READ the data and realized that her address was in the USA. Again thank you
> for all of the recommendations. On Wed, Sep 21, 2022 at 9:53 AM Chuck Hast
> wrote: > I want to thank all of you for your information, each was a >
> nugget to be mined... One thing that I had not thought about > was the FCC.
> A good friend of mine had an issue quite similar > to this with another
> carrier, they were giving him the same > run around. He got fed up, being a
> lawyer he looked at the > options saw that a call to the FCC might take
> care of it, sure > enough he made his call gave this information, next day
> he > got a call from someone very high up in the carriers org asking > how
> that the issue could be resolved, he told the fellow what > he was trying
> to get done and it was taken care of in minutes. > So that maybe the route
> I will take. > > Daniel, regarding having to use guile to deal with these
> people > remember my wife has been paying her Fi account every month > she
> has been paying her monthly bill for the phone purchase > every month, and
> she has been paying phone insurance every > month. For them to say they
> cannot send the phone to her > USA address because it is out of the country
> is not only outrageous > but denying her the legal and proper use of the
> service she is > paying for. That is I believe in some circles called theft
> or theft > of services. Under that situation, you do what you have to
> withing > the bounds of decency to recover your lost property. > > I do not
> like to lie but I do not like to have things stolen from > me. > > -- Chuck
> Hast -- KP4DJT -- I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth
> me. Ph 4:13 KJV Todo lo puedo en Cristo que me fortalece. Fil 4:13 RVR1960

[PLUG] Music Composing Software

[Michael Barnes]

I may have asked this before, but forgot.

Any suggestions on music composing software for Linux? I'm not talking
about an audio editor like Audacity. I want to see a staff and put notes on
it and hopefully play it. I did find some programs maybe a year ago, but
can't remember any of the names.

Thanks,
Michael

Re: [PLUG] Typing accented characters in text files

[Michael Rasmussen]

On 2022-09-15 15:01, Rich Shepard wrote:

My locale is set to LANG=en_US.UTF-8. I write primarily in text-based
applications such as emacs and alpine, and I want to learn how to enter
accented characters so I can type, for example, Résumé rather than 
Resume.


My web searches have not been productive, probably because I'm not 
using the

appropriate search terms.

If there's a document I can read and use as a reference please point me 
to

it.


Consider changing your keyboard to "English (intl, with AltGr dead 
keys)" The right Alt key (as opposed to the left, not correct) gives you 
access to é á etc as shifted keys. As easy as getting a capital letter.


--
   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] Gnumeric users here?

[Michael Ewan]

Agreed, the spreadsheet should just work.  I was offering an alternative
that may give you more functionality.

On Sat, Sep 10, 2022 at 11:15 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> On Sat, 10 Sep 2022, Michael Ewan wrote:
>
> > Depending on your programming skill, you might want to use Python,
> > Jupyter-Lab, and Mito instead.
> >
> https://towardsdatascience.com/the-mito-jupyterlab-extension-a-spreadsheet-that-generates-python-b25d2c447d48
>
> Michael,
>
> Why? The spreadsheet should be able to do this.
>
> I opened the .gnumeric file in LO's Calc and successfully sorted all rows
> in
> Column C. So gnumeric should do so, too. (gnumeric-1.12.49-x86_64-2_SBo is
> installed.)
>
> Rich
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Gnumeric users here?

[Michael Ewan]

Depending on your programming skill, you might want to use Python,
Jupyter-Lab, and Mito instead.
https://towardsdatascience.com/the-mito-jupyterlab-extension-a-spreadsheet-that-generates-python-b25d2c447d48


On Sat, Sep 10, 2022 at 10:55 AM Rich Shepard 
wrote:

> I've re-started using gnumeric and have a couple of questions. I joined the
> mail list and haven't seen responses to a couple of questions I posted.
> (One's not so important, the other one is important.)
>
> I've a spreadsheet with 13k+ rows and 10 columns and want to sort all rows
> based on the (text) values in Column C. I select all cells then Data ->
> Sort
> -> Column C descending. Press the 'OK' button and nothing changes.
>
> What have I missed doing?
>
> Rich
>

Re: [PLUG] trying to simplify my Linux operating system graphics components

[Michael Barnes]

There are all kinds of strange horror stories about weird things happening
to computers during Zoom meetings. People have experienced configuration
changes, unusual file uploads and downloads, spyware, hacked bank accounts,
stolen information, etc. There have been several FBI investigations into
Zoom over this. Personally, I do not allow Zoom software on any of my
computers. I use an appliance for any Zoom meetings I need to attend. Yes,
I am limited that I cannot do screen sharing, click links, download files,
etc. But I have peace of mind they don't have their hooks in my systems.
Michael


On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 21:29 Tomas Kuchta 
wrote:

> On Tue, Sep 6, 2022, 20:30 American Citizen 
> wrote:
>
> > Hi all:
> >
> > .
>
>
> I use openSuSE for decades by now and I have no clue. I once had similar
> trouble, over and over fighting with Nvidia. In the end I swore, no more,
> and kept it by using Intel graphics and now AMD. That kept me out of the
> trouble and happy linux user. So, many thanks to Intel for excellent
> support and now AMD for following the same path.
>
> Could this guide help you?
> https://opensuse-guide.org/3d.php
>
> Best, Tomas
>
> >
>

Re: [PLUG] memory and swap not recovered after program kill - some questions

[Michael Ewan]

I tell my students that kill -9 is evil and to not use it (except when
everything else fails).  Kill -9 cannot be handled in the program, it kills
the program immediately leaving open files, memory allocations, swap space,
and all kinds of other stuff like child processes laying around.  You are
correct to use -15 (the default for kill pid).  If that does not work then
kill -2 (quit with a core dump), or sometimes in the case of shells running
scripts you need kill -1 (better to use kill -HUP here so you do not
accidentally kill 1).

On Sun, Aug 28, 2022 at 12:58 PM American Citizen 
wrote:

> To all:
>
> Regarding recovering both memory and swap space, after killing an
> algebraic program, I restarted the system, rand some of these types of
> programs, then reached a point where I had to shut the system down, so I
> tried using the kill -15 command to kill the running algebraic programs,
> and then both physical memory and swap space were released. I was using
> kill -9 in the past, but now I will use kill -15 as it does what I
> expected.
>
> Also I found out a great CLI command to see what's in swap memory,
> called "smem" and you can sort processes using swap by the simple command
>
> % smem -s swap -r
>
> very useful command to know.
>
> I am not sure why kill -9 left stuff sitting around. (at least on my
> machine)
>
> Randall
>
>
>

Re: [PLUG] Need help backing up my data

[Michael Ewan]

Are you using a USB3 drive and a USB3 port, the speed of the interface is
what I would think of first.

On Fri, Jul 15, 2022 at 8:41 AM Mark Phillips 
wrote:

> I have an Ubuntu 18.04 system with two drives in an lvm with one logical
> root partition. I am trying to back up the contents of the drives (ie /) to
> an external usb drive using rsync. It is taking a really long time. After
> 26 hours of continuous operation I have only transferred 138 GB out of 2+
> TB, so I am looking at about 16 days to complete the transfer.
>
> My rsync command is:
> sudo rsync  --no-compress --info=progress2 -avAXEWSlHh
>
> --exclude={'/run','/mnt','/swapfile','/boot','/dev','/proc','/sys','/run','/mnt','/media','/lost+found','/swapfile.extended','/tmp'}
> / '/media/mark/Seagate Portable Drive/tsunami-backups-Jul_13_17-39/'
>
> Any suggestions on how I can speed this up and not lose any data?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Mark
>

[PLUG] Linux Kernel Meetup in August

[Michael Dexter]

Hello all,

PLUG speaker Drew Fustini is organizing a Linux Kernel Meetup that might 
be of interest to some of you:


https://www.meetup.com/portland-linux-kernel-meetup

All the best,

Michael Dexter

[PLUG-ANNOUNCE] Linux Kernel Meetup in August

[Michael Dexter]

Hello all,

PLUG speaker Drew Fustini is organizing a Linux Kernel Meetup that might 
be of interest to some of you:


https://www.meetup.com/portland-linux-kernel-meetup

All the best,

Michael Dexter
___
PLUG: https://pdxlinux.org
PLUG-announce mailing list
PLUG-announce@pdxlinux.org
https://pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce

Re: [PLUG] On line banking with Ubuntu & U.S.Bank

[Michael Rasmussen]

On 2022-07-06 00:25, jim karlock wrote:

I have been using ubuntu 14.04 for online banking with U.S Bank for
over 5 years.

About a week ago, clicking the sign in button quit producing a log in
window. Today, U.S>Bank support told me that it was probably the use
of Ubuntu instead of Windows or MacOS.

Is anyone using Ubuntu with U.S.Bank? If so is my use of 14.04 likely
the problem? , ...


FEH. Whoever told you it was due to not using Windows or MacOS was being 
lazy.

They do it for ease.

I've been using PopOS!, a Ubuntu variant, for years. I use, due to 
laziness, Firefox. Try that. It is known to work, by me.


Only call USB help desks if they've canceled your  ATM or credit card. 
They are, IMHO, useless for any other case.


Disclaimer: I am a retired US Bank employee. My opinions are mine and 
might, just might, be colored by the experience of working there.


--
   Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity

Re: [PLUG] Hardware recommendations: KVM switch

[Michael Barnes]

On Thu, Jun 30, 2022, 07:48 Rich Shepard  wrote:

> I want to purchase a KVM switch that allows me to switch an HP Compaq
> LA1951g monitor between two desktop workstations. One workstation has a
> Radeon Pro WX 4100 video card with 4 mini-displayports, the other has a
> Radeon Pro WX 2100 video card with 2 mini-displayports and 1 displayport.
>
> My web searches find KVM switches for 2 or 3 monitors and a couple of hits
> for 1 monitor/2 computers (the latter presents Newegg and Amazon), but the
> descriptions all say 'dual monitors.'
>
> Not being a hardware guy I need recommendations for a KVM switch that would
> allow me to use one USB/DIN keyboard and trackball and the 1280x1024
> monitor
> with two desktop workstations which have mini-display ports in common. (I
> assume there are mini-displayport to displayport adapters, and vice versa.)
>
> Rich
>

I can't remember the brand name, but in a previous life, I had a bunch of
computers and used a couple KVM over Ethernet devices. They came in 4, 8,
and 16 port versions. There was a dongle at each computer that connected
via an Ethernet cable to a console box with the peripherals attached. The
nice thing was the dongle always presented connections to the computer, so
it never knew when the console was not in use. You brought up a list on the
screen with a hot key and selected the computer you wanted. It also had a
scan feature so, when it was not in active use, it would step through the
list and display each screen for a short time. It was pretty slick. Maybe a
search for KVM over Ethernet net may find something for you.
There were different dongles for VGA and DVI, but I would imagine they now
have HDMI and display port versions.

Michael

[PLUG] unsubscribe

[Michael Rasmussen]

On 2022-06-07 11:17, Galen Seitz wrote:

On 6/7/22 10:32, Rich Shepard wrote:
Perhaps my web search terms ask the wrong questions, but I've not 
found how
to 'collapse' an emacs buffer so only those lines beginning in column 
1 are

displayed.

My use is python coding. A module (*.py file) will have multiple 
classes
defined, each class beginning in column 1 while all following lines 
are
indented (4 spaces here). When I want to see what classes are in a 
buffer
being able to see only class names, then returning to view all lines, 
is

quite useful.

In the 1980s I used a DOS programming editor called 'MultiEdit' that 
had
this capability and it was really useful. I'm sure that emacs can do 
it yet

I've not found how.

Please point me to resources where I can learn how to do this.


It sounds like you would benefit from some python-specific emacs code.
This looks relevant:

<https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18479208/emacs-plugin-to-list-all-methods-in-a-python-module>

galen


--
 Michael Rasmussen
Be Appropriate && Follow Your Curiosity