The Linux Questions Thread: a bunch of pitfalls, but technically it's possible

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Linux Questions Thread: a bunch of pitfalls, but technically it's possible

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ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Also if you don't have any files that match the glob then "*.jpg" expands into "*.jpg".

If you're using bash you may want to look into the failglob or nullglob options.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2024 03:35

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 13:35

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

I like the part where OpenSSH sshd doesn't link against liblzma anyways, but Debian et al. use a patched version that links against libsystemd which links against liblzma.

Didn't Debian learn after 2008 not to mess with sshd?

# ¿ Mar 30, 2024 02:39

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

There's a lot of interesting components to this whole debacle, but one part that stands out is that the malicious autoconf m4 macro only exists in the upstream release tarball (still hosted on GitHub) but not in the source repo. So anyone looking at a post-configure build of the tarball would see the injected malicious source, but anyone cloning from git wouldn't. And yet the two are "close enough" that missing autoconf bits may easily be excused by someone casually comparing the two.

Going forward I think a reasonable policy change on Debian's side would be that any upstream project that uses git or similar revision control (which is most everything now) should always be built from a clone/checkout of an upstream repo tag or commit id, and not from separately packaged source tarball, to ensure that exactly this scenario doesn't happen. Not that you can't have bad actors on the distribution package maintainer side either.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2024 05:15

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

Volguus posted:

it appears that the minimal installation CD does not have serial console enabled in grub or for the kernel by default.

It's a shame that any Linux install media doesn't have serial console support by default.

Fancy workstation users and their frame-buffer cards.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 17:19

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

cruft posted:

LINUX THREAD PAGE 2^10

It�s OK, the page boundary is at 4 kB (8 kB on Alpha) so nothing weird should happen.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2024 21:07

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

alnilam posted:

I'm looking to get a crappy old computer from the thrift store and set it up with linux to be my 5 year old's babby's first computer.

I wonder if something like an RPi would have the benefit of being both cheaper but also better supported? I'm not sure how much thrift store computers go for these days. But also, I wouldn't want to deal with a spinny-disk desktop in any circumstance in 2024.

alnilam posted:

maybe even make it so games have no shortcuts and must be launched from terminal for bonus computer learningness?

I probably wouldn't deviate from the stock experience (except to curtail browser access). GUI proficiency still has value on desktops currently, might make the transition from touch-based interfaces (if your kids are familiar with tablets) easier, and promotes discoverability.

The terminal is always there for when its actually needed.

alnilam posted:

Anyway I'm posting here wondering if anyone here has done something similar and has any advice based on their experience.

An entire generation of children were doing BASIC programming on Apple IIs and C64s in the 80s, so it's not unreasonable for children to pick up CLI skills and all. That said, they're hardly necessary for daily technology interactions in 2024 and I wouldn't force it. If your kids are showing an interest/proficiency for it then by all means. I just suspect that most kids aren't interested in this stuff, then or now.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2024 18:25

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

pseudorandom name posted:

And every other GUI (Windows, macOS) makes individual applications draw their own decorations for good technical reasons. One of the reasons Wayland was created was specifically this issue, and the fact that KDE rolls back to X11 style window decorations is weird grognardy behavior on their part.

Isn't the compositor still responsible for providing decorations for Xwayland windows? In which case, I don't know that KWin's behavior is that weird.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2024 17:12

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

AlternateNu posted:

Edit: Nevermind. Looks like the Logitech MX Keys Mini set is exactly what I'm looking for.

I'm a fan of the MX Mechanical (Mini).

# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:27

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# ¿ May 17, 2024 13:35

ExcessBLarg!: Sep 1, 2001

cruft posted:

I've done this many times using command line tools. I forget which ones. Pdfutils maybe?

pdfjam is what I use to scale/nup PDFs into a new PDF. I'm not sure how it handles layers. It's based on the LaTeX pdfpages packages which basically just applies clipping/transform matrices to the existing document's draw ops, for better or worse.

pdftocairo will "render" a PDF using a libcairo backend which supports PDF, PostScript, or PNG if you want raster. It supports scaling but I'm not sure how the scale options are actually interpreted and they may be backend specific. It also, frustratingly, tends to generate PostScript that breaks on my 2008 Brother printer.

There's also pdftops (Xpdf), pdf2ps, and ps2pdf (GhostScript) that I believe support scale options.

# ¿ May 15, 2024 03:04

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Serious Hardware/Software Crap > The Linux Questions Thread: a bunch of pitfalls, but technically it's possible

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