Linux

Update 2023-09-15 Using Control Master This is my preferred approach now, as it is simple to use, and doesn’t come with the added security issues of having authentication keys lying around. It utilises an SSH capability called ControlMaster, which multiplexes multiple SSH sessions over the same connection. Only the initial connection requires authentication, then, all subsequent SSH or SCP calls to the same account+host will use the authenticated connection. Step 1 is to setup you SSH to use ControlMaster. In ~/.ssh/config add ...

Securing any infrastructure means, amongst other things, protecting machines from unnecessary exposure, and restricting remote administration access. While having an SSH port open to the world is sometimes a necessary evil, a preferable approach is to restrict access, via a firewall or security group, to a smaller, more controlled network. If you always administer your systems from a single location - home, office, etc - it is practical to simply whitelist those IP addresses. However, if you are ever working remotely it’ll become necessary to either manually add your current IP address, or use a VPN. ...

Slashdot | Is Apple Killing Linux on the Desktop? This is a summary of my experiences walking the path between Linux (Ubuntu/Gnome) and OSX. For background I’ve been using Linux on the desktop for about 7 years, and only in the past 2 months have purchased a MacBook. For years I’ve been using linux on the desktop, first Debian/Gnome and more recently Ubuntu/Gnome. I must say I really appreciated how well configured the Ubuntu desktop was out-of-the-box, and through good things coming together, how well the dynamic monitor configuration worked. As a programmer, web monkey, researcher and academic writer I had no complaints about the Linux desktop per se. I didn’t really miss any applications, and VM ware could certainly facilitate whatever was required. ...

1. Presentation controller for my bluetooth phone In fact this already exists, in many forms apparently. The trick for me was to get it working. If I was to derive it from scratch I would have made a simple, mappable Java app for the phone, and would have written a Python app for the server. In fact this already exists in Xbtrc. The trick for me however, was to get the phone to find the computer. The phone could find other phones, and using the python rfcomm examples, I found the computers could find each other. The problem, it turns out, was the computer needs to be put into discoverable mode for the phone to be able to find it. ...