Re: [GTALUG] use Window to access SSH server with obsolete ciphers

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

You might want to consider shellinabox as a more secure option.


On Fri, Aug 4, 2023 at 10:16 AM John Sellens via talk 
wrote:

> You can often ssh from newer systems to older systems by telling ssh
> that it's allowed to use older options.
>
> For example, to connect from ubuntu 22 to centos 5, my .ssh/config file has
>
>   Host centos5.example.com
> KexAlgorithms +diffie-hellman-group1-sha1
> # ubuntu 22+ needs
> HostkeyAlgorithms +ssh-rsa
> PubkeyAcceptedKeyTypes +ssh-rsa
>
> and I left myself a reference to:
> https://www.openssh.com/legacy.html
>
> Hope someone finds that helpful - cheers
>
> John
>
>
> On Fri, 2023/08/04 09:58:44AM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
> talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
> | Recent Fedora systems' SSH client won't access CentOS 6 servers.
> |
> |   Unable to negotiate with x.y.z.w port 22: no matching host key
> type
> |   found. Their offer: ssh-rsa,ssh-dss
> |
> | (One should not still be running CentOS 6!)
> |
> | All my workstations run recent Fedora systems.  How could I access this
> | server?
> |
> | It turns out the Windows has an SSH client these days and it isn't as
> | picky about ciphers as Fedora.
> |
> | It could well be that other Linux distros support older ciphers too.
> |
> | This isn't generally a good thing: those ciphers were retired due to
> | security concerns.
> | ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Cheap small computers [was Re: DECTalk TTS in source for Linux]

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/292442306475

$20/unit with shipping


On Tue, Apr 25, 2023 at 5:43 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier  wrote:

> | From: Ansar Mohammed via talk 
> |
> | Most Thin Clients are SFF x64/x86 PCs.  Used Dells/HPs are the most
> | prevalent and quite inexpensive.
> | The "modern" ones i.e. the ones that have been manufactured over the last
> | 10 years come with 1080p and premium sound.
> | Parkytowers is a pretty good repository
> | https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/10zig/
>
> Where are they quite inexpensive?
>
> A quick search for "thin client" on ebay.ca didn't seem to result in
> anything seemed cheaper and better than the M93p Tiny.
>
> I know some people have found treasures but I didn't notice any.---
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Re: [GTALUG] Cheap small computers [was Re: DECTalk TTS in source for Linux]

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Most Thin Clients are SFF x64/x86 PCs.  Used Dells/HPs are the most
prevalent and quite inexpensive.
The "modern" ones i.e. the ones that have been manufactured over the last
10 years come with 1080p and premium sound.
Parkytowers is a pretty good repository
https://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/10zig/


On Tue, Apr 25, 2023 at 12:04 PM Alex Kink via talk  wrote:

> By "thin client" do you mean the ultra small form factor (USFF) PC or an
> actual client (such as Dell Wyse, which is basically a RDP/Citrix/VNC
> client and not a stand alone computer)?
>
> I hope this is not against the mailing list rules, but I've been using
> these guys out of Burlington for years to buy such used hardware. They have
> several USFF machines available from both Lenovo and Dell. They categorize
> them as TINY in the "Form factor" column.
>
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-hKAmQahPcEV_h5mwflWGLWCQtqkKOBDbsakv4ee2u0/edit?authkey=CM3vpdoP=en=CM3vpdoP=en#gid=0
>
> On Apr 25, 2023, at 11:05, Ansar Mohammed via talk 
> wrote:
>
> Get a used Dell Thin client. Amazing tiny boxes.
>
> On Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 2:35 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
> talk@gtalug.org> wrote:
>
>> | From: Stewart C. Russell via talk 
>>
>> | * availability of hardware: small Linux computers are in very short
>> supply
>> | right now; and
>> |
>> | * sound quality: the built-in audio hardware on most single-board Linux
>> | computers sounds atrocious. Without an add-on amplifier/equalizer, I
>> think
>> | you'd be horrified at the lack of fidelity.]
>>
>> There are a lot of used Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny computers
>> available, starting at $100.  These are ancient "1 liter" PCs that are
>> great for Linux.  Built like tanks.  I have had three for a long time.
>> <
>> https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bestbuy-marketplace-vendor-x-dynamic-uniway-refurb-good-lenovo-m93p-tiny-pc-w10p-intel-i5-4570t-101-00-8-gb-240-gb-ssd-2607386/
>> >
>>
>> For $200ish you can get modern low-end Win11 boxes.  Even smaller than
>> the ThinkCentre Tiny form factor.  The Intel N95 and N100 are recent
>> Intel Core processors but with only "Efficiency" cores.  They seem to
>> be more performant than recent chips with Atom microarchitecture.  Not
>> built like tanks.  Here are a couple of $196 examples (I don't know
>> enough to recommend them):
>> <
>> https://www.amazon.ca/Windows-Desktop-3200U-Working-Computer/dp/B09QSBCCC1/ref=sr_1_11
>> >
>> <
>> https://www.amazon.ca/Windows-Generation-Processors-Support-60Hz11/dp/B09MCZBZP6/ref=sr_1_5
>> >
>>
>> These little PCs are not as cute as single-board computers but they
>> sure are no-fuss to use.  Standard Linux distros just work.
>>
>> Karen: I infer from previous discussions that your requirements of
>> audio systems are critical but not easy to specify.  And testing is
>> potentially dangerous.  So it would be foolish to recommend anything
>> new to you.  Especially something horrible!
>> ---
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>>
> ---
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>
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Re: [GTALUG] Cheap small computers [was Re: DECTalk TTS in source for Linux]

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Get a used Dell Thin client. Amazing tiny boxes.

On Mon, Apr 24, 2023 at 2:35 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk 
wrote:

> | From: Stewart C. Russell via talk 
>
> | * availability of hardware: small Linux computers are in very short
> supply
> | right now; and
> |
> | * sound quality: the built-in audio hardware on most single-board Linux
> | computers sounds atrocious. Without an add-on amplifier/equalizer, I
> think
> | you'd be horrified at the lack of fidelity.]
>
> There are a lot of used Lenovo ThinkCentre M93p Tiny computers
> available, starting at $100.  These are ancient "1 liter" PCs that are
> great for Linux.  Built like tanks.  I have had three for a long time.
> <
> https://forums.redflagdeals.com/bestbuy-marketplace-vendor-x-dynamic-uniway-refurb-good-lenovo-m93p-tiny-pc-w10p-intel-i5-4570t-101-00-8-gb-240-gb-ssd-2607386/
> >
>
> For $200ish you can get modern low-end Win11 boxes.  Even smaller than
> the ThinkCentre Tiny form factor.  The Intel N95 and N100 are recent
> Intel Core processors but with only "Efficiency" cores.  They seem to
> be more performant than recent chips with Atom microarchitecture.  Not
> built like tanks.  Here are a couple of $196 examples (I don't know
> enough to recommend them):
> <
> https://www.amazon.ca/Windows-Desktop-3200U-Working-Computer/dp/B09QSBCCC1/ref=sr_1_11
> >
> <
> https://www.amazon.ca/Windows-Generation-Processors-Support-60Hz11/dp/B09MCZBZP6/ref=sr_1_5
> >
>
> These little PCs are not as cute as single-board computers but they
> sure are no-fuss to use.  Standard Linux distros just work.
>
> Karen: I infer from previous discussions that your requirements of
> audio systems are critical but not easy to specify.  And testing is
> potentially dangerous.  So it would be foolish to recommend anything
> new to you.  Especially something horrible!
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] how I sign PDFs

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I think you are conflating physically signing a doc, with
digital signature.
When you use a digital pen to sign a doc, your signature does not matter,
it's completely cosmetic. The doc is signed under the hood electronically
using PKI with a trusted chain based on how you authenticated to the
signing application.



On Wed, Apr 12, 2023 at 4:11 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk 
wrote:

> | From: James Knott via talk 
>
> | The proper way to do digital signatures is with X.509 certificates. When
> I was
> | at IBM, in the late 90s, we used them in Lotus notes. There are some
> public
> | key sources available, but it's not very common outside of large
> | organizations.
>
> Maybe.
>
> The troubles include:
>
> - issuers should take on the responsability to validate what they are
>   vouching for.  It is hard to make this simultaneously useful and
>   inexpensive.
>
> - cert vendors are mostly rent-seeking.  That goes with the territory
>   of being at the top of a hierarch
>
> - X.509 is complicated in ways that are not useful
>
> The PGP web of trust is/was interesting but it doesn't seem to work for
> most people.  Perhaps due to lack of motivation.
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Modems – does it matter?

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I strongly suggest you search each model and check the reviews.
I can't remember the model, but teksavvy sent me one at the start of the
pandemic when I wanted to upgrade to 300M. Different modems have different
upper limits of performance.
The modem I got was a nightmare and kept dropping out at the worst possible
time.
I subsequently did some research on it, and there was nothing but horror
stories.
I had to return it at my expense.




On Fri, Mar 24, 2023 at 11:32 PM Yoshua Wakeham via talk 
wrote:

> Hi all!
>
> My toddler spilled a cup of water on our TekSavvy modem (Technicolor
> TC4350), and now we need a new modem. Welp. TekSavvy sent us the list of
> compatible modems. My question is – are there any important considerations
> for this decision other than price and (immediate!) availability? I don't
> think I've ever actually had to choose my modem, so I don't know what I
> don't know.
>
> Here are the options, all opinions welcome:
>
>- Technicolor CGA4234DGW WiFi - Firmware must be
>CGA4234-P15-13-CA902-c0200r181-191007
>- Hitron CODA-4680 WiFi - Firmware must be 7.1.1.2.2b9 - Teksavvy
>sells for $199.95 or $16.66/month for 12 months + $10 shipping. We also
>rent for the cost of $8 per month.
>- Hitron CODA-45 - Firmware must be 7.2.4.3.1b3 - Teksavvy sells for
>$139.95 or $11.66/month for 12 months + $10 shipping. We also rent for the
>cost of $6 per month. (Not recommended to be acquired outside Teksavvy due
>to firmware)
>- Technicolor TC4400 - Firmware must be SR701343-190628-D - (Usually
>available at Canada Computers)
>- Compal Broadband Networks Inc. (CBN) CD8000 - Firmware must be
>7.13.198.12 - (Usually available at Canada Computers)
>- Sercomm DM1000 - Firmware must be V1.12.03.011
>- Compal Broadband Networks Inc. (CBN) CH8568 WiFi- Firmware must be
>CH8568-7.13.198.53-NOSH
>
> Thanks!
> Yosh
>
> --
> *Yoshua Wakeham*
> yoshwake...@gmail.com
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Reminder: General Meeting - Tuesday, March 14th at 7:30 PM

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Perhaps might I suggest some decorum for our presenter? While I am
personally not a fan of DeFi, the underlying tech including IPFS is quite
fascinating.



On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 1:03 PM Warren McPherson via talk 
wrote:

> Non Fungible Tokens.
> In some circles, also compared to bovine excrement.
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 10:57 AM o1bigtenor via talk 
> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 7:45 AM Alan Heighway via talk 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> NFTs: seizing the memes of production
>>>  with Warren McPherson
>>> 
>>>
>>> 14 March, 2023 at 7:30 PM
>>>
>>> Warren will lead a discussion about NFTs.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>> Please pardon the unknowing but are NFTs - - - - equivalent to  New
>> Technology File Systems - - - - a la M$ male bovine excrement?
>>
>> (I can't find any information on NFTs - - - only on NFTS - - - - so I'm
>> not sure what's a happening!)
>>
>> TIA
>> ---
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[GTALUG] Fwd: Helping out a fellow HAM

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

x-posting

-- Forwarded message -
From: Ansar Mohammed 
Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2022 at 2:04 PM
Subject: Helping out a fellow HAM
To: 


Apologies if you have seen this before
>From Peel Amateur Radio Club:

" I’ve been helping out Lee ve3bqw in Orangeville relocate. He’s had a
stroke and lost mobility so they are moving from a tri-level house to a
seniors community.
They thought they had a taker for the tower but it fell through at the last
moment.
The tower in question is a “40ft free standing tower
Removal and take down is required. An elder ham in Orangeville had to
downsize due to mobility issues. Needs to happen soon so as not impede the
sale of the house.
It’s 6 8ft sections bolted with stainless steel bolts. The bottom section
is buried 4 ft down.
Please see pictures attached.
Open to all removal proposals.
Brian ve3...@gmail.com"
https://www.facebook.com/peelarc/posts/pfbid029SLDGderqVJqNuCpuRwbkiUEoQfHwzuUWj3E98GxcJVAeDk47AUXD5HNS2EqDdkVl
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Re: [GTALUG] decent cheap ChromeOS tablet -- can run debian in a container

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I have the Dell Venue Pro also. In fact I have two of them and an HP Stream
7. There are lots of Windows tablets on ebay. The cheapest I have seen is
the toshiba encore series ~30USD. But they are almost identical to
the Venue Pro
Debian runs very very well on them. But it was a pain to get the wifi
recognized.
The problem wasn't so much getting it to work, but more of "ok now what?
what can I do with this?"


On Mon, Jan 24, 2022 at 11:06 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

> | From: Ansar Mohammed via talk 
>
> | Depending on what you want to achieve,
>
> Yes!
>
> | IMHO you can get a used HP 10 inch
> | tablet on eBay for $50 running Windows and flatten it with Debian.
> | https://www.ebay.com/itm/324124770651
> | Windows on 7-10 inch tablets are all over ebay.
>
> Not a terrible idea, but there are problems with this particular
> example:
>
> - ebay.COM:
> US$50, not C$50
> unknown (to me) problems and expense  getting it across the border
> unlikely to have a useful warranty (used, across border)
>
> - specs: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04553375
>
> - 1280x800 resolution
>
> - poor SoC
>
> https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/80274/intel-atom-processor-z3735f-2m-cache-up-to-1-83-ghz.html
> SoC launched 7 years ago
> intentionally crippled on launch
> Intel's goal: compete against ARM but don't cannibalize x86
> Microsoft's goal: compete against Android/iOS but don't
> cannibalize existing Windows market.
> surely 32-bit UEFI even though CPU can do x86-64.
>
> - only one USB socket and that is only USB 2
>
> Linux support is mixed for this kind of tablet (I have a Dell Venue 8
> Pro of this generation).  Typically the SoC has very odd bits.  Like:
> audio is hooked up in a non-standard and non-obvious way.  Like: UEFI
> cannot access SD card (so you cannot boot from it).  I was defeated
> when I tried to put linux on it back in the day.  I think that Linux
> mostly works these days (I tried booting the Venue 8 off a live Fedora
> stick a few months ago).
>
> There was a tremendous blossoming of Windows tablets then
> (Win 8.1 era).  Evolution could have improved them but instead it
> killed them off (Intel and Microsoft threw in the towel).  Windows
> tablets now are expensive and inferior.  This is what currently passes
> as a good deal (yuck):
>
> https://forums.redflagdeals.com/best-buy-microsoft-surface-laptop-go-12-4-i5-1035g1-4-64-emmc-499-99-2520226/
>
> Currently, there are often reasonable deals on reasonable laptops with
> touch.  But they start at over $400 new.  Ones that I've considered
> start at about $700 on sale.
>
> The Lenovo is not much more expensive than the HP (when you factor in
> cross-border friction and used versus new) and has usefully better
> capabilities. But the HP can probably run Linux natively rather than
> in a container.
>
> - USB 3.x with extras vs USB 2.0 (OTG?)
> - 4G RAM vs 2G
> - 64G eMMC vs 32G eMMC
> - 1920x1200 vs 1280x800 resolution
> - warranty support vs no support
>
> If you want a good tablet, and don't need Linux, it is hard to argue
> against iPads.  Android tablets only seem to win when you consider price
> (which I do) or tinkerability.
>
> ChromeOS tablets are probably clunkier than Android tablets but they
> can run Android apps and they get support for many more years.  Linux
> under ChromeOS is supported by Google but Linux under Android is not.
>
> Windows Subsystem for Linux is a potentially interesting thing on
> tablets.  It will not run on 32-bit Windows, and so it won't run on
> this HP.  Actually, the HP hardware is too limited to be officially
> supported by current Window 10, but I think it works.  32G of "disk"
> is a nightmare when running Windows Update.
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Re: [GTALUG] decent cheap ChromeOS tablet -- can run debian in a container

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Depending on what you want to achieve, IMHO you can get a used HP 10 inch
tablet on eBay for $50 running Windows and flatten it with Debian.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/324124770651
Windows on 7-10 inch tablets are all over ebay.

On Fri, Jan 14, 2022 at 3:54 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk 
wrote:

> | From: o1bigtenor via talk 
>
> | Is dual boot better than blowing away the android system and installing
> | an OS?
>
> I think that you mean blowing away the ChromeOS system.
>
> I don't know if that is possible.  I know that this was possible on at
> least some x86-based CromeOS clamshells.  The Arm world is less
> standardized so it's not a sure thing.  Best to search for others who
> have done this.
>
> In my modest experience most x86 boxes sold with Windows can be easily
> switched to Linux.  That's a better direction to go for Linux on bare
> metal.
>
> | I'm a long time debian user - - - trying to decide between debian or
> | galliumOS - - - suggestions?
>
> I have no experience will galliumOS.
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Re: [GTALUG] Comparing XML/JSON files

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I don’t mind doing a demo of powershell on Linux. It’s open source of
course :)


On Tue, Dec 7, 2021 at 8:04 AM Lennart Sorensen via talk 
wrote:

> On Mon, Dec 06, 2021 at 11:06:36PM -0500, William Park via talk wrote:
> > PowerShell?  I'm reading Microsoft doc site... read... scratch head...
> > read... few 4 letter words... lots of 4 letter words...
>
> Supposedly very powerful, but looks like someone took the windows api
> and made it a CLI.  Horrible syntax. :)
>
> So it can do lots of stuff if you can figure out how to ask it.
>
> --
> Len Sorensen
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Re: [GTALUG] Comparing XML/JSON files

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

you can use powershell for Linux. this capability is built in

On Mon, Dec 6, 2021 at 3:48 PM William Park via talk 
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I know of "xmldiff" and "jsondiff" to compare XML or JSON files.  But,
> they don't allow me to exclude certain node or keyword.  Do you know any
> command line program that does that, in one-shot?
>
> If not, then I have to resort to
>  1. For JSON, use 'jq' to remove keyword, and then compare.
>  2. For XML, use 'xmlstarlet' to remove node, and then compare.
>
> --William
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Re: [GTALUG] UPS brand recommendations?

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

APC generally.
Are you considering just changing the battery?

On Mon, Nov 8, 2021 at 10:28 AM Scott Sullivan via talk 
wrote:

> For the first time in half a decade, I find myself needing a new UPS. My
> 1500VA APC UPS gave up the ghost this weekend.
>
> What brands are folks favoring theses days?
> --
> Scott Sullivan
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Re: [GTALUG] Linus Torvalds Responds to Linux Banning University of Minnesota

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I know some people may think this is an over-reaction. But FWIW, I agree
with the Zero Tolerance approach.


On Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 12:08 PM Dhaval Giani via talk 
wrote:

> On Sun, Apr 25, 2021 at 8:32 AM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk
>  wrote:
> >
> > | From: Aruna Hewapathirane via talk 
> >
> > Thanks for pointing this out.  (I used to subscribe to the LKML but it
> > just got too voluminous.)
> >
> > | I am still trying to understand the reason 'why' would anyone even
> want to
> > | do this ?
> >
> > The first question is "what, exactly, is 'this'?".
> >
> > I've ONLY read media reports and their recent apology.  So I'm not the
> > most informed.
> > <
> https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/cak8kejpuvlxmqp026jy7x5gzhu2yjlpu8sztzunxu2oxc70...@mail.gmail.com/T/#u
> >
> >
> > Some reactions.
> >
> > The apology starts with:
> >
> >   "We sincerely apologize for any harm our research group did to the
> >Linux kernel community."
> >
> > This common formulation rubs me the wrong way.  The word "any" means
> > that they are not actually admitting to there being harm.  If they had
> used
> > "the" or "all", I would interpret it as a genuine apology.
> >
> > Later they seem more contrite.  But it is buried at the end of a
> > paragraph, near the end of the message>
> >
> >   "We apologize unconditionally for what we now recognize was a breach of
> >the shared trust in the open source community and seek forgiveness for
> >our missteps."
> >
> > I think that they may have done the communities a service.  This kind
> > of weakness injection has always been available to bad actors.  In
> > this case, it was an actor intending to do good.
> >
> > - they don't think that they actually added a vulnerability
> >
> > - they demonstrated how adding a vulnerability could be done
> >
> > GKH appears to have over-reacted.  (I may be wrong: he's always seemed
> > like a rock-steady guy.)
> >
>
> As someone actually affected by these reverts :-). Greg KH did not
> over react. These guys did not do the community a service. They did
> add vulnerabilities (those have been reverted since) and they did not
> tell us anything. I myself have left old code in the kernel when
> trying to get rid of some of my stuff. And I was not trying to inject
> a bug. They did not tell me anything I did not already know. It is
> easy to get bugs into the kernel. Let me link to the paper and their
> "contributions".
>
>
> https://github.com/QiushiWu/QiushiWu.github.io/blob/main/papers/OpenSourceInsecurity.pdf
> --
> VIII A
> By its nature, OSS openly encourages contributors. Com- mitters can
> freely submit patches without liability. We believe that an effective
> and immediate action would be to update the code of conduct of OSS,
> such as adding a term like “by submitting the patch, I agree to not
> intend to introduce bugs.” Only committers who agreed to it would be
> allowed to go ahead to submit the patches. By introducing the
> liability, the OSS would not only discourage malicious committers but
> also raise the awareness of potential introduced bugs for benign
> committers.
> --
> This is a mitigation. Have contributors claim they are not introducing
> bugs (at least intentionally).
>
> The rest of the mitigations are equally bizarre. They are not telling
> us anything we don't know. There is nothing original in this work
> (except for the human experimentation aspect of it.)
>
> Now let's talk about the negative impact. It is already hard enough to
> contribute to the linux kernel. It is built on trust. They have
> destroyed any trust we had in code coming from UMN. How do we know we
> are not being experimented for research? Like Greg pointed out, it is
> much easier for us to ignore all their stuff. I don't have enough
> seconds in my minute to get my day job done. On top of that, any new
> comer will have to face a much higher bar, making it even more
> hostile. (I actually see it as a negative, because it is easier to
> ignore the newcomer as opposed to doing the extra work. And generally
> most newcomers with some work turn out to be darn good contributors.)
> It will make it harder to look at non corporate contributions
> seriously.
>
> And as far as UMN is concerned, this is not the first time they have
> been involved in questionable experiments. The last time had much more
> serious consequences.
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Dan_Markingson
>
> Dhaval
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Re: [GTALUG] "dd" in Windows?

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

This is a HUGE "it depends" situation.
If you want to create bootable media from an iso, use rufus.
If you want to write a raw image to removable media,, you should
use  win32dskimager.
If you just want to view the archive and copy files out use 7zip



On Wed, Dec 16, 2020 at 4:30 PM Kevin Cozens via talk 
wrote:

> On 2020-12-16 3:06 p.m., D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
> > | From: William Park via talk 
> > | How do you write "image" file to USB stick in Windows 10?
> > |
> > | In Linux, I would do 'dd', but it has to be Windows.
>
> IIRC, the program I usually see mentioned for this is Win32DiskImager.
>
> --
> Cheers!
>
> Kevin.
>
> http://www.ve3syb.ca/   | "Nerds make the shiny things that
> https://www.patreon.com/KevinCozens | distract the mouth-breathers, and
>  | that's why we're powerful"
> Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172  |
> #include  | --Chris Hardwick
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] YouTube Page

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

i would have thought it would be easier as we can get presenters from other
geographies

On Tue, Jun 16, 2020 at 1:37 PM Alex Volkov  wrote:

> Hey Ansar,
>
> I'm Alex, I'm working with the videos.
>
>
> Short answer is  -- We're not meeting in person right now and it's been a
> lot harder to get speakers for full talks, so it is unlikely in the near
> future.
>
> The slightly longer answer is -- we still have one video in the pipleline
> waiting to be released, also we're going to try to record our next meeting
> if  we manage to get a few short talks.
>
>
> Alex.
>
> On 2020-06-16 1:27 p.m., Ansar Mohammed via talk wrote:
>
> I was checking out the GTALUG youtube site and was very impressed with the
> quality and quantity of videos on some very relevant topics. Is there a
> plan for more of these videos?
>
>
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM4tvQ_GLEJiJ1OKzW81Bew
>
>
>
> ---
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>
>
>
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[GTALUG] YouTube Page

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I was checking out the GTALUG youtube site and was very impressed with the
quality and quantity of videos on some very relevant topics. Is there a
plan for more of these videos?


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCM4tvQ_GLEJiJ1OKzW81Bew
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[GTALUG] Free Linux VMs

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

So just an update to my earlier email, you can get 2 free Linux instances
on Oracle's Cloud platform and 1 free instance on Google's Cloud platform.
These are not time restricted.

If you do take up the offer, I strongly suggest you leave ssh password auth
disabled and use a key. These systems get millions of password spray
attacks every day over ssh.
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[GTALUG] Google GCP

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

It’s not as mature as AWS or Azure, but you can get a free (no time
restriction) Linux VM in GCP.

You need a credit card to sign up, but there is no charge on the card if
you don’t use anything else.
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Re: [GTALUG] Oculus Quest now available

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I noticed it’s between in and out of stock on a weekly basis.
Does anyone know why? Is BB only getting limited  supply?

On Fri, Mar 27, 2020 at 7:00 PM Evan Leibovitch via talk 
wrote:

> Hi all.
>
> For those of you experimenting with Virtual Reality:
>
> The $550 Oculus Quest, best VR headset that doesn't require tethering to a
> PC, has been nearly impossible to get (at regular price) since September.
> It's now for sale at both Amazon and Best Buy. Delivery only -- no in-store
> pickup because the stores are closed.
>
> Best Buy can ship faster right now but its just being available for
> purchase on either site is not very common.
>
>
> --
> Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
> @evanleibovitch or @el56
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] "Atom Pi"

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

That review was golden

“
The Atomic Pi fills a market need for guys who think the ability to install
Kali Linux constitutes a personality.
“

On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 8:55 PM Stewart C. Russell via talk 
wrote:

> On 2019-09-16 2:08 p.m., D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk wrote:
> >
> > Interesting.  Sad.  I wonder how many they made.  Maybe that's why
> > Ameridroid seems to have run out of the larger breakout boards.
>
> Something like 28,000. There's a bit more on the Mayfield Robotics Kuri,
> the machine that had the Atomic Pi as its core, here:
> https://hackaday.com/2019/06/06/the-atomic-pi-is-it-worth-it/
>
> > How do you know when an SD card is "the right card"?
>
> I think it's a U1 or A1 or A2 card. Not sure.
>
> cheers
>   Stewart
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] "Atom Pi"

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

It seems that power is supplied through GPIO. So some soldering is required.

I love these boards, but they need to realize that not everyone feels
comfortable firing up a soldering iron.



On Mon, Sep 16, 2019 at 12:30 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

> This is an inexpensive Atom-based Single-Board Computer (SBC).  It
> created a flurry on Amazon a few months ago and then seemed to go out
> of stock.  I just assumed that it was some surplus board that was
> being blown out.  Maybe it is.
>
> Now it is being sold by AmeriDroid, a distributor/vendor of several
> interesting single-board computers.  Cheap!
>
> https://ameridroid.com/products/atomic-pi
>
> Why I think that this is interesting:
>
> - SBC is an interesting form factor
>
> - cheap: US$37.95 for board + US$12.95 for power + ? for shipping.
>   That's cheaper than a Raspberry Pi 4b with 4GiB.
>
> - x86 so any off-the-shelf distro should work.  And the video driver
>   is in-tree open source (a big missing piece with ARM).
>   It would run Windows 10 but has no licence.
>
> - OK resources:
>   + Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (hence name)
>   + 2G RAM (not expandable)
>   + 16G eMMC (preloaded with some Linux) (should perform better than
> Raspi's SD)
>   + SD socket (supports up to 256G)
>   + gigabit ethernet, dual band WiFi, Bluetooth
>   + some kind of potentially interesting audio amplifier
>   + HDMI
>   + USB 3.0 port
>   + fanless, with a big heat sink
>
> - oddities
>   + need to add a weird power supply connector and a power supply
>   + need to add WiFi antennae
>   + no case
>   + I don't really understand the choice of power supplies offered by
> AmeriDroid.  The cheaper one has higher output (possibly useful
> in support of the audio amp).
>
> Why I won't buy it:
>
> - I have too many small PCs already.  And too many unfinished
>   projects.
>
> - 2GiB is a little cramped these days.  First-world problem!
>   But it is certainly fine for most SBC applications.
>
> I recommend browsing Ameridroid.com for other interesting toys.
> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Ontario Bill 72: "Right to Repair"

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Officially dead after Industry groups including Apple lobbied saying that
consumers can hurt themselves doing repairs.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9kxayy/right-to-repair-bill-killed-after-big-tech-lobbying-in-ontario?fbclid=IwAR1z8KUIq-CH1y9J_-kRqkyhd9c66EXlVsHrObCPazQDvShN9n29X6eDzvo



On Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 11:36 AM Don Tai via talk  wrote:

> I drilled out the rivets. Non-replaceable fuse was good, but the on-off
> timer switch was flakey, and probably not replaceable. I just scrapped a
> $250 convection oven due to an on-off switch. I am sad.
>
> On Thu, 25 Apr 2019 at 11:31, mwilson--- via talk  wrote:
>
>> > On Thu, Apr 25, 2019 at 9:59 AM Don Tai via talk 
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> A seemingly brand new small convection oven, Delonghi EO1270, made in
>> >> China, came my way. Pristine clean and obviously unused, but did not
>> [ ... ]
>> > I would suggest that pop rivets are quite cheap and I'd doubt you
>> > actually 'need' six to hold a tiny little board.
>>
>> or sheet metal screws, if you find there's room on the inside.
>>
>> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Ontario Bill 72: "Right to Repair"

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

An iPad battery service from Apple is $129 + taxes. When you walk in they
will immediately try to up-sell you to a new iPad.
The mall around the corner from my house has a store that will replace the
battery for around $50.

Please don't confuse this issue with the maker community or "tinkerers".
This is about empowering 3rd party repair of devices so that manufacturers
don't continue to gouge you for basic repairs.

On Thu, Mar 7, 2019 at 11:18 AM Don Tai via talk  wrote:

> It is not advantageous for hardware companies to make devices serviceable.
> A device that is not serviceable can be designed to be more cheaply
> manufactured. Consumers, apart from the geek crowd, don't seem to care
> about repairability when they flip their devices every 2-3 years. Batteries
> are also close to exhausted around the 2-3 year mark. Gluing together
> pieces is a really pain in the butt. I much prefer screws.
>
> If it broke, I will likely take it apart, if only for fun. You can tell a
> lot about the quality of a manufacturer from the inside of a device. I
> don't think this proposal will go anywhere, but hope that it does. Keeping
> an old laptop or desktop in service has led me to Linux, the only OS that
> is still mildly viable.
>
> On Thu, 7 Mar 2019 at 10:02, Giles Orr via talk  wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 7 Mar 2019 at 08:50, Stewart C. Russell via talk 
>> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2019-03-05 10:04 p.m., Howard Gibson via talk wrote:
>>> >
>>> > One of the basic rules of Design For Manufacture and Assembly is that
>>> > you should not use screws.  The preferred way is for everything to
>>> > snap together.
>>>
>>> Snaps are okay for a short time if you can access the service manual to
>>> see where they are. Slide the spudger in the wrong place and you'll
>>> break a snap, ending up with a case that sags in one spot. So /design
>>> for manufacture/ can be counter to /design for repair/.
>>>
>>> The original Apple Macintosh was one of the first /design for
>>> manufacture/ computers. It required the dealer-only "case cracker" tool
>>> - a long Torx T15 bit with a spudger lever on the end:
>>> https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/a/118/439 - that told the story
>>> that Users did not belong inside the case*. Apple's previous computers
>>> invited you inside - the Apple II's top just lifted off without tools.
>>>
>>> Right to Repair is important. I'm slightly disappointed by the general
>>> reaction on this list. We'll spent lifetimes fiddling with software
>>> configs to keep it running against all odds, but hardware gets short
>>> shrift. I know that processing power and storage improvements have made
>>> it poor business practice to get sentimental about keeping older
>>> computers running, but some curiosity over how repair and replace is a
>>> good thing. We can't live on a growing mountain of e-waste, after all.
>>>
>>>  Stewart
>>>
>>> *: the Macintosh had a CRT inside and thus hilariously fatal voltages
>>> for the unwary. It could be said Apple were only doing the right thing
>>> keeping Users out. But other computers had built-in CRTs with only the
>>> usual warnings and mounting screws. One example would be the Commodore
>>> SX-64, a device clearly designed for confusion. The SX-64 appears to be
>>> a random collection of boards held together by ... another random
>>> collection of boards and little else.
>>>
>>
>> Totally with you on snaps: even with cautious disassembly you're likely
>> to have breakage by the third time you go into the case.  Screws are
>> definitely the way to go.  Tedious, yes, but sturdy and repeatable.
>>
>> Also totally with you on Right to Repair: I volunteered for Repair Cafe (
>> http://repaircafetoronto.ca/ ) for about three years, and even in that
>> time saw how much harder it was getting to get inside a standard laptop.
>>
>> Upgrading RAM used to be a common activity, even on a laptop.  But now
>> the manufacturers solder RAM to the board (and glue the case shut even if
>> it's not soldered down).  Yes, this makes the machine marginally slimmer,
>> but it also makes it totally non-upgradeable.  Same with hard drives
>> (spinning, SSD, NVMe ... just give us an access hatch.)
>>
>> Another major argument in favour of right-to-repair is something as
>> simple as cleaning dust out of your processor fan.  I think it's a bit
>> crazy to have to pay the manufacturer several hundred dollars to do that
>> for you.  These are all things that used to be simple and still could be,
>> but consumers have been deliberately locked out for a small increase in
>> profits - and to the detriment of the environment.  
>>
>> --
>> Giles
>> https://www.gilesorr.com/
>> giles...@gmail.com
>> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Ontario Bill 72: "Right to Repair"

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

IMHO, this is a very important issue that the entire community needs to
stand behind.
Please have a look at the CBC documentary to get an idea of what is at
stake.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FImwMpA9ENg



On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 7:29 PM Mauro Souza via talk  wrote:

> Not you, not me, but people do. Like I never ever wrote a kernel module,
> but people did and this very list is thankful for all that people.
>
> John Deere and its customers are on a war, because they buy the gigantic
> machines and have to pay a fortune to JD send a technician, plug in a
> laptop, and go home. They cannot even know what is wrong. People reverse
> engineering the firmware are being sued and fined.
>
> It's not for we to repair, but to someone else.
>
> On Mon, Mar 4, 2019, 21:17 Don Tai via talk  wrote:
>
>> who repairs anything these days? I don't know anyone else, besides myself
>> that is curious enough to even open the case. Or use a multimeter. Or
>> sewing machine. Repair is a fringe, hippie thing now.
>>
>> On Mon, 4 Mar 2019 at 16:59, o1bigtenor via talk  wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, Mar 4, 2019 at 2:27 PM D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk
>>>  wrote:
>>> >
>>> > This is a private member's bill so it is unlikely to pass.
>>> >
>>> > <
>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/what-on-earth-newsletter-right-to-repair-styrofoam-1.5037697
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > <
>>> https://www.ola.org/en/legislative-business/bills/parliament-42/session-1/bill-72
>>> >
>>> > ---
>>>
>>> Maybe if enough of the bozos were woken up?
>>>
>>> Dee
>>> ---
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Re: [GTALUG] Co-op Issues

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Send me your resume Nic

On Fri, Feb 22, 2019 at 7:03 PM nick via talk  wrote:

> Greetings All,
>
> I don't know if someone would be willing to give some advice on finding
> Co-op.
> For the last two semesters including semester I've been looking and found
> very
> little for my skills. Don't know what's up as literally getting in contact
> with
> folks at AMD got me contacts. Maybe someone has experience with the CO-OP
> program
> either hiring or otherwise.
>
> If someone wants a resume that's fine I would prefer to send it directly
> rather
> than to a public list through,
>
> Nic
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Re: [GTALUG] Wyse Cx0

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

>
> I just picked up 3 NIB Wyse Cx0x (2GB Flash/1GB RAM) on ebay for $5 each.
> Great toys as they have a tiny form factor and run Debian quite well.
> If anyone is interested I will send the link of the seller.
>
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Re: [GTALUG] The current state of NFS

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

If the primary purpose is backup, why not just use Rsync?


On Thu, Feb 22, 2018 at 4:33 PM, Lennart Sorensen via talk 
wrote:

> On Thu, Feb 22, 2018 at 03:25:49PM -0500, Giles Orr via talk wrote:
> > I used to use NFS back in 2000 - back when we still thought unsecured
> local
> > services were okay.  And I loved it - it was slow, but very useful.  So
> I'd
> > like to start using it again, but I want it secured.  Apparently NFSv4
> > "mandates strong security" (according to Wikipedia): does that mean for
> > authentication, or encryption of files "in flight," or both?  And I keep
> > seeing it mentioned with Kerberos: I've been researching Kerberos a bit
> and
> > that really looks like something I'd rather NOT have to set up.  Is it
> > possible to run NFSv4 without Kerberos?  Pointers to recent, good
> tutorials
> > would also be deeply appreciated.
> >
> > I'm using Fedora 27 and Debian (stable or testing) on the clients.  You
> can
> > stomp me if you like for my plan to use a Raspberry Pi as the server -
> I'm
> > not looking for speed as this will mostly be for backups.  I'd probably
> use
> > Raspbian unless there's a compelling reason to use one of the other Pi
> > distros.  Of course if this will really need more memory than the Pi has,
> > that's another issue ...
>
> My understanding of NFSv4 is that it is not NFS.  It is something new
> and complicated that is way beyond what previous NFS versions did.
> Sure it's called NFS, but it's different.
>
> I too looked at it, got to kerberos, and then went the other direction.
>
> NFS before v4 were invented at SUN.  NFS v4 was done by the IETF.  It was
> based on ideas from AFS and SMB/CIFS.
>
> I found something that seems to indicate it is possible to make NFSv4
> run without kerberos and all that:
> https://lists.debian.org/debian-user/2017/10/msg00476.html
>
> --
> Len Sorensen
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Re: [GTALUG] IBM Mainframe and z/OS

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Hello,
You can join IBM partner world and get access to VMs running IBMs operating
system for free.


I used it a few years ago to test AIX and Active Directory integration
https://www-356.ibm.com/partnerworld/wps/pub/systems/technical/hardware/linuxdrive

On Mon, Dec 4, 2017 at 12:44 AM David Thornton via talk 
wrote:

> hey I thought I should let you know that "r360design.ca" doesn't work for
> me.
>
> Is that supposed to be a valid domain?
>
> David
>
>
>
> On Sun, Dec 3, 2017 at 10:33 PM, R360 Design INC via talk  > wrote:
>
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> Does anyone know how I could gain hands-on experience on an IBM
>> mainframe? This is a career path Id like to pursue - i.e. Websphere zOS
>> consultant or CICS. I am currently a UoT student and was wondering how
>> people  gain experience
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> r360design.ca
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> r360design.ca
>>
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Re: [GTALUG] Linux hardening question

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Actually James, incompetence would be opening up a high security system to
additional attack vectors without a good business or technical reason
(which you really haven't provided).



On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 6:33 PM James Knott via talk 
wrote:

> I have worked with telecommunications and networks for many years (I
> first worked on a computer network in 1978, before there was such a
> thing as Ethernet or IPv4) and often see IPv6 in my work.  I cannot say
> I'm not going to work with it or the customer shouldn't use it.  I have
> to be prepared to deal with the situation and these days that includes
> being competent with IPv6.  Also, I wasn't referring to home users when
> I was talking about hardening.  Much of my work has been in high
> security data centres, where there are public web sites, among others,
> running in a protected environment.  In today's world, working with IPv6
> is part of the job and disabling it, when it is the future, is just
> plain incompetence.  If you can't protect attacks via IPv6 as you would
> via IPv4, you really should be looking for another job.  IPv6 is here
> now, learn to deal with it, instead of hiding from it.  It's not going
> away.
>
>
> On 06/29/2017 06:18 PM, Ansar Mohammed wrote:
> > Again, please follow the thread, this is not about competency or
> > capability on IPv6.
> >
> > This is a simple question on hardening a Linux system. My entire
> > network runs IPv6 also. But my home systems do not need to be hardened.
> >
> > There have been many IPv6 only bugs and exploits including last years
> > IPv6 ping of death on Cisco.
> >
> https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20160525-ipv6
> >
> > The stack simply isn't as battle tested as IPv4.
> >
> > Oh, and that growing portion of the internet that's IPv6 only is
> > primarily China.
> >
> > What's your business reason for the additional risk of IPv6?
> >
> > Does your application support IPv6?
> >
> > Has your application been tested with IPv6?
> >
> > Do you have users that are IPv6 only?
> >
> > If you don't need it on a hardened system, you are just adding another
> > attack vector for no good reason.
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 5:36 PM James Knott via talk  > > wrote:
> >
> > On 06/29/2017 05:14 PM, Ansar Mohammed wrote:
> > > It's not a matter of being afraid of anything. Security 101
> > tells you
> > > to reduce your attack surface area.
> > > I would not increase my attack surface area  just for the sake
> > of being
> > > an early adopter of IPv6.
> > >
> > > To be clear the conversation is about hardening. This is the right
> > > thing to do.
> > >
> >
> > Then you'll be hardening yourself out of a growing portion of the
> > Internet.  I use  a browser addon called "ShowIP" which displays
> > the web
> > site IP address.  I can see a significant part of the sites I go
> > to are
> > now IPv6.  Also, if you don't know how to set up a firewall on
> > IPv6, you
> > really can't consider yourself capable of hardening anything.  Fore
> > example, consider setting up a firewall.  On Cisco gear, unless you
> > filter on address, you IPv4 and IPv6 rules are identical.  On other
> > firewalls, such as pfSense, you can do both IPv4 & IPv6 with one
> rule.
> > You can also have separate rules if needed, your choice.  Also, if
> > you're not competent with IPv6, you'll never get some certifications
> > such as CCNA etc.  They require you to know IPv6.
> >
> > BTW, here's the IPv6 address for gtalug.org :
> > 2600:3c03::f03c:91ff:fe50:ea0a
> > ---
> > Talk Mailing List
> > talk@gtalug.org 
> > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk
> >
>
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Re: [GTALUG] Linux hardening question

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

It's not a matter of being afraid of anything. Security 101 tells you to
reduce your attack surface area.
I would not increase my attack surface area just for the sake of being an
early adopter of IPv6.

To be clear the conversation is about hardening. This is the right thing to
do.


On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 5:05 PM James Knott via talk 
wrote:

> On 06/29/2017 04:06 PM, Ansar Mohammed wrote:
> > Not really. We have a 12% adoption of IPv6 in Canada.
>
> And growing.  Rogers started offering IPv6 a bit over a year ago.  It's
> now available to every cable and cell customer (some cable customers may
> need a new modem).  Telus has also had it for a while, along with
> Teksavvy over ADSL.  There are other Canadian companies that are
> offering it, though Bell seems to be stuck.  There are simply not enough
> IPv4 addresses to go around and there hasn't been for quite some time.
> Some carriers are providing IPv4 only via carrier grade NAT, which means
> you can pretty well forget about accessing your own network.  Also, IPv6
> brings with it some security features.  For example, IPSec was
> originally designed for IPv6 and then added to IPv4.  IPv6 can also use
> something called "privacy addresses", where a random number is used to
> form part of your address.  These addresses change frequently, so it
> would be difficult to attack them.  There are other security benefits to
> IPv6 that are not available in IPv4.
>
> Like it or not, IPv6 is coming.  Better get used to it.
>
> I've been running IPv6 for over 7 years and have been using that time to
> learn about it.  As for address space, the smallest amount an ISP is
> supposed to provide is a /64 prefix.  That leaves the customer with 2^64
> addresses.  I have a /56 prefix from Rogers, which gives me 2^72
> addresses or 256 /64s.
>
> Now, given that other than the address space, IPv6 is pretty much the
> same as IPv4, what are you afraid of?
>
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Re: [GTALUG] Linux hardening question

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

IMHO if you are looking for a hardened system you should not start with
Ubuntu.
Ubuntu is what l like to call 'kitchen sink Linux'

Start with a minimal Debian install, then add the packages you need
incrementally.
Package removal is never an exact rollback of package installation.

Then add your IDS, customize whatever host based firewall.
Disable IPv6.
Disable broadcast icmp.

Etcetera etcetera etcetera 




On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 3:20 PM Lennart Sorensen via talk 
wrote:

> On Thu, Jun 29, 2017 at 10:18:26AM -0400, Anthony de Boer via talk wrote:
> > Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> > > On Wed, Jun 28, 2017 at 07:21:55PM -0400, Anthony de Boer via talk
> wrote:
> > > > Many years ago a coworker tried "chmod 700" on /etc etc, and chmod
> 600 on
> > > > many key files, the upshot of which was that everything on the
> "secured"
> > > > firewall had to run as root and it ended up less secure.
> > >
> > > And 711 is no better.  744 might work OK though.
> >
> > You mean "OK" in the "OK if you want to really torque nonroot users
> > off" sense, right?
> >
> > Just for fun, try "chmod 744 /etc" in a root shell, then "ls -la /etc"
> > from a nonroot shell.  Then change it back to 755 and deal with any other
> > users wondering why the machine did a weird there.  (For extra points, do
> > this on a nonshared machine!)
> >
> > Things like ls get really confused if they can see that the files are
> > there but can't even stat them let alone any other access.  Users
> > staring at all that STDERR don't fare much better.
>
> I find accidentally changing permissions on /tmp a much better way to
> get people confused and annoyed at you.
>
> --
> Len Sorensen
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Re: [GTALUG] computer to a good home.

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I also have a DELL 2950 with 500GB of SCSI disks and dual gigE. It can't
run either VMWare or Hyper-V, but its great for disk IO.


On Wed, Apr 5, 2017 at 2:28 PM, Alvin Starr via talk 
wrote:

> I was using this system as a file server for a number of years.
>
> The motherboard is a Asus SLI/KFN5-D with 2 AMD quad core Optron CPU's
> with something like 12G of ram.
>
> It also has a 3wear 8port raid controller with 8 SATA cables.
>
> The motherboard and case are ok but the power supply had a problem and in
> trying to fix it managed to fry the drives and drive enclosures.
>
> There are 2 4 drive SATA holders and 5 drive SATA holder but unfortunately
> the back-plane electronics look to be fried.
>
> If someone wants it they are welcome to it otherwise it will be going to
> the recycling dumpster.
>
>
> --
> Alvin Starr   ||   voice: (905)513-7688
> Netvel Inc.   ||   Cell:  (416)806-0133
> al...@netvel.net  ||
>
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Re: [GTALUG] curious... Linux vs BSD ?

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

I have been using Linux (Debian primarily),FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Solaris for
about 15 years now.

IMHO with Linux, generally things just work, drivers, dependencies, X etc.
The kernel comes with more features and capabilities and is generally more
useful and practical.

In contrast, FreeBSD and OpenBSD take longer to introduce features to the
base distribution and kernel.

Case in point, FreeBSD and NetBSD both have raspberry PI support. The GPIO
capability on FreeBSD and NetBSD is pretty poor as compared to Rasbian.
OpenBSD hasn't even started to port to Raspberry PI yet.


The one thing that OpenBSD has that is much better than all the other
platforms is the PF firewall. The variant of PF included with FreeBSD is a
fork that
has not kept up with the advances on OpenBSD.

I had hoped with Apple's use of the FreeBSD kernel in OSX and its
subsequent acquisition of a lot of very talented BSD folks that there would
have been a huge contribution back to the open source community.

FWIW, I don't care too much about supporting 64 CPUs. Both FreeBSD and
Linux had at one point BGL issues that affected SMP performance.

However over the last 10 years most Linux distributions have become like
the "kitchen sink" in that they throw everything in (both in the Kernel and
userland). Installation sizes are incredibly bloated now.

I work with a lot of enterprise sized companies (>1000 servers). I don't
see any other FOSS OSes other than Linux. If you interest is widening your
scope for work, then IMHO learn Solaris. If you want to have a lot of fun
and turn a few hairs grey, try PF on OpenBSD.

On Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 4:14 PM, Christopher Browne via talk <
talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

> On 29 September 2016 at 11:00, Myles Braithwaite via talk
>  wrote:
> > William Park via talk wrote:
> >> To those who knows/uses both BSD and Linux...  Should I learn BSD, and
> >> which one?
> >
> > If you read to HackNews we are currently in the systemd apocalypse and
> > Linux's user base is shrinking every day and good ethical people are
> > moving to BSD to the warm embrace of init.
>
> There is something to be worried about there...
>
> Though the answer seems unlikely to keep heads in the sand, as the reasons
> that systemd emerged include some pretty valid ones
>
> > Without sarcasm, learning another system is always a good idea because
> > it gives you more insight on how others work. As an example I would have
> > never been able to understand how Google's open source Python code
> > worked without some knowledge of Java.
>
> There's a Debian port to FreeBSD
> , so you could have a
> mostly-GNU userspace that presumably lacks systemd.
>
> I'm occasionally attracted to take a peek at Dragonfly BSD, as it has
> been trying to do some substantial reimplementations of some of the
> internals with particular view to improving performance and supporting
> clustering.  The HAMMER filesystem is one of the interesting bits;
> some data deduplication capabilities, and a BSD flavour on the
> "advanced" stuff like snapshotting, journalling, et al.
>
> Mind you, the idea hasn't been interesting enough to lead to my having
> any systems running such.  I considered throwing Debian/kfreebsd onto
> my media box, but the curious inability to get it to boot off CDROM
> wound up curbing experimentation.  (I wound up using PXE to pull a
> recent Debian image off another machine; "thanks Scott for your PXE
> talks!!!")
> --
> When confronted by a difficult problem, solve it by reducing it to the
> question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"
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Re: [GTALUG] Small Linux Compatible systems to a new home

[Ansar Mohammed via talk]

Parkytowers has been my inspiration for some time now.
I am always fascinated as to what can be done with these tiny things.

I also have lots of 2.5 inch hard drive cables and a 2.5inch ide to sd
converter.

On Wed, Jul 20, 2016 at 9:26 AM, D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk <
talk@gtalug.org> wrote:

> | From: Ansar Mohammed via talk <talk@gtalug.org>
>
> | I have a number of DT166, Wyse SX0, ad Wyse Vx0 systems up for grabs.
>
> A good site about these thin clients:
>   <http://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/index.shtml>
>
> <http://parkytowers.me.uk/thin/DT166/index.shtml>
> <http://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/wyse/s10/index.shtml>
> <http://www.parkytowers.me.uk/thin/wyse/vx0/index.shtml>
> ---
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