Re: [Dorset] Updating Applications Installed by Snap
With all due respect, I think that it is possible that we might be talking at cross-purposes OK, I get that some users are non-technical. My wife sounds much like yours in that regard, and looks to either myself or my son when it comes to this sort of thing, and fair enough. It is therefore down to the likes of you and me to take on the task of administrator and to make the life of the everyday users easier, and easier for those who are not technical and probably don't wish to get involved in technical aspects of things. I therefore offered you a possible action to consider - ie _you_ set the thing to run automatically on startup for her, and hand the machine back to her. Meanwhile, it does sound as if something has indeed got lost in the telling somewhere as far as the updating of that particular snap is concerned, and that hopefully raising the issue on launchpad will bring things to the fore for yourself, your wife and everyone. I suspect that the likely problem will be actually less to do with snapcraft and more to do with the developer and the channel used, but that of course remains to be seen. On 26/04/2020 15:13, Terry Coles wrote: On Sunday, 26 April 2020 15:01:39 BST aidangcole--- via dorset wrote: If that were me, and I was that troubled by it, then I'd set a snap refresh to run on startup or delayed startup, and then hand the machine back to the user and forget about it Sorry to keep harping on about this, but the average non-technical user wouldn't have a clue how to do that. This isn't about me, it's about people like my wife, who prefer to run Linux because it is more secure than Windows, but don't know one end of a bash shell from the other, let alone a cron job. Anyway. Since I last posted, I've established that the version of Chromium that was on the laptop was released in early December, so even though (until recently) I was often using it for several hours at a time (such as at a LUG Meeting (when we still had them) it never caught a refresh. I really think that the snap developers haven't thought of this so unless someone can come up with a logical explanation why *my* particular laptop isn't updating, other than what I've suggested, I'll probably raise a bug report on Launchpad. (I did do a search but couldn't find a bug that resembled this.) -- Next meeting: Online, Jitsi, Tuesday, 2020-05-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] Updating Applications Installed by Snap
Fair point If that were me, and I was that troubled by it, then I'd set a snap refresh to run on startup or delayed startup, and then hand the machine back to the user and forget about it On 26/04/2020 14:29, Terry Coles wrote: On Sunday, 26 April 2020 14:19:48 BST aidangcole--- via dorset wrote: Don't know if I am missing the point, but why not at your convenience just do a: sudo snap refresh to update any installed snap packages or sudo snap refresh /package-name/ to update a specific snap package // Mainly because it isn't that convenient to run that all the time. You are absolutely right, I could do sudo snap refresh each time I booted up, but my wife would feel somewhat less comfortable with doing that instead of simply clicking on the alert when Discover Update prompts her. Also, I do think you *are* missing the point a bit. Many users aren't developers or system administrators, so how do they know they have to do this? I only found out by accident. -- Next meeting: Online, Jitsi, Tuesday, 2020-05-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] Updating Applications Installed by Snap
Don't know if I am missing the point, but why not at your convenience just do a: sudo snap refresh to update any installed snap packages or sudo snap refresh /package-name/ to update a specific snap package // Aidan On 26/04/2020 14:07, Ralph Corderoy wrote: Hi Terry, terry@OptiPlex:~$ snap refresh --time timer: 00:00~24:00/4 last: today at 13:22 BST next: today at 22:08 BST That says it all really. We are likely to be eating lunch (or washing up) at 13:22 and in bed / watching TV at 22:08. Yes, I think it's a good idea to ensure the laptop is off and cannot refresh tonight at 10 p.m. The trouble is that since that is the default, most people would get caught by this unless they run their machines all day. Which they know, as I've already said, so I'd be surprised if there's no mechanism to cope. When the laptop gets turned on tomorrow, it will be interesting to see what ‘snap refresh --time’ then plans to do. I'm wondering if an element of randomisation of the next +6 hour time, say by ±2 hours, is causing your symptoms. The gap you show above is a lot more than the ‘/4’ suggests. $ units '22hour+8min - 13hour-22min' time 8 hr + 46 min If the laptop is only ever on for 30 minutes at a time then the attempt to avoid doing lots of timely things soon after power on might result in few of them running time after time? -- Next meeting: Online, Jitsi, Tuesday, 2020-05-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] Connecting to R-Pi -Snowflake or VNC
That's all fine and dandy, but if it's a graphic tool you want, why not just use the file manager that you already have (ie Dolphin, Nautilus, Caja etc etc) No need for Filezilla or anything like that. On 02/02/2020 09:53, Terry Coles wrote: On Sunday, 2 February 2020 09:22:27 GMT PeterMerchant via dorset wrote: I have seen two articles recently about connecting to a Raspberry Pi. Is it horses for courses, or is one to be preferred over the other? We do a lot of remote connecting to Raspberry Pis :-) Until now, I have personally used SSH from a console to do work on the remote device; mainly tailing logfiles and editing with nano, etc. I then use Filezilla to up and download files to and from the remote device. I do a lot of the latter, because at least once per week I connect to all the Pis in the network and download results files which show the levels of water in the various areas of the River System. (Yes, I know I could use scp, but I have mega problems remembering the pathnames ;-( ) Snowflake ssh: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/snowflake-is-the-linux-ssh-gui-you-did nt-know-you-needed/ I too saw this a couple of days ago and I downloaded it here to my desktop. In essence it would appear to allow me to up and download files to and from the remote device, edit files on the remote device and also get a shell console on the remote device; all without logging in to each device two or three times. The main downside (arguably) is that it breaks the golden rule of 'do one thing and do it well', but if it works and it isn't too buggy, I'd be happy to use it. I plan to try it out on Monday or Tuesday when I routinely retrieve the Results. -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2020-02-04 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] Monitoring Internet Connectivity.
Personally, I tend to use SmokePing for this type of thing https://oss.oetiker.ch/smokeping/ On 06/03/2019 13:12, t...@ls83.eclipse.co.uk wrote: Hi Ralph On 06/03/2019 08:53, Ralph Corderoy wrote: Hi, Discussion last night included spotting if one's connection to the Internet suffered problems overnight. The conclusion was a simple script to log data for later inspection with journalctl(1) was probably good enough. Attached is such a bash script. I haven't run it as I'm in a hurry today, so bugs are left as an exercise to the reader to discover. :-) Thanks for this. In the end used the echo rather than logger so that running under nohup just writes the log to nohup.out Will let this run for a few days (with time limit removed) and see what happens. Cheers Tim -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-03-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-03-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] Linux bridging software for MTDfV
I for one find myself in the same boat and feeling similar frustrations Would be very interested to hear of any Linux solution Aidan On 22/02/2019 09:43, t...@ls83.eclipse.co.uk wrote: Hi Come April all VAT returns to HMRC will need to be through a new digital portal. This is Making Tax Digital for VAT. Where existing software is not compatible, a option is to use "bridging software" which takes data from a file (e.g. in CSV format) and transfers it to the portal. It's only 6-7 numbers, so a huge amount of hassle and a portent of things to come. Unlike with RTI for PAYE, where HMRC provides a basic tool for small businesses (including a Linux version), for MTD they've left it to the market. So far, unsurprisingly, I've yet to find any Linux MTD bridging software. Which is ironic, as HMRC publish the API at https://github.com/hmrc/vat-api and from the dollar signs and references to Bash in the documentation it looks like this is being developed under some *nix and all the dependencies are FOSS (Scala, Java, SBT). Don't know if there's anyone else on the LUG in the same boat, looking for a Linux solution to this. Obviously it's possible to build a utility using the API but web development isn't my bag. Tim -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-03-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-03-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] VPN
You'll have a ton of choices available when looking for vpn services and vpn clients. Companies like Nord et-al are generally very good if what you want is a wide range of available servers, and in many cases good support and knowledgebases for Linux and other clients. Some log their user's use, some do not. Some operate serious encryption, some do not. In all cases there is a performance penalty to pay. Typically that is variable depending upon the workload placed upon their servers. (ie when English Premier League football games are played most company's servers get rather busy...). Alternatively, roll your own - Many people who have some vps space available (on say Digitalocean, Vultr, Bitfolk etc etc etc) will put a vpn server on that as a way of getting a bigger-bang for their buck, and that often mitigates the vast majority of any performance penalty one might find on commercial services. Those are very easy to install and run/maintain and are often cheaper than paying for a commercial solution. That said, it will be fixed to one location, so if you have a need to "move around the world" allot, then that is not always the best answer. At the client end of things on Linux, the Open VPN client is available in pretty much all of the repositories and is very easy and clean to use. (yes it can be turned on and off at will). There are Open VPN clients for just about all platforms as well. It is also possible to install a vpn client on some routers and access-point appliances as well (ie ones that are not the typical crop of ISP supplied junk appliances, but ones with a decent hardware spec running Netgear-WRT, DD-WRT, Asus-WRT, Merlin etc etc). Personally, I use a mix of things. I travel a hell of allot in both my personal and work lives. I have a couple of my own cloud servers available for my own use based here in the UK. The primary use of those servers is not for vpn purposes really but I just add the open-vpn server to it as I am paying for it anyway, I might as well get my money's worth. (each of those servers costs me a flat $5usd per month whether I use them or not). For a commercial provider I have used for many years now the vpnarea service as well which is a commercial service based in Switzerland with many vpn servers located around the world. Tons of choice, very good support for just about all devices and platforms and I think quite good value at $59usd per year (for my use case anyway). Am happy to recommend them to anyone with similar requirements. I guess that it all really boils down to what it is that you feel that you want/need from a vpn service. Many people (to some degree true of myself) just want to be a bit bloody-minded and want to make it harder for the authorities and their ISP's to censor and block them and otherwise interfere. Others just want to watch a game of football on a saturday afternoon at a reasonable price. (thankfully, they don't censor/block the cricket (yet)). Others just want a bit of belt and braces security that always on encryption brings them and their families. There will be other motives I am sure. - - - to each their own I guess, but it's all pretty easy straight forward stuff to implement. On 14/01/2019 17:35, greg oconnell via dorset wrote: I am thinking about installing VPN software. Does anybody have experience of using it? Any pros and cons? Is any particular one recommended? I remember a magazine praising Nord and they seem to be advertising at the moment. I suspect it introduces some delay. I only want it for transactions with financial institutions and possibly playing content that is UK blocked, so can it be "turned off and on" at will? Greg -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-02-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk -- Next meeting: BEC, Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-02-05 20:00 Check to whom you are replying Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
Re: [Dorset] Printing from TP-Link VR400v1 router
For HP Printing, look no further that HPLIP https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing On 12/01/2019 16:34, C Wills wrote: Hi All Just tried to set up a new router for printing to my HP LJ1022 printer as the Print Server was trashed while we were away (power surge we think). Details are: New TP-Link AC1200 VR400v1 router (phone line) via Talktalk ISP - internet connects OK via Ethernet to laptop. Printer HP LJ1022 connected to USB port on rear of router (appears no communication between units). Shows as connected on the TP network diagram as a HP LJ102 (think full description too long so truncated). TP manual says to download a printing utility but only available for MS or MAC. No info re Linux. Not found any useful info on web. Any suggestions please as to what to do, or cli inputs to get further info. (not good with cli tho!). Printer has been used via the desktop PC but meant that had to be on to show printer on network. -- Next meeting at BEC: Bournemouth, Tuesday, 2019-02-05 20:00 Check if you're replying to the list or the author Meetings, mailing list, IRC, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ New thread, don't hijack: mailto:dorset@mailman.lug.org.uk
