JuxtaposedJaguar

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Giving permission by saying yes to a "would you mind" question is the hill I die on. Usually I say "I would not mind" but if I'm feeling frisky I'll say no and watch their brain melt.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Not all FOSS projects need to be profitable to survive. IOW if a project cannot survive without being profitable and it cannot be profitable long-term, then it cannot survive long-term.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

How is that different from mutual TLS authentication?

Edit: It seems like OPAQUE just initiates mutual TLS authentication after the TLS session has already been negotiated with PKI. So it basically just allows websites to design their own login page instead of the one designed by the web browser.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

I just replied to the other person's comment.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago (2 children)

I don't. Could you elaborate?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

While Linux itself isn't proprietary, it supports loading proprietary firmware/microcode blobs and running on proprietary hardware. Thus, part of the Linux hardware/software stack is proprietary.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 2 months ago (8 children)

I'm surprised that other people are surprised that for-profit companies constantly try to increase their profits; such companies only contribute to FOSS when that's more profitable than the alternative. The Linux kernel, AMDGPU, Steam, etc only exist because some part of the software/hardware stack is proprietary (which becomes a more attractive product as the FOSS portion of the stack improves).

I'm definitely not justifying the "rug-pulling", but people need to stop supporting projects with no potential for long-term profitability unless those projects can survive without any support from for-profit companies. Anything else is destined to fail.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago

Maybe I'm Jia Tan 😉

 

I need to transport multiple very large files over an unstable and untrusted network, and the file contents are outputted as a data stream. I wanted to use OpenSSL for streaming authenticated encryption, but they purposefully don't support that and are preachy about it.

Well, it turns out that XZ has checksumming built-in! It even has different algorithms (CRC32, CRC64, and SHA256). It's part of the same file, within/before the encryption, and automatically verified by the decompression tool. I'm already using XZ for compression before encryption, so this is just super convenient and useful. Also, it seems like XZ supports threaded decompression now, when it didn't before. Thanks XZ devs!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago

There was a thread about that on c/selfhosted a few weeks ago. Created by a particular wild-cat-inspired sysadmin, I might add.

But on a more serious note, the interactions between a sysadmin and their servers (that they have enough responsibility for to be able to name) are much more intimate than the interactions between a dev and their variables. The server names also exist in a much larger namespace, so they need to be more unique.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I really like that bluetooth devices can still work at distances farther than a typical cable would allow. I have a decently-sized studio apartment and I can see my computer screen from most places. It's nice to continue watching a video as I move around the apartment to clean, get up to stretch, play with my cat, etc.

You could probably get wired headphones that long, but then you'd be dealing with that giant cable all the time. Or you'd have to constantly swap cables and interrupt the audio during that time. My AirPods work reliably from 15ft away. I can't argue with that convenience.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Customers have more power than companies would like you to believe. Politely explain the situation to customer support, and ask for a refund. If they refuse, mention that you purchased a game that was promised to work for at least several months, and you haven't received the product you paid for. Because of that, you're considering charging back through your bank. If that doesn't work, say you'll charge back if they don't refund. If that doesn't work, actually charge back through your bank. Banks are surprisingly cool about it as long as you don't do it too often. Of course, you need to buy the game directly (no account balance) from a credit card.

Just don't be a jerk to the support person, because it's almost certainly not their fault. It's also less likely to get you what you want. They'd rather give you what you want so you go away, and you just need to give them reasons that they can relay to their supervisor if necessary.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Assuming this story is true, Linux is going to be a nightmare for that woman. It’s come a long way, but it’s still not as dead simple as it needs to be for non-technical elderly people.

 

I'm not complaining, but I didn't realize how much work it was. It makes me really respect the people who do it on a regular basis.

For example:

  • You know how to use your software, but other people don't. So you need to write documentation.
  • You can just modify the source files, but it's impractical for everyone to do that. So you need to add a config file.
  • You can just drag the output files into place, but that's impractical for everyone to do. So you need to package it.
  • You trust yourself, but distro maintainers rightfully don't. So you need to package your source code and configure the package to compile it.
  • You will abide by your idea of how the software should be used, but other people might not. So you need to pick a license.

Sometimes I think there must be an easier way, but I can't think of any. I guess it probably gets easier with experience.

 

My main server is named Postulate (an idea that you assume for the sake of argument), my desktop is named Axiom (a proved postulate), and my backup server is named Corollary (an idea that follows from an axiom).

What are your computers named, and why?

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