main November 2016

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18 discussions

Building an (air gapped) offline Linux laptop as a newbie to Linux
by Ian Henderson 14 Dec '16

14 Dec '16

Hi, all, I am new to Linux. I'm porting over to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS with the Unity desktop from Windows 10. I want to keep things as simple (and hopefully therefore as reliable) as possible, for home/office critical use. I also want to stick to the main and universe repositories. Because prices were much lower for Linux-compatible laptops than with Win 10 installed, I can afford two. I plan to divide them into one for critical offline-only use, and the other for universal online use. I will air-gap the two. But it also means that I need to complete the final build of the offline air-gapped laptop ahead of porting data, after which it will not go online again (unless for a wipe and rebuild). For the offline-only laptop, I am looking at the following range of apps. Could I ask that you check my ideas, and offer suggestions and advice, please.:- 1) An office-like suite, for which I will be using LibreOffice, which is installed by default. 2) I need a whole-directory and free space overwriting utility, as well as the means to securely delete individual files. My understanding is that shred and wipe are available by default. I am looking at bleachbit for the whole-directory and free space wiping. But the software centre says "sudo" for this app: does that mean it has elevated privileges and is this a bad idea? 3) GtkHash for SHA256 etc. cryptographic hashes, primarily to verify backups. 4) Can anyone suggest an archiving utility which also verifies the files within the archive (I can then hash the archive file backup)? Archiving does not necessarily have to include compression. Are any installed by default? 5) GnuPG. I understand that this is installed by default? Am I correct that I can encrypt with password files if transferring on FAT32 USB or CD/DVD with this? Is it GUI? 6) CD/DVD burning, including both copying using a single optical drive, ordinary file burning and creating bootable CD/DVD from ISO images. I'm looking at Brasero for this. Can anyone suggest any other apps I should include ahead of locking off the build? I'm also assuming that the default 16.04 LTS supports formatting USB sticks to ext4, including encryption? Also, anyone any thoughts on using live-CD version of Ubuntu for online banking (in case the online unit got owned)? Please remember that I am a complete newbie to Linux. So please remember if you start talking about OpenWTF 0.666.1066 I will have no idea what you're talking about! Not for some months yet, anyway. :) Thanks for your help, Ian (C) Copyright 2016 by Ian Henderson. All rights reserved. Do not pass on my email address without my prior written consent (if emailing multiple recipients at the same time, use the BCC field in place of the To field).

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 2nd December.
by Viperfang 29 Nov '16

29 Nov '16

Quick heads up about this months Norwich 2600 meeting, more info at http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

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Wanted - Audio player which works sensibly
by Chris Green 25 Nov '16

25 Nov '16

I have a large number of audio tracks on my computer[s] which I woiuld like to play occasionally. When at home I stream them from my desktop machine and that works *moderately* well with an Onkyo media centre and also using VLC for Android in streaming mode. However I can't find anything that simply allows me to select and play tracks (a directory at a time) directly on a laptop. I need to do this when using my laptop away from home and disconnected from the world. So, can anyone recommend a media (just audio is all I need) player which can do the following:- Navigate a hierarchy of directories containing a mix of MPG and FLAC files. Play individual files. Play the contents of a directory *once* only by default in a sensible order (classical music sounds a bit silly if you play the movements in the wrong order!). VLC is strangely almost totally useless playinmg from disk on Linux, quite unlike streaming on Android. Parole doesn't seem to be able to play a directory of sound files, at least I couldn't see how to do it. -- Chris Green

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Server permissions issue
by Chris Walker 24 Nov '16

24 Nov '16

Hello, Having built myself a Ubuntu server on an HP Proliant box, I've had it downloading iPlayer files without a problem using a cron job. I now want to add an image to the mp3 files and I do that using a script from this machine. Here's the full error :- Writing ID3 version v2.3 [Errno 13] Permission denied: u'/media/ProLiant/Media_Share/iPlayer_downloads/radio/Im_Sorry_I_Havent_A_Clue_Series_66_-_2._Episode_2.mp3' My interpretation of that is that it's caused by ID3. So (a) is it?, (b) why? With the final one (c) what can I do about it? -- __ __| |_ __ __ .----------------------------------------------. / _/ _` \ V V / | mailto:alug_cdw@the-walker-household.co.uk | \__\__,_|\_/\_/ |______________________________________________|

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Re: [ALUG] Digital Ocean
by Jonathan McDowell 21 Nov '16

21 Nov '16

On Thu, Nov 17, 2016 at 09:57:01PM +0000, Mick wrote: > Now Tor operators tend to be a suspicious, sometimes paranoid, bunch, > but given that DO now has a substantial proportion of the Tor network > on its ASs that suspicion may, just may, be justified. I still use DO > because I get huge bandwidth for bugger all money (15 dollars a month, > compared to the 12 quid I (happily) pay Bytemark for my > mail/webserver). But I would not, and do not, use DO for anything I > care about in personal terms (such as mail, or XMPP messaging). I've got a single VM with DO that handles my parents' email (so running exim/dovecot/roundcube and little else). Not had any issues with them (and in terms of the traffic stuff you mentioned and I snipped I suspect that people like me hardly using their allowance are averaging out with people like you using a lot. Bandwidth in well connected datacentres has got scarily cheap). Like you my personal stuff (such as the machine which hosts this list) is with Bytemark. > Most importantly from my (admittedly somewhat paranoid viewpoint) the > VM allows me to choose my own kernel to go with the OS of my choice. > DO don't do that. You get to "choose" one of their kernels underneath > your installed OS. This has changed; when I started I was limited to the DO provided kernels, but my Debian VM with them is now using Debian provided kernels I installed - they've got a "grub" option in the web interface now which then boots a kernel from the VM image. J. -- Revd Jonathan McDowell, ULC | You want me, but it scares you.

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Re: [ALUG] VPN
by Mick 19 Nov '16

19 Nov '16

Sorry all. Typo in earlier email. Should be itldc see https://itldc.com/en/ --------------------------------------- (This is a copy of the earlier mail sent from my phone. That phone's email client seems to upset the list mail server.) Mick

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Re: [ALUG] VPN
by Mick 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

I too use DO. I even use them for my Tor node and my tails mirror. I used to use them for my whonix mirror as well, but whonix now fund all their own mirror structure so they don't need volunteers any more. But, and this is a big but, despite the fact that they have data centres all over the place, they are a US company. Furthermore, there is a certain lack of clarity about their funding. It is not at all obvious how they can have grown as rapidly as they have or how they can afford to finance the network bandwidth they use on the income they get from VM rental. As an early adopter I was "grandfathered" in to their new commercial contract. That contract is supposed to limit network usage (check the DO site for details). Bandwidth costs money. As a grandfathered user I get unlimited bandwidth. My Tor mode regularly chews through 6 to 7 TB of data a month - and I actually limit that node. What is less well known, but gets discussed on the Tor mailing lists, is that /none/ of the supposedly capped contracts are actually bandwidth capped at the moment. So you can get a VM for $5 which has unlimited network access. That is not a commercially viable arrangement and it strongly suggests that funding is coming from somewhere unknown. Now Tor operators tend to be a suspicious, sometimes paranoid, bunch, but given that DO now has a substantial proportion of the Tor network on its ASs that suspicion may, just may, be justified. I still use DO because I get huge bandwidth for bugger all money (15 dollars a month, compared to the 12 quid I (happily) pay Bytemark for my mail/webserver). But I would not, and do not, use DO for anything I care about in personal terms (such as mail, or XMPP messaging). So, if you want to use a server for a VPN, I'd personally recommend against DO. I am currently playing with a server in Sofia owned by ITDLC. They are a European supplier with servers in Bulgaria, the Ukraine, the Czech republic and the Netherlands. All looks good so far. The server I have is pretty fast, appears to be stable and most importantly is outside both the UK and US control. It cost me just over 3 quid for the month. Most importantly from my (admittedly somewhat paranoid viewpoint) the VM allows me to choose my own kernel to go with the OS of my choice. DO don't do that. You get to "choose" one of their kernels underneath your installed OS. Apart from my dislike of that model This can, and does, lead to the absurd position where you cannot actually install Openvpn because the tun kernel module won't load because of inconsistencies between the kernel you think you have and the one DO has actually loaded. Of course, all of this is probably moot because all VMs are subject to total surveillance by the owner/operator if they so choose. But, and this depends on your threat model, I feel a little happier with a VM that at least looks and feels "secure" to me. DO doesn't give me that warm feeling. (Bytemark do. In fact I feel very warm about them. But they don't give enough bandwidth at the price point I can pay to let me do all I want to do.) Mick (Please excuse top posting. On my phone, not at my desk. And yes, I know that K9 avoids that.......)On 17 Nov 2016 10:06, Laurie Brown wrote: > > On 16/11/16 20:17, Mick wrote: > > Bev > > > > Rent yourself a VM somewhere outside the UK (but not in the US). Set > > up openvpn on that box. Ubuntu handles that perfectly well. The VPN > > will hide all activity from your ISP so they can't log it. Better > > yet, for anonymity, use Tor. In fact you could combine the two so > > that your ISP can't even see that you are using Tor. > > > > Happy to help if necessary. > > Agreed. > > I can highly recommend Digital Ocean, who have data centres all over the > place. The Dutch one typically give me speeds of over 400meg. > > Their base server is $5 a month and is perfectly adequate for the task. > It takes about 1 minute to set up an Ubuntu VM (with SSD disks) and not > too long to install OpenVPN. > > If you do decide to go for DO, then use my referral link and you'll get > $10 in credit immediately (2 free months!). To be open, if you do use my > link, after you've spend $25, they credit my account with $25 as well. > You can cancel at any time. With 2 free months you have nothing to lose > by giving it a go. > > https://m.do.co/c/7cd7395ed31b > > Just to be clear, I have been using DO for a very long time, and I would > recommend them even without any incentive. > > Cheers, Laurie. > > PS. Their API is very Ansible-friendly. > -- > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Laurie Brown > laurie(a)brownowl.com > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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Re: [ALUG] VPN
by Laurie Brown 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

On 16/11/16 20:17, Mick wrote: > Bev > > Rent yourself a VM somewhere outside the UK (but not in the US). Set > up openvpn on that box. Ubuntu handles that perfectly well. The VPN > will hide all activity from your ISP so they can't log it. Better > yet, for anonymity, use Tor. In fact you could combine the two so > that your ISP can't even see that you are using Tor. > > Happy to help if necessary. Agreed. I can highly recommend Digital Ocean, who have data centres all over the place. The Dutch one typically give me speeds of over 400meg. Their base server is $5 a month and is perfectly adequate for the task. It takes about 1 minute to set up an Ubuntu VM (with SSD disks) and not too long to install OpenVPN. If you do decide to go for DO, then use my referral link and you'll get $10 in credit immediately (2 free months!). To be open, if you do use my link, after you've spend $25, they credit my account with $25 as well. You can cancel at any time. With 2 free months you have nothing to lose by giving it a go. https://m.do.co/c/7cd7395ed31b Just to be clear, I have been using DO for a very long time, and I would recommend them even without any incentive. Cheers, Laurie. PS. Their API is very Ansible-friendly. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Laurie Brown laurie(a)brownowl.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Re: [ALUG] VPN
by Mick 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

Bev Rent yourself a VM somewhere outside the UK (but not in the US). Set up openvpn on that box. Ubuntu handles that perfectly well. The VPN will hide all activity from your ISP so they can't log it. Better yet, for anonymity, use Tor. In fact you could combine the two so that your ISP can't even see that you are using Tor. Happy to help if necessary. MickOn 16 Nov 2016 5:32 p.m., Bev Nicolson <lumos(a)gmx.co.uk> wrote: > > So the IP Bill has gone through Parliament so soon all the websites we > visit will be logged. Yay. Anyway, various commentators say 'get a > VPN'. so I wanted ask whether the one that comes with Ubuntu for network > management is OK? I have to say, I know next to nothing about this hence > my question. > > > Bev. > > > > > _______________________________________________ > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > Unsubscribe? See message headers or the web site above!

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VPN
by Bev Nicolson 16 Nov '16

16 Nov '16

So the IP Bill has gone through Parliament so soon all the websites we visit will be logged. Yay. Anyway, various commentators say 'get a VPN'. so I wanted ask whether the one that comes with Ubuntu for network management is OK? I have to say, I know next to nothing about this hence my question. Bev.

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