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How to extend a bash built-in but still use it within the new function?
by Chris Green 02 Jul '20

02 Jul '20

I want to extend the 'cd' command slightly so that I can execute some specific actions when entering (and leaving) a particular directory hierarchy. So I need to create a bash function called 'cd' to do this, but I still need to call the underlying bash built-in cd. Is there any way of doing this? -- Chris Green

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PC Sales Recommendations?
by Steve Mynott 02 Jul '20

02 Jul '20

So my hardware is usually years ago laptops and slow due to me being a cheapskate but I'm finding the new Ryzens quite tempting. I was wondering about a new linux desktop PC with 16Gb Ryzen (with in-built GPU) and a 1Tb M2 but in a medium to small case (due to lack of space in office) maybe for about 500quid. Can anyone recommend a more exact spec or recommend a website pc dealer? Back in the day I used to favour smaller local PC shops and I was wondering if there was anyone in East Anglia (who is linux friendly maybe) able to ship via delivery? -- Steve Mynott <steve.mynott(a)gmail.com> cv25519/ECF8B611205B447E091246AF959E3D6197190DD5

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using xrandr to set scale of monitor
by peter.northerly＠gmail.com 01 Jul '20

01 Jul '20

Can anyone help with how to do this? The problem is that my new monitor is 2K, so it has a native resolution of 2560x1440. My onboard graphics seems only to support 2048 x 1280, so that's what I am using it at. Yes, I do plan on getting a proper graphics card soon! However, even with it running at 2048 x 1280, the result is that the fonts and layout is a lot too small for comfort. Taking the resolution down does work, but it defeats the object of having bought a 2K monitor in the first place, and it apparently lowers quality, particularly of text, so I don't want to do that as a permanent solution . Apparently the correct solution is to use xrandr to set the scale factor to a whole number, in this case probably 2, and to use panning in some way so that the desktop display, being smaller than the display as configured, acts as a sort of moveable window into it. I have read the man pages on xrandr, and think I know what to do, but the problem is, it seems that if you get this wrong, your monitor becomes unusable. Maybe this is just alarm over nothing? Don't know. Has anyone actually done this successfully? Or have you found any other solution to the high DPI problem? Here is what my xrandr looks like in case that helps $ xrandr -q Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 2048 x 1280, maximum 8192 x 8192 VGA-1 disconnected primary (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) HDMI-2 connected 2048x1280+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 597mm x 336mm 2560x1080 60.00 59.94 59.98 2048x1280 59.99* 1920x1200 59.95 ..... and so on...... 2560 x 1080 isn't satisfactory because it elongates everything. I suppose a proper graphics card will enable 2560 x 1440. But that will only make the problem worse unless 'scale' and 'panning' can be used to fix it. I'm using fluxbox on Debian by the way so I don't have the Gnome or KDE GUI tools. Peter

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 3rd July.
by Viperfang 30 Jun '20

30 Jun '20

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

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ePub reader, is there really not one in Ubuntu/Debian?
by Chris Green 27 Jun '20

27 Jun '20

I want to read (well, 'use', it's a programming manual) that's in ePub format. There seems to be no default, or even available, ePub reader in Ubuntu. There are dozens of programs for creating ePub format but nothing for simply reading it. Am I missing something obvious somewhere? -- Chris Green

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Ensuring that a systemd unit starts *before* any networking
by Mark Rogers 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

Not sure if there are any systemd experts here, but I'll ask on the off-chance; I've already posted on Stack Overflow [1] if anyone knows the answer and wants credit for answering it there. How do I ensure a systemd unit runs to completion before any network tasks start? It sounds like a simple task but I've been banging my head on this for ages and every time I think it's working it turns out I was just lucky with timing. I have some code which generates dhcpcd.conf and wpa_supplicant.conf from settings in a database so obviously that needs to happen before any of those network tools start. But whatever magic I try in my unit configuration seems to have no impact on the start order of the unit. My current attempt is: [Unit] Description=Config generation from DB Before=networking.service [Service] Type=oneshot ExecStart=/home/mark/bin/db2config.py [Install] RequiredBy=network.target Any ideas? [1] https://stackoverflow.com/questions/62574482/ensuring-that-a-systemd-unit-s… -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Mint mirrors
by Bev Nicolson 14 Jun '20

14 Jun '20

Anyone else having issues refreshing the mirrors? (WiFi is fine generally so I don't think it's problem at my end.) This isn't a one-off. I get this message: <<Failed to fetch http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/packages.linuxmint.com/packages/dists/te… 503 Service Unavailable [IP: 91.230.243.15 80]Some index files failed to download. They have been ignored, or old ones used instead.>> Bev

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dhcpcd fallback
by Mark Rogers 04 Jun '20

04 Jun '20

I have the following in /etc/dhcpcd.conf (on a Pi), which (as I understand it) should seek an IP via DHCP but fallback to 192.168.60.100 if none is offered. My problem is that more often than not I end up with the fallback IP address rather than one from DHCP, despite the Pi being on a network with a DHCP server. (The connection to DHCP is a bit convoluted: Pi cabled to Wifi access point, which is on my home wifi network, which gives it access to my home router's DHCP server.) Any suggestions how I can diagnose this? I'm not sure if the complex connection to DHCP is the issue or not (and it does sometimes work so I don't think it's a config issue) but I'm not sure where to start looking and I'd like this to work over unreliable links if possible. If I comment out the fallback line I get a reliable DHCP address. # fallback to static profile on eth0 profile static_eth0 static ip_address=192.168.60.100/24 static routers=192.168.60.250 static domain_name_servers=192.168.60.250 interface eth0 fallback static_eth0 -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 5th June.
by Viperfang 02 Jun '20

02 Jun '20

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

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Updating Ubuntu from 16.04 to 18.04 (xenial to bionic)
by Christopher Dawkins 01 Jun '20

01 Jun '20

I tried this first a year or two ago and came across the same problem - a problem with the rfkill package, one for which I have no use anyway. Last Friday I had three desktop Ubuntu 16.04 systems, set up at three different times. On Saturday one updated smoothly to 18.04 using the proper 'sudo do-release-upgrade' method. Both the others failed with the nasty 'Hash Sum mismatch' error on rfkill. As one did last year, when I learnt that it was a repository sync problem that would clear up later. I have googled widely and implemented (I think) every solution. I have cleaned, updated, upgraded, done dist-upgrade, autoremoved, wiped /var/lib/apt/lists and /var/cache/apt/archives, and made sure both Acquire-by-hash and Acquire::CompressionTypes::Order::=gz are operating. I have downloaded (with wget) both the 4945 bytes of the xenial version and the 5005 bytes of the bionic version and installed them at separate times in /var/cache/apt/archives before trying the update again. Every time, it barfs on rfkill with a 'Hash Sum mismatch'. I find in my notes three other reported sizes for rfkill: 5045, 8530, 8580 and 8612 bytes. Since I don't need rfkill, can anyone suggest any way to get over this? Maybe the problem is that I purged it half way through a long weekend of wrestling. It refuses to reinstall with the following message. ==================================================================================== Need to get 8,530 B of archives. After this operation, 33.8 kB of additional disk space will be used. Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 rfkill amd64 0.5-1ubuntu3.1 [8,530 B] Err:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu xenial-updates/main amd64 rfkill amd64 0.5-1ubuntu3.1 Hash Sum mismatch Fetched 4,945 B in 0s (238 kB/s) E: Failed to fetch http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/r/rfkill/rfkill_0.5-1ubuntu3.… Hash Sum mismatch E: Unable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with --fix-missing? =================================================================================== and I note that it fetched only around half of what it needed, but it seems to always do this. When I try again with apt --fix-missing install rfkill I get the same with a final error: E: Internal Error, ordering was unable to handle the media swap The usual error message involves two GETs: ==================================================================================== Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 rfkill amd64 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.6 [24.8 kB] Err http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 rfkill amd64 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.6 Hash Sum mismatch Fetched 4,945 B in 0s (0 B/s) Get:1 http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 rfkill amd64 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.6 [24.8 kB] Err http://gb.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates/main amd64 rfkill amd64 2.31.1-0.4ubuntu3.6 Hash Sum mismatch Fetched 5,005 B in 0s (0 B/s) Could not download the upgrades ====================================================================================== though at times there is a second occurrence of the second four-line message. -- Christopher Dawkins Garnetts Corner, Jollyboys Lane North, Felsted, Dunmow, Essex CM6 3DU 07816 821659

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ALUG] Peculiar DNS clash on Ubuntu 18
by Al 24 May '20

24 May '20

This is what I did: :~$ cat /etc/resolv.conf # Dynamic resolv.conf(5) file for glibc resolver(3) generated by resolvconf(8) # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE BY HAND -- YOUR CHANGES WILL BE OVERWRITTEN nameserver 9.9.9.9 nameserver 9.9.9.9 nameserver 127.0.0.53 search lan :~$ sudo systemctl disable systemd-resolved [sudo] password for xxxx: Removed /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/systemd-resolved.service. :~$ Al On Sun, 24 May 2020 12:00:01 +0100 main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk wrote: > Send main mailing list submissions to > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > You can reach the person managing the list at > main-owner(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of main digest..."

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odd DNS lookup results
by mick 23 May '20

23 May '20

Hi Guys This may be deemed off topic because it is not strictly directly Linux related, although all the machines involved are running Linux. However, there are some networking experts here and I would welcome a view on something that is driving me nuts. The background is that I am experimenting with moving all my DNS lookups to DNS over TLS (to preserve privacy). I run local dnsmasq caching resolvers on two of my internal networks and for a while now I have forwarded upstream DNS requests to one of four unbound resolvers running on my OpenVPN end points. (So if I use the VPN on the machine called tap, I forward requests to unbound on tap). Because any observer between my VPN endpoint and the root, TLD or other domain DNS servers can see my requests I want now to encrypt all requests leaving my networks. I /could/ retain my unbound resolvers with suitable configuration changes so that they accept DoT requests from my local nets and then in turn forward upstream using DoT, but there are a limited number of servers accepting DoT requests in the wider world. So if I retain unbound, I would end up forwarding my upstream requests over DoT to third party resolvers such as Google, Quad9 or Cloudflare. I see no point in doing that when I can (and indeed have) install stubby on my local DNS resolvers and simply pass requests from dnsmasq through stubby to a public resolver (or actually a round robin list). Because I really don't want to pass my DNS requests to a large resolver which then logs them (as does Google) or both logs and interferes with them (as do cleanbrowsing, OpenDNS or Quad9) I have been testing outside DNS resolvers using a shell script tool called dnsperftest I found here[1]. I modified that script to add some additional resolvers taken from the defaults provided in stubby's configuration plus some others taken from privacytools.io [2] and dnsprivacy [3]. I also added some other domains to the test set so that I had 20 domains to test across some 18 public resolvers. Some of those resolvers (such as google 8.8.8.8 and Quad9 at 9.9.9.9) I will not actually use in real life, but they are big anycast systems and I wanted a benchmark for my likely slower choices which are privacy conscious. I then ran the test script from my desktop using an untampered connection through my ISP, followed by connections through each of my four VPN endpoints. As expected, I got faster lookups without the VPNs than with. I then ran the same tests from the machines I use as VPN endpoints. And again, as expected, and because those VMS are in large datacentres dotted around europe, I got much faster lookups from there. Herein lies the interesting bit. The bit I really don't understand. Take a look at the results (averages only) in the attached text file. You will see there that on all the tests run from my desktop either straight through my ISP or through my VPNs, cloudflare's anycast servers on 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 come out fastest, But, and this is the bonkers bit, if I run the same test directly on the VPN end points, 1.1.1.1 is slowest (and in fact I cannot ping 1.1.1.1 from any of my VPN enpoints but I can when I run the connection through a VPN to that same endpoint.) This bothers the hell out of me because it should make no difference whether I try to reach 1.1.1.1 through my VPN or direct from the machine which constitutes the endpoint of that VPN /UNLESS/ my traffic is taking a route I do not understand. If that is the case, then my protective security stance has a major problem. So: does anyone out there have any idea what is going on? (Oh, and I know that cloudflare got the 1.1.1.1 address from APNIC, and I also know that 1.1.1.1 has been used as a "test" address in a lot of places in the past and that can cause some routing oddities, but if that were the problem then I would see the same difficulty from my desktop through the VPN as I see at the VPN endpoint. Wouldn't I?) Thanks in advance Mick [1] https://github.com/cleanbrowsing/dnsperftest [2] https://www.privacytools.io/providers/dns/#icanndns [3] https://dnsprivacy.org/wiki/display/DP/DNS+Privacy+Public+Resolvers --------------------------------------------------------------------- Mick Morgan gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 https://baldric.net/about-trivia ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Peculiar DNS clash on Ubuntu 18
by Jenny Hopkins 23 May '20

23 May '20

Hello, I have a computer running Ubuntu 18.4 with MATE desktop. With no apparent reason (no changes to either PC or DHCP server) the PC lost its DNS entries a few days ago, and seemed to be querying itself using IP 127.0.0.53 (or was it 153?). I used systemd-resolve to re-add the missing entries, and this worked, however the next day they had gone again. I then used the GUI provided by mate system-administration-network, and this worked (seems to run some perl scripts in /usr/share/system-tools-backends) but again, next day they had vanished and only the 127.0.0.53 appeared in the GUI. Has anyone any clue of what could be running overnight to overwrite the DNS entries? I can't even find where my hand-entered entries are ending up. Thanks, Jenny

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Alternatives to TsoHost?
by Chris Green 13 May '20

13 May '20

I have been using TsoHost as my main web hosting provider for almost ten years, until recently they have been very good. However over the past few weeks when I have contacted their support they really haven't been anywhere near as quick as they used to be, nor have they been particularly good at answering my questins. My sites all work OK still, no issues there, and support have eventually come up with answers but it's just nowhere near as good as it used to be. There's no auto-acknowledgement of E-Mail/posted support questions and even though they say they've moved a lot of technicians to Live Chat it's more often then not unavailable (not that I like Live Chat for technical support really). So has anyone else here who uses TsoHost noticed the deterioration? ... and maybe more to the point any suggestions for alternatives? I have around ten hosted web sites with very low traffic at the moment and that's unlikely to change. The one significant requirement other than the obvious sort of stuff is ssh access so I can use the site as a bridge/buffer for outside connections to home. -- Chris Green

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Fwd: RE: GOBA News
by Phil Thane 11 May '20

11 May '20

Noswaith da, I've just got 3 emails from a boatie contact, one normal (html) email, one with an attachment and one to a mailing list that was cc'd to me. The first two are fine, the other is below. I've got all the headers and the whole message in html (or xml?) but as code, none of my email clients render it properly. I think the possible difference is that she's used gmail to email me direct for the first two but has (I think) done the mailing list thing via Microshaft Office. Anyone care to explain what went wrong? We need to know if everyone on the list has got this garbled message! -- Phil -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: RE: GOBA News Date: Sun, 10 May 2020 14:20:02 +0100 From: Claire Davies <clairecd27(a)gmail.com> To: steve(a)crossonsmith.co.uk <> " <steve(a)crossonsmith.co.uk>, "pebcsecretary(a)gmail.com" <pebcsecretary(a)gmail.com>, "warburtcar(a)aol.com" <warburtcar(a)aol.com>, "phow58(a)gmail.com" <phow58(a)gmail.com>, "darren.fergus(a)live.co.uk" <darren.fergus(a)live.co.uk>, "jane.moorman(a)ntlworld.com" <jane.moorman(a)ntlworld.com>, "lin.cox(a)talktalk.net" <lin.cox(a)talktalk.net> Cc: Phil Thane <editor(a)goba.org.uk>, Phil Thane <phil(a)pthane.co.uk> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset="utf-8" X-Antivirus: AVG (VPS 200509-0, 09/05/2020), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean <html xmlns:o=3D"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w=3D"urn:sc= hemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m=3D"http://schemas.microsoft.com/of= fice/2004/12/omml" xmlns=3D"http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta ht= tp-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; charset=3Dutf-8"><meta name= =3DGenerator content=3D"Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body lang=3DEN-GB link=3Dblue vlink=3D"#954F72"><div cla= ss=3DWordSection1><div>= Dear ColleaguesFurt= her to Phil=E2=80=99s note below, we hope you are all still staying safe an= d keeping well.Thes= e times are unprecedented and like you all, I=E2=80=99m really missing boat= ing.=C2=A0 We are still very hopeful that you will be able to provide some = news stories/contributions for the forthcoming GOBA magazine =E2=80=93 the = deadline is by 8th June.We assume most club events have been cancelled, though I ha= ve heard on the grapevine that some of you might be still doing socials/get= togethers via zoom, let alone the odd competition.However, we would still welcome your news/s= tories, and here are a couple of things to think about (especially if you a= re looking at recruiting members for the future):So you could do a couple of things =E2=80=93 = you could either give us an update including:</div><ol style=3D'margin-= top:0cm' start=3D1 type=3D1><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'margin-bo= ttom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3'>Have you found any inv= entive ways to keep in contact with your members? How are your members doin= g? Competition results, etc</li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'margi= n-bottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3'>Any stories about = unusual wildlife coming onto your site?<o:p></o:p></li></ol>Or <ol style=3D'margin-top:0cm' st= art=3D1 type=3D1><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'margin-bottom:10.0pt= ;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>History about the club =E2=80=93 = when it was founded?</li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'margin-botto= m:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>Where is it based, info a= bout your premises/marina</li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'margin-= bottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>Is the club for moto= r boats, sailing, rowing, paddling etc</li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph sty= le=3D'margin-bottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>Number = of Members/family boats </li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D'margin-b= ottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>Your facilities =E2= =80=93 slip, hoist, crane etc....</li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style=3D= 'margin-bottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>What sort of= social facilities do you have? This could range from bars, food, to the so= rt of events you would normally do?</li><li class=3DMsoListParagraph style= =3D'margin-bottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0cm;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo1'>Your cont= act details, website, social media info, how a new member would join.</li><= /ol><o:p> </o:p></= p>I look forward to hea= ring from you all as soon as you can.Many thanksClaire DaviesAssistant Editor =E2=80=93 GOBA NEWS<o:p> </o:p><o:p> <= /o:p><o:p> </o:p>Sen= t from <a href=3D"https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=3D550986">Mail</a= > for Windows 10<o:p> </o:p><div style=3D= 'mso-element:para-border-div;border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;pad= ding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'>From: <a href=3D"mailto:editor@goba.org.uk">Phil Thane</a> <b= > Sent: 29 March 2020 15:22 To: <a > href=3D"mailto:clairecd27@g= mail.com">Claire Davies</a> Subject: GOBA News</div><o:p> </o:p>Hello Boat Clubs= <o:p> </o:p>First, I hop= e you are all well, also friends, family and club members.<o:p> </o:p>Secondly, after asking in= the last few issues of GOBA News for an assistant= (and in due course replacement) I now have one - Claire Davies from OVRC. (She on the mailing list above if you want to make= a note). Claire will be editing the Club News sec= tion of the Summer 2020 issue so you'll be hearing=   more from her in due course.<o:p> </o:= p>The current lock down has put an end to boating = for the time being and I suspect cancelled a lot o= f the activities you'd normally include in your Cl= ub News pieces. Perhaps it would be better if you used the space to recruit  more members for happier times with a run d= own of the sort of things you normally do, where y= ou are based, details of your clubhouse, marina/ya= rd facilities if you have any, and photos of said facilities. Plus of course contact details.<o:p>&= nbsp;</o:p>If you are planning to send a news lett= er to your members in the near future, or have a s= ocial media presence or webpage to keep in touch with them, could you please ask if anyone would like to write something for = GOBA News. Being stuck at home it might be the ide= al time to recall boat trips and escapades gone by= and dig out some old photos. (We can scan old pri= nts and return them by post).<o:p> </o:p>= I'm planning to write something about electric boats, = possibly about how to convert an existing boat to = electric power. If you have any members who have a= n electric boat or are planning to convert please ask them to get in touch.<o:p> </o:p>-- <o:p> </o:p>Phil Thane<o:p> </o:p>Editor GOBA News<o:p> </o:p></= p>01767 449759<o:p> </o:= p>07582 750607<o:p> = </o:p>editor(a)goba.org.uk <mailto:editor@goba.or= g.uk><o:p> </o:p>= <o:p> </o:p>=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 The Great Ouse= Boating Association, founded over 50 years ago and =C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 still =E2=80=98Navigating the Future' for more than > 300= 0 boaters on The=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 River Great Ous= e and tributaries. <o:p> </o:p>=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 www.goba.org.uk <http://www.goba.org.uk/= > <o:p> </o:p>=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Insignia ordering available online. Change your details onl= ine.<o:p> </o:p>=C2= =A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 GOBA, Hermitage Lock Office, Earith Bridge, <o:p> </o:p>=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Eari= th, Huntingdon, PE28 3PS<o:p> </o:p>=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 GOBA is a registered society under the C= o-operative and Community=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Benefi= t Societies Act 2014. <o:p> </o:p>=C2=A0=C2=A0=C2=A0 Registered Number 22120R<o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p></div><div id=3D"DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1= B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2"> <table style=3D"border-top: 1px solid #D3D4DE;"> <tr> <td style=3D"width: 55px; padding-top: 13px;"><a href=3D"http://www= =2Eavg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=3Demail&utm_source=3Dlink&utm_campaig= n=3Dsig-email&utm_content=3Demailclient" target=3D"_blank"><img src=3D"http= s://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-green-avg-v1.png" alt= =3D"" width=3D"46" height=3D"29" style=3D"width: 46px; height: 29px;" /></= a></td> <td style=3D"width: 470px; padding-top: 12px; color: #41424e; font-size: = 13px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">Virus-= free. <a href=3D"http://www.avg.com/email-signature?utm_medium=3Demail&utm_= source=3Dlink&utm_campaign=3Dsig-email&utm_content=3Demailclient" target=3D= "_blank" style=3D"color: #4453ea;">www.avg.com</a> </td> </tr> </table><a href=3D"#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2" width=3D"1" heigh= t=3D"1"> </a></div></body></html>

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Pinebook Pro
by Phil Thane 02 May '20

02 May '20

I promised you a report at some point, so here you go. I ordered a Pinebook Pro as soon the regular user version was available. Pine64 is a very 'open' hardware developer starting with an ARM64 SoC board rather like a Raspberry Pi but more powerful then creating the original Pinebook. The Pro is bigger and more more powerful, but very slim like a Macbook. They are currently developing a PinePhone and PineTime watch. They also have a cluster board and modules and have just begun to shift their own server stuff onto their own ARM64 cluster. All the hardware is released in limited numbers at a prototype stage to keen developers to hack on. Then there's a community edition when the hardware is sorted but the free software community get stuck in to tweak various distros and drivers before finally releasing a polished version to the masses. Mine arrived just after Christmas. Probably the best comparison with other devices would be a Chromebook with a full Linux distro installed. But without the hassle. At the time they were released with an ARM version of Debian. There were a couple of firmware bugs in the first few, a keyboard repeat fault that kkkkkeeeepppptttt repeating letters and a hyper-sensitive touch pad that sent your typing mad if your wrist touched the keypad ever so gently. There was a firmware upgrade issued almost straightaway with very detailed instructions. That omitted one step and sent me into a panic. Sorted though. Debian was OK but a bit dull. Last month Pine64 announced that the Manjaro port that various aficionados had been raving about on the forums was to become the default option on new PinebookPros. And Manjaro released a simple to install version to upgrade existing machines. If you are really keen and want to hack it seems possible to port all manner of OS but I want a laptop to use for all the usual stuff, writing, email, photos... I'm not a hacker. The early port of Manjaro had no installer, one had to use DD to copy an image to the internal EMMC which frankly didn't appeal. The final released version has an install script that works much like any normal distro installer. I chose the KDE version of Manjaro, though once again I failed to get on with Kontact and soon reverted to Thunderbird. When it works Kontact is the closest thing to Outlook (as I remember it from long ago) but it's been a pain ever since they based it around the Akonadi database server. That aside KDE is fine, I've changed the theme a few times and tinkered with the settings, there seems to be an obsession these days with 'Dark Mode' and flat icons nut as ever you can customise it to your heart's content. Manjaro is based on Arch, so my habit of sudo apt... doesn't work and I haven't yet learned the Arch equivalents. There's a good software installer and upgrader though. Software selection is more up to date than Debian, including Gimp 2.10. Both Debian and Manjaro have a problem with 'Sleep' so I suspect it's a firmware thing, there was something on the forum about it a while ago but it went over my head. By trial and error I've figured out that if I have T'bird or Firefox in an active window sleep doesn't work. It seems to, but then wakes up again after a few seconds even if the lid is shut. If you close, or even just minimise the windows then it sleeps like a log. Battery life is pretty good, it usually lasts me a couple of days, but I don't use it much. It was intended to be my connection to the outside world on this year's great boat trip but that's on hold for obvious reasons. All in all I'm pleased with it. It'd be better if there was a UK or even EU supplier, it's $200 US but with delivery and VAT came to £286 here. Still a bargain for a lightweight 14" laptop though. -- Phil Thane www.pthane.co.uk Tweet @pthane 01767 449759 07582 750607

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systemd services which only start on some MAC addresses
by Mark Rogers 29 Apr '20

29 Apr '20

Sorry for the vague subject! What I want to achieve is a single filesystem image (for a Pi) that can be installed on multiple devices (identical SD card contents) but the list of systemd services that runs will depend on the MAC address of the unit. I can think of various ways to do it, I'm after thoughts as to the best way (which probably isn't in my list!). My thoughts: 1. Have all "optional" services disabled but run a script on startup which selectively starts them (ought to be OK but I'm not sure how robust this would be and by starting manually I'd lose some of the benefits of optimised startup and dependency management by systemd) 2. Modify the actual scripts that the services run so that they do all start, but those that shouldn't run exit immediately. (Would work for my own scripts but not for other system services.) 3. Use systemd "ConditionPathExists" or similar; have a unit which starts first and creates temporary files for all optional units that should start, then those units won't start if the temporary file hasn't been created. Downside is that it means hacking unit files for system services but might be more robust than (1)? Note that I want the list of units started per MAC to be a single file (per MAC or combined, I don't mind) - ie I don't want each service to include the list of MACs that it starts for as that would be a maintenance nightmare. Any other suggestions, or comments about my ideas, or other thoughts? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 1st May.
by Viperfang 28 Apr '20

28 Apr '20

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

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Forum software that also allows E-Mail posting and reading - any recommendations?
by Chris Green 27 Apr '20

27 Apr '20

I used to belong to a very nice boating forum where you could visit the forum on the web but it also functioned as a mailing list. Sadly they moved platform and changed to a forum which didn't support E-Mail. I'm now looking for forum software which does what their old forum did, I want a web forum which also supports posting and reading by E-Mail. I've discovered Discourse which seems to do this but does anyone know of any other possibilities? To be installed on Ubuntu probably, either a real system or, more likely, a virtual server. -- Chris Green

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Samba 4 as a domain controller
by B D 20 Apr '20

20 Apr '20

Hi, Where I work, we have a small disconnected network in which there is almost as many servers as users <rofl>. Some are old MS2008r2 some are newer Server 2016 machines and in the next couple of years they all will be out-of-support. With the imminent decision of what to do with the upgrade and my attempt to introduce Nextcloud to the environment I started testing Samba4 as AD. All seams to be working, if I have access to RSAT installed on a Windows workstation, but it gets more complicated from Ubuntu cli. With the help of some tools I found here and there I can manage the domain but it's is far from pretty (not to mention business continuity - if I was to leave such setup no-one would be able to manage - or maybe that's a good thing? ;) My questions here are: #1 - Has anyone came across Samba4 environment or has personal experiences? #2 - Do you know of any tools that would make it easier to manage Samba4? #3 (this is a lengthy one) How on earth RedHat is building its environment where it manages muiltiple client OSs (purely theoretical question but I could consider moving to CentOS if AD management is simpler). Cheers Bart

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Re: [ALUG] Samba 4 as a domain controller
by B D 20 Apr '20

20 Apr '20

Hi Stuart, Zentyal and Nethserver are options that I do consider but they are so heavily customised I'm concerned about installing Nextcloud & Collabora from other packages. That could lead to other problems after a while. Cheers pon., 20 kwi 2020 o 11:32 Stuart Bailey <Stuart.Bailey(a)ast-uk.com> napisał(a): > > Have you looked at Zentyal? > > ________________________________ > From: main <main-bounces(a)lists.alug.org.uk> on behalf of B D <dzidek23(a)gmail.com> > Sent: 20 April 2020 11:29 > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk>; main(a)lists.plug.org.uk <main(a)lists.plug.org.uk> > Subject: [ALUG] Samba 4 as a domain controller > > Hi, > > Where I work, we have a small disconnected network in which there is > almost as many servers as users <rofl>. Some are old MS2008r2 some are > newer Server 2016 machines and in the next couple of years they all > will be out-of-support. With the imminent decision of what to do with > the upgrade and my attempt to introduce Nextcloud to the environment I > started testing Samba4 as AD. > > All seams to be working, if I have access to RSAT installed on a > Windows workstation, but it gets more complicated from Ubuntu cli. > With the help of some tools I found here and there I can manage the > domain but it's is far from pretty (not to mention business continuity > - if I was to leave such setup no-one would be able to manage - or > maybe that's a good thing? ;) > > My questions here are: > #1 - Has anyone came across Samba4 environment or has personal experiences? > #2 - Do you know of any tools that would make it easier to manage Samba4? > #3 (this is a lengthy one) How on earth RedHat is building its > environment where it manages muiltiple client OSs (purely theoretical > question but I could consider moving to CentOS if AD management is > simpler). > > Cheers > Bart > > _______________________________________________ > 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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DMARC and ALUG
by Mark Rogers 17 Apr '20

17 Apr '20

I've been made aware of some of my messages to this list going into spam because of a failed DMARC check. How should I fix this? Note: I have control over my sending domain's DNS. Should I just remove the DMARC DNS record? -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Cheap Linux VPS
by Steve Mynott 16 Apr '20

16 Apr '20

Can anyone recommend a cheap Linux VPS? -- Steve Mynott <steve.mynott(a)gmail.com> cv25519/ECF8B611205B447E091246AF959E3D6197190DD5

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Re: [ALUG] Installing Ubuntu dual-boot on an Asus X512FAC laptop
by Mark Rogers 15 Apr '20

15 Apr '20

On Tue, 14 Apr 2020 at 18:32, B D <dzidek23(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > I wonder if your "corrupted" drive is a hibernated (locked) ntfs > partition... in windows 10 when you "power down" the OS it hibernates > more that switches off. Try to load hard drive pulled from windows > machine and you are more than likely to find "corrupted"/inaccessible > filesystem. The corrupted partition is where the EFI boot code sits, that is FAT not NTFS. That said I did disable Windows fast boot (or whatever it is called) as I know that doesn't play nicely with dual boot because, as you say, it leaves the main Windows partition locked. > I'm really interested what did you had to do to fix the EFI boot? Wiped the disk and let Ubuntu do its thing. >From what I read, if I now reinstall Windows it'll mess up grub (to be expected) but aside from that (which grub-repair will fix) that will allow dual boot. But I don't have sufficient need for dual-boot that I can be bothered now I have a working Ubuntu install. > For the num lock issues have you tried to update the BIOS to the latest version? Yes, and sadly no option, which seems an odd omission but there you go I have opened a support ticket with ASUS, I'm sure they can tell me if I have missed something.. Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Numlock at boot (grub)
by Mark Rogers 14 Apr '20

14 Apr '20

So now the laptop boots, and I have the boot disk encrypted. But like every good password it includes numbers, and the laptop boots with numlock off. Annoyingly there's no UEFI setting for it. Does anyone know if there's a way to force numlock on before entering the encryption password? Seems like an obvious need but the only answers I have found are to enable it in the BIOS which only works if the option is there. I do have numlockx installed but that only kicks in later in the boot. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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