Elena ``of Valhalla''

Linux Performance Observability Tools

2016-07-25T09:24:27Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

found on teh interwebz, no idea where it comes from (if you do, please tell me in the comments)

edit: it was as easy as actually opening imgur with javascript on: the source is http://www.brendangregg.com/linuxperf.html

Gerard Ryan likes this.

Sarah Elkins shared this.

Here is where I had seen it previously: http://techblog.netflix.com/2015/08/netflix-at-velocity-2015-linux.html

Gerard Ryan at 2016-07-25T11:28:25Z

Elena ``of Valhalla'' likes this.

One Liberated Laptop

2016-07-24T18:36:01Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

After many days of failed attempts, yesterday @Diego Roversi finally managed to setup SPI on the BeagleBone White¹, and that means that today at our home it was Laptop Liberation Day!

We took the spare X200, opened it, found the point we were on in the tutorial installing libreboot on x200, connected all of the proper cables on the clip³ and did some reading tests of the original bios.

While the tutorial mentioned a very conservative setting (512kHz), just for fun we tried to read it at different speed and all results up to 16384 kHz were equal, with the first failure at 32784 kHz, so we settled on using 8192 kHz.

Then it was time to customize our libreboot image with the right MAC address, and that's when we realized that the sheet of paper where we had written it down the last time had been put in a safe place… somewhere…

Luckily we also had taken a picture, and that was easier to find, so we checked the keyboard map², followed the instructions to customize the image, flashed the chip, partially reassembled the laptop, started it up and… a black screen, some fan noise and nothing else.

We tried to reflash the chip (nothing was changed), tried the us keyboard image, in case it was the better tested one (same results) and reflashed the original bios, just to check that the laptop was still working (it was).

It was lunchtime, so we stopped our attempts. As soon as we started eating, however, we realized that this laptop came with 3GB of RAM, and that surely meant "no matching pairs of RAM", so just after lunch we reflashed the first image, removed one dimm, rebooted and finally saw a gnu-hugging penguin!

We then tried booting some random live usb key we had around (failed the first time, worked the second and further one with no changes), and then proceeded to install Debian.

Running the installer required some attempts and a bit of duckduckgoing: parsing the isolinux / grub configurations from the libreboot menu didn't work, but in the end it was as easy as going to the command line and running:

linux (usb0)/install.amd/vmlinuz
initrd (usb0)/install.amd/initrd.gz
boot

From there on, it was the usual debian installation and a well know environment, and there were no surprises. I've noticed that grub-coreboot is not installed (grub-pc is) and I want to investigate a bit, but rebooting worked out of the box with no issue.

Next step will be liberating my own X200 laptop, and then if you are around the @Gruppo Linux Como area and need a 16 pin clip let us know and we may bring everything to one of the LUG meetings⁴

¹ yes, white, and most of the instructions on the interwebz talk about the black, which is extremely similar to the white… except where it isn't

² wait? there are keyboard maps? doesn't everybody just use the us one regardless of what is printed on the keys? Do I *live* with somebody who doesn't? :D

³ the breadboard in the picture is only there for the power supply, the chip on it is a cheap SPI flash used to test SPI on the bone without risking the laptop :)

⁴ disclaimer: it worked for us. it may not work on *your* laptop. it may brick it. it may invoke a tentacled monster, it may bind your firstborn son to a life of servitude to some supernatural being. Whatever happens, it's not our fault.

Sean Tilley , FLWNQWUD , Benjamin Cook , [email protected] and 7 others like this.

Benjamin Cook , Benjamin Cook , Benjamin Cook , Christopher Allan Webber and 1 others shared this.

Aaaand second laptop liberated (no pictures, they wouldn't be significantly different from the ones of the first).

(mostly: I still have the original wifi card, until I can find one supported by a free firmware)

Elena ``of Valhalla'' at 2016-07-25T20:50:05Z

2016-07-20T13:55:33Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

In your opinion is Italy at the stage of...

For the “Italians are clueless” thing, perhaps it could be because sometimes there is no difference in appearance between an Italian and an Indian, Middle Eastern or North African person. I’ve got an Italian friend whose parents are from India and lol in Naples he would easily pass as a local.

This is oh-so-very-true: Italy is sadly full of xenophobia, but the whole race thing looks quite unfathomable from here.

Also, MadameZou's tags make the link worth posting in itself :)

My first spun yarn

2016-07-20T11:52:16Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

And my first spindles, made with stuff available from the local craft store.

It's evidentely novelty yarn (euphemism for "horribly irregular"), but it doesn't break when breathing on it, so I can probably use it to knit something :)

I plan to use it as a single, so next step would be soaking/setting, and then actually deciding what I want to do with it :) (I have a few alternative ideas).

Charles ☕ Stanhope , Dana like this.

2016-07-20T11:35:26Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

The Importance of Following Community-Oriented Principles in GPL Enforcement Work - Conservancy Blog - Software Freedom Conservancy

Our community learned together over the last 20 years how to do this work well. Last year, Conservancy published the concise but comprehensive Principles of Communited-Oriented GPL Enforcement. The Principles were immediately endorsed by Conservancy, FSF and gpl-violations.org — the three historic community-oriented GPL enforcement organizations, as well as other non-enforcing organizations such as OSI.

Homemade notebook

2016-07-20T08:05:23Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

Since apparently only the Belgians can have nice things, yesterday made myself a couple of notebooks with removable sheets.

Advantages:

* does not require a trip to Belgium¹.
* Respects one international standard (ISO 838), and the sheets can be stored in a regular binder after I'm done writing them.
* I've had fun making them.

Disadvantages:

* Adding and removing sheets is easy, but not as easy as the real thing.

The .scad file for the rings is quite trivial, but if there are requests I can publish it somewhere.

¹ yes, I know that the website lists distributors for my country, but I've never seen it sold anywhere.

Charles ☕ Stanhope likes this.

2016-07-19T20:32:56Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

If men were meant to wear trousers instead of dresses, they would have a hips-to-waist ratio that would allow them to hold them up with no effort, instead of having to go against nature and wear a belt (or braces).

/sarcasm

Diane Trout , Christopher Allan Webber like this.

Properly fitting trousers do not require a belt to stay up. They will stay up on their own. /serious

Benjamin Cook at 2016-07-19T20:42:46Z

Sarah Elkins likes this.

2016-07-15T13:01:57Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

Two-factor auth for local logins in Debian using U2F keys

Warning: This blog post includes instructions for a procedure that can lead you to lock yourself out of your computer. Even if everything goes well, you'll be hunted by dragons. Keep backups, have a rescue system on a USB stick, and wear flameproof clothing. Also, have fun, and tell your loved ones you love them.

I've recently gotten two U2F keys. ...

Another couple of gpg-related URLs

2016-07-11T07:25:54Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

* https://wiki.debian.org/GnuPG/AirgappedMasterKey
* https://wiki.debian.org/GnuPG/SmartcardSubkeys

#gnupg

2016-07-10T08:23:50Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

The code that took America to the moon was just published to GitHub, and it's like a 1960s time capsule

"Burn, baby! BURN!"

Sarah Elkins , Douglas Perkins , der.hans , Lars Wirzenius and 9 others like this.

Blaise Alleyne , Claes Wallin (韋嘉誠) , FLWNQWUD , Freemor and 1 others shared this.

2016-07-09T19:22:41Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

note by Marcelo Santana - Identi.ca

All recorded DebConf16 sessions have already been reviewed and published by our video team, you can find them here: http://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2016/debconf16/

And don't forget, now the Subtitles team NEEDS YOU!

@Debian @Gruppo Linux Como #debconf

2016-07-07T11:36:32Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

Derivation: publishing by Glénat

Nicolas Forsans, project manager at Glénat, met the Pepper&Carrot website 8 month ago. He was seduced with the concept and decided to build an internal dossier about it. After months of work, meeting and review, Glénat decided to add Pepper&Carrot to their official catalog to print and distribute the comic in France.

Especially noteworthy is the part about how Glénat adapted some of its workflow to work with the open standard files generated with Krita, Inkscape etc. while still using the Adobe tools they are used to.

Charles ☕ Stanhope , Craig Maloney , Danc like this.

Debconf video are being published right now

2016-07-06T14:39:00Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

DebConf16 videos already available! - Identi.ca

Thanks video team, numerous videos from the DebConf16 talks are already available for download and watch. DebConf16 continues all along the week; today is the DayTrip; talks and BoFs will resume on Thursday.

Grab the videos from meetings-archive.debian.net, or even better try to help the Video Team (some tasks can be done remotely, including subtitling, which can also be done online, and even for just part of one video).

#debconf @Gruppo Linux Como @Debian

2016-07-04T10:09:49Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

♲ [email protected] :

And I just made my last pet project public. It's a program to help storytellers (esp. of interactive or semi-improvised stories, like in role-playing games) integrate images and music into their stories. Check it out:

https://emanchado.github.io/lyre/

Hat tip to Marek, who might want to check it again #freesoftware #storytelling #rpg #roleplayingLyre by emanchado

2016-07-04T07:57:49Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

Confirming all use of an SSH agent

For a long time I’ve wanted an ssh-agent setup that would ask me before every use, so I could slightly more comfortably forward authentication over SSH without worrying that my session might get hijacked somewhere at the remote end (I often find myself wanting to pull authenticated git repos on...

My favourite user interface would be "enter passphrase/pin once after login (or card removal/reinsert), press a button on the smartcard reader / device for every use", but this is already starting to look interesting.

(of course, most of the times I'm working from a place where there is nobody else who could press that button)

#gnupg

2016-07-04T07:41:58Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

DebConf16 Open Festival day 1

Today was day one of the DebConf16 Open Festival and I attended the open hardware panel, part of the talk about Code For South Africa, shirish's experiences and the DebConf new folks session. The open hardware panel was a wide ranging discussion between bdale, Andy and indiebio. bdate talked ...

I've followed the open hardware panel streaming and as soon as it will be available I can recommend watching the video both if you're already interested in open hardware and if you're just wondering what is this all about.

Debconf streaming and kudos to the video team

2016-07-03T13:57:01Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

With Debconf being in South Africa, a lot of people (like me) probably weren't able to attend and are missing the cheese and wine party, mao games and general socialization that is happening there.

One thing we don't have to miss, however, are the talks: as usual the video team is doing a great job recording and streaming all talks so that people can still participate a bit from their home.

What they do, however, requires a lot of manpower, so if you are attending Debconf please consider volunteering to help: from my experience last year they are very nice people who are welcoming towards new contributors and they have periodical training sessions to help people getting started with the various tasks. More informations about video team meetings and training session are in the topic of the IRC channel, #debconf-video@OFTC.

I don't think there are cookies involved (which just proves that the video team isn't evil), but you may get a t-shirt and you will get a warm fuzzy feeling of having helped people around the world.

@Debian #debconf

der.hans , Charles ☕ Stanhope , Debian Project , Jonathan Carter like this.

2016-07-02T07:40:17Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

DebConf16 starts today! - Identi.ca

DebConf16 starts today, with the Debian Open Festival, aimed to the general public. Join us if you are in Cape Town! Or follow the live streaming at https://debconf16.debconf.org/video/live-streaming/
(Thanks Valessio Brito for the Open Festival flyer!)

Jonathan Carter likes this.

Busy/idle status indicator

2016-07-01T16:24:43Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

About one year ago, during my first Debconf, I've felt the need for some way to tell people whether I was busy on my laptop doing stuff that required concentration or just passing some time between talks etc. and available for interruptions, socialization or context switches.

One easily available method of course would have been to ping me on IRC (and then probably go on chatting on it while being in the same room, of course :) ), but I wanted to try something that allowed for less planning and worked even in places with less connectivity.

My first idea was a base laptop sticker with two statuses and then a removable one used to cover the wrong status and point to the correct one, and I still think it would be nice, but having it printed is probably going to be somewhat expensive, so I shelved the project for the time being.

Lately, however, I've been playing with hexagonal stickers and decided to design something on this topic, whith the result in the figure above, with the “hacking” sticker being my first choice, and the “concentrating” alternative probably useful while surrounded by people who may misunderstand the term “hacking”.

While idly looking around for sticker printing prices I realized that it didn't necessarly have to be a sticker and started to consider alternatives.

One format I'm trying is inspired by "do not disturb" door signs: I've used some laminating pouches I already had around which are slightly bigger than credit-card format (but credit-card size would also work of course ) and cut a notch so that they can be attached to the open lid of a laptop.

They seem to fit well on my laptop lid, and apart from a bad tendency to attract every bit of lint in a radius of a few meters the form factor looks good. I'll try to use them at the next conference to see if they actually work for their intended purpose.

SVG sources (and a PDF) are available on my website under the CC-BY-SA license.

sazius , Benjamin Cook , Charles ☕ Stanhope , jrobertson like this.

Free Software dreams

2016-07-01T13:58:25Z via social.gl-como.it To: Public

Tonight I've dreamt I was inside Widelands, as a barbarian being invaded by the atlanteans.

I've had the same thing happening to me a few times with Battle for Wesnoth

Mayyybe it is a sign that lately I've been playing it too much, but I'm quite happy with the fact that free software / culture is influencing my dreams.

Thanks to everybody who is involved into Free Culture for creating enough content so that this can happen.

Charles ☕ Stanhope likes this.