October 2014 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

TUURP - Toronto Utopic Unicorn Release Party, Thursday 23 October 7pm, Alio Lounge
by Bob Jonkman 22 Oct '14

22 Oct '14

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi Everybodeee! Last week I happened to run into Mike Kaulbach while walking down the street in Toronto -- a 1 in 2.5 million chance! Shoulda bought a lottery ticket... Mike's hosting another Ubuntu Release Party with Free Cupcakes and Bottomless Cofffee: *What*: Ubuntu 14.10 Toronto Release Party *When*: Thursday, 23 October 2014, 7:00pm to 1:00am *Where*: Alio Restaurant http://aliotoronto.ca/ *Location*: 108 Dundas Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada *Map*: http://osm.org/go/ZX6BtMGY?m=&node=1113718580 *LoCo Event:* http://loco.ubuntu.com/events/ubuntu-ca/2920-ubuntu-1410/detail/ There are rumours of a Release Party in Kitchener-Waterloo as well, but I haven't run into anyone on the street yet... - --Bob. - -- Bob Jonkman <bjonkman(a)sobac.com> Phone: +1-519-669-0388 SOBAC Microcomputer Services http://sobac.com/sobac/ http://bob.jonkman.ca/blogs/ http://sn.jonkman.ca/bobjonkman/ Software --- Office & Business Automation --- Consulting GnuPG Fngrprnt:04F7 742B 8F54 C40A E115 26C2 B912 89B0 D2CC E5EA -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.15 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Ensure confidentiality, authenticity, non-repudiability iEYEARECAAYFAlRHNmIACgkQuRKJsNLM5er+fgCgplqy/NtMNW67vo8e9HhBWNnO C6AAoNCnC2h6gClqrPt1dYxz72NxeJYI =Cs8z -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

3 3

SystemD vs Bind9 vs IPv6
by Christopher Browne 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

I think I got bit yesterday by the above... I was noticing terrible resolution speed, so checked messages (btw, "service bind9 status" provides brief, but decent-ish characterization of things), and noticed many messages indicating failing resolutions against IPv6 addresses. There is a common pair of bits of Bind configuration: a) One might set options to prefer not to use IPv6 addresses, so in /etc/bind/named.conf.options, change listen-on-v6 { all;}; to listen-on-v6 { none; }; b) This was where SystemD got into the mix... Pass the "-4" option when running named to use only IPv4. This seems to be the highly significant bit. On Debian-derived systems, the usual recipe is to add "-4" to /etc/defaults/bind --> OPTIONS="-4" However, the SystemD config for Bind9 lives in /lib/systemd/system/bind9.service, and apparently there is recent change there that that configuration no longer reads from /etc/defaults/bind, so that to have named get the "-4" option requires altering /lib/systemd/system/bind9.service. Seems like it needs to be altered directly. This isn't necessarily a "SystemD bug", rather a packaging bug in Debian. It still was fairly annoying. I have yet to report it properly, probably deserves a bit more research, in case my diagnosis is off a bit. -- When confronted by a difficult problem, solve it by reducing it to the question, "How would the Lone Ranger handle this?"

2 2

open source routers
by Dave Cramer 16 Oct '14

16 Oct '14

My old linksys wrtg54 with dd-wrt locks up. I am looking for suggestions for a new router that will accept open source router firmware? Dave Cramer

10 13

[Fwd: Fwd: remote hub info]
by Gordon Chillcott 15 Oct '14

15 Oct '14

Hi, all: This is about the remote hub to the ICANN meeting in Los Angeles tomorrow. I just got this from Glenn McKnight. The registration link on this document does work. Gordon Chillcott

1 0

Raspberry Pi gadgets
by Alex Volkov 15 Oct '14

15 Oct '14

Hello everyone, As I mentioned there are several Raspberry Pi gadgets coming out on crowdfunding campaigns that I find interesting. PiTop -- A raspberry pi based laptop that greatly simplifies learning to work with hardware, robotics and sensors. Product page -- http://pi-top.com/ Indiegogo campaign -- https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/pi-top-a-raspberry-pi-laptop-you-build-y… SmartiPi -- a very versatile Raspberry Pi case that incorporates Lego blocks, VGA backplate mounting holes, stacking, GoPro mounts etc.. for about $21 - 25 USD. The project is funded at $11,614, needs $14K and has 4 days to go, so it could really use some help. kickstarted page -- https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/799765240/smartipi-raspberry-pi-b-and-… I found out about some of this stuff by listening to Raspberry Pi today podcast, which is a weekly, 30 minute long podcast, very British. http://www.raspi.today/ Alex.

1 0

Resume Driven Development
by David Collier-Brown 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

This is an interesting side discussion to the problem of HR departments filtering out the good people and passing on people with the highest number of keyword matches to the hiring managers. [This one keeps coming up in both GTALUG and UU discussions: crossposted.] --dave -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Resume Driven Development Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 13:38:37 GMT From: <Mike Loukides> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/oreilly/radar/atom/~3/vgBYi2NC_FY/resume-dri… Resume Driven Development Crossed_Wires_Howard_Lake_Flickr <https://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/4834299551> I had a conversation recently with Martin Thompson <http://mechanical-sympathy.blogspot.com/> (@mjpt777 <https://twitter.com/mjpt777>), a London-based developer who specializes in performance and low-latency systems. I learned about Martin through Kevlin Henney’s Tweets <https://twitter.com/KevlinHenney> about his recent talk at Goto Aarhus <http://gotocon.com/aarhus-2014/speaker/Martin+Thompson>. We talked about a disturbing trend in software development: Resume Driven Development, or RDD. Resume Driven Development happens when your group needs to hire a developer. It’s very hard to tell a non-technical HR person that you need someone who can make good decisions about software architecture, someone who knows the difference between clean code and messy code, and someone who’s able to look at a code base and see what’s unnecessary and what can be simplified. We frequently can’t do that ourselves. So management says, “oh, we just added Redis to the application, so we’ll need a Redis developer.” That’s great — it’s easy to throw out resumes that don’t say Redis; it’s easy to look for certifications; and sooner or later, you have a Redis developer at a desk. Maybe even a good one. And what does your Redis developer do? He does Redis, of course. So, you’re bound to have an application with a lot of Redis in it. Whenever he sees a problem that can be solved with Redis, that’s what he’ll do. It’s what you hired him for. You’re happy; he’s happy. Except your application is now being optimized to fit the resumes of the people you hired, not the requirements of your users. I have nothing against Redis. Substitute any other great tool (Node, Django, jQuery, AngularJS — the list is very long) in any tier of the application, and you’ll end up with the same story. If this scenario bears any resemblance to the truth (and it certainly does), you probably will rinse, substitute some other tool, and repeat. Now you have a developer whose job is to make sure there’s a lot of Angular in the system. Sooner or later, you have a nice “full stack” that’s using just about everything in the modern bestiary of programming languages and frameworks. This isn’t a good situation. The problem isn’t the tools, each of which serves a need and is good at doing what it does. The problem isn’t the developers; you hired good Redis, Angular, and Node guys, and they’re all doing what they were hired to do. The problem is that your team is optimized around the inability to communicate at a critical stage: the inability of a technical team to specify what they really want (a developer with good programming taste and instincts), and instead hiring someone who has a particular skill or credential. Martin and I suspect that Resume Driven Development is quite pervasive: an overly complex application stack that’s defined by the people you hired, and by the current toys that the “cool kids” on the programming block get to play with, not by the requirements of the application. If it all works, what’s the problem? Well, the problem is that it probably doesn’t work. Martin has gotten latencies from tens of seconds down to sub-second levels just by stripping layers out of the stack. The resulting code is simpler, easier to work with, and much more productive: customers buy stuff; customers actually explore the site and shop because they’re no longer frustrated while waiting around for their request to percolate through an overly complex site. This isn’t an easy problem to solve. The complete system (software, engineers, HR staff) tends to optimize around the wrong problem: simplifying the process of evaluating candidates by listing a set of skills. In the process, it pessimizes what should be most important: the ability to serve customers effectively. The result is a large, complex technology stack, a Yak with a lot of multi-colored hair to shave, that’s defined by the institutional setting, not the job’s real technical requirements. How do we fix this? It’s easy to say “hire good people”; but hiring good people is hard. When you’re looking for good programming instincts and a solid understanding of the fundamentals, certifications don’t help; degrees don’t help. But certainly understanding the problem, understanding why your “full stack” has grown so full, is a start. And before you ask HR to find a developer who is familiar with AcuteJS and Lymph, think about who you really want in that seat. /Cropped image on article and category pages by Howard Lake on Flickr <https://www.flickr.com/photos/howardlake/4834299551>, used under a Creative Commons license <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/>./ <http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Eff/oreilly/radar/atom?a=vgBYi2NC_FY:8OLvyuto…> <http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Eff/oreilly/radar/atom?a=vgBYi2NC_FY:8OLvyuto…> <http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Eff/oreilly/radar/atom?a=vgBYi2NC_FY:8OLvyuto…> <http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Eff/oreilly/radar/atom?a=vgBYi2NC_FY:8OLvyuto…> <http://feeds.feedburner.com/%7Eff/oreilly/radar/atom?a=vgBYi2NC_FY:8OLvyuto…>

3 2

Meeting tomorrow; announce list?
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 13 Oct '14

13 Oct '14

[I did not see this (or anything else) on the newish gtalug announce list. I've been subscribed for over a month. What's up?] Scraped from <http://gtalug.org/meeting/2014-10/>: AGM and ICANN 14 October, 2014 at 07:30 PM Annual General Meeting GTALUG Update -- 5 minutes Treasury Update -- 5 minutes ICANN & CAG -- 5 minutes Board Elections -- 20 minutes ICANN Update with Evan Leibovitch ICANN (or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is a non-profit organization that is responsible for the coordination of maintenance and methodology of the Internet's DNS system. Evan Leibovitch (Vice-Chair of the At-Large Advisory Committee at ICANN) will be talking about the latest developments at ICANN. Location George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre at Ryerson University 245 Church Street, Room 211 (second floor).

1 0

simple straightforward tool for mainaining small networked of imaged linux boxes
by Matt Price 11 Oct '14

11 Oct '14

Hi, Over at Free Geek Toronto <http://www.freegeektoronto.org/>, we have a small computer classroom of desktop boxes that run Linux Mint. Every couple of weeks we re-install clean images by hand. The process is pretty labourious and time-consuming, and we would much rather automate it somehow. However, none of us is a real sysadmin, and the tools I know a tiny bit about (landscape, puppet) are non-free and relatively complex. We have very limited financial resources and our volunteer capacity is also a bit strained right now. Does anyone have suggestions for a simple, easy way to automate the flashing of images in a small network? Thanks as always -- this is my first post on the new list! Matt

7 9

Seiki 4k monitor
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 10 Oct '14

10 Oct '14

A month or so ago I could not resist a 4k monitor for $300. So I bought a Seiki SE39UY04 39-Inch TV from Tiger Direct. Bad: This is not a great monitor: not IPS, refresh rate of only 30Hz at 3840x2160 resolution, no exciting "smart" features, not a name brand. And the $300 is not 100% accurate: there was a considerable ewaste fee, and the price was really $350 + taxes - $50 rebate. Soon HDMI 2.0 will be here, allowing 60Hz refresh in future 4k monitors (not this one). This thing thinks it is a TV. Too bad. No Display Port; that would have allowed 60Hz at full resolution. A lot of computer video outputs do not support 4k even at 30Hz. I tried Zotac Zbox ID-81 Intel HD, AMD E350, AMD C50, ThinkPad W520. Luckily my MSI GFX650 seems to work (with nVidia proprietary driver). Nobody but Tiger Direct has them: I think that this model has been replaced or will soon be. Good: It seems quite neat to have all these pixels on my desk. For now, it has replaced my long-serving 30" 2560x1600 monitor. This is less expensive than almost any 2460x1440 monitor and it has more pixels. It seemed like a no-brainer. 39 inches seems reasonable for a desktop. The larger Seiki 4k models seem less so. 30 Hz is fine for static displays. Mouse tracking seems more, uh, etherial, for lack of a better term. Scrolling is a little less smooth. Quite liveable for a programmer like me. TD has it on various sales at various times. Now it is $380 before $30 rebate. Oh, it is the last day of that rebate. <http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8…> There seems to be an enthusiastic user base. Even custom firmware! Hint: For monitor use, turn noise reduction off and sharpening to 0. Otherwise there are unpleasant effects on text displayed in a browser or terminal

2 1

[GTALUG-Announce] Participate in ICANN's global meeting through the Toronto Remote HUB.
by Scott Sullivan 10 Oct '14

10 Oct '14

GTALUG is an active member in ICANN's At-Large Policy body. Various GTALUG members participate in both Technical and Policy working groups. Please read-on for information one of the ways you can directly participate in ICANN's global meetings. ================================================== Media Advisory – ICANN The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers Connects Toronto to Los Angeles for its 51st Global meeting What: In under a decade Toronto has become one of the Top 10 Markets in the World of Start-ups and Entrepreneurs. It has the country's largest cluster of universities and colleges pumping out research. These people rely on the Internet to function smoothly and be available and open to all. So who runs the Internet? Recently ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the U.S. based organisation responsible for the global internet’s systems of unique identifiers, has moved ahead to establish a new global governance entity to oversee the technical functions that keep the internet open, stable and secure for an increasing global population of internet users. Join Toronto's highly engaged and active start-up community as it interacts with the global community meeting in Los Angeles. When: Thursday, October 16, 2014 11 AM to 9:00PM (EST) 11:30 am – 1:00pm – Enhancing ICANN Accountability 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm- Community Discussion on IANA Stewardship Transition 4:30 pm – 8:00 pm – ICANN Public Forum Where: MakeWorks Co-working Space, 1139 College Street, College West, Toronto Tickets: FREE Registration: www.e-registernow.com/icanntorontoremote or email info(a)infocommunications.ca Website: ICANN51 ICANN Background: http://youtu.be/IJY5xJKPhjA SOURCE: iC3 Media Sponsors: ICANN, Canadian Internet Registry Authority, Supporters: ISOC Canada and The Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities Media: For further Information contact Murray McKercher, iC3 Media at 416.803.3183 email info(a)infocommunications.ca _______________________________________________ announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org http://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

1 0