December 2015 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

distro support for 32-bit UEFI
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 12 Apr '16

12 Apr '16

I have a couple of devices with 64-bit Atom CPUs, built to be cheap Windows devices, that have 32-bit UEFI firmware. With no old-fashioned BIOS or emulation thereof. This seems to be intentional crippling by Intel: they only provide power management firmware in 32-bit mode. The devices I have are an Asus TF100 "convertible" (tablet with detachable keyboard) and a Dell Venue 8 Pro. The Intel / Microsoft idea seemed to be: build very inexpensive devices to compete with ARM / Android. But be careful to limit the damage to the market for full-fledged Windows systems. It worked to some extent. The Hugh idea was: cheap computers that should run Linux! Close, but no cigar yet. What I want is a 64-bit distro that can boot from 32-bit UEFI. That could be managed but it doesn't seem to be available now. (The 64-bit Linux kernel knows how to call 32-bit UEFI functions. This feature is not always enabled.) Almost as good would be a 32-bit distro that can boot from UEFI. After all, these cheap boxes are limited to 2G of RAM anyway (crippled: see above). Scott informed me that 32-bit Debian Jessie (8.0) does support UEFI. Wonderful! But I'm chicken: there is no 32-bit UEFI live image and I don't want to install without trying. After all, there may well be unsupported bits on these screwy devices. (Sadly Linux distros seem to be weak on touch, one of the strengths of these little devices.) These cheap devices come with very little "disk". Mine each have 32G; some have 16G; a few have more. That's not really enough space for both Linux and Windows. I have a netbook built in the same style, but with 64-bit UEFI. I've found 32G quite reasonable for Fedora Linux. <https://wiki.debian.org/UEFI> Another bit of news from Scott: the next generation of Atoms, or at least some of them, drop support for virtualization! What jerks.

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First Impression: KDE Connect
by Scott Sullivan 23 Jan '16

23 Jan '16

I've recently started settling into my newest laptop that has become my daily driver. When I do this I tend to install the latest Fedora and see what a fresh experience reveals. Fedora 23 see a lot of new KDE developments. Especially work done after very constructive criticism in comparison to Gnome 3. https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=gnome-week-editorial But, unrelated to the above, is a branch off in to the world of mulit-device computing, an area that I find fascinating. What is KDE Connect? ===================== KDE Connect is a project that aims to communicate all your devices. For example, with KDE Connect you can receive your phone notifications on your computer, or just use your phone as a remote control for your desktop. To achieve this, KDE Connect implements a secure communication protocol over the network, and allows any developer to create plugins on top of it. From: https://community.kde.org/KDEConnect Getting KDE Setup ================= Under Fedora 23, finding this feature was rather easy. It kind of stands out in the KDE systems settings interface. [1]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-01-systems-settings.png [2]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-02-systems-settings.png Next I installed the KDE Connect app on my Android phone. This is where I hit my first rub. I couldn't get the two devices to see each other on the network. The Devs are at least helpful here, with trouble shooting information right on the Community website which the link to from the systems settings interface. The Fedora Packagers are great here as well, as a service definition for Firewalld is ready to go. The command line to enable a server is convoluted. But the GUI is slick and easy. [5]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-05-firewall.png After the ports were open, and a quick pairing procedure I was up and running. [3]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-03-systems-settings.png Experience So Far ================= File Navigation --------------- I've tried bluetooth in the past and I've all sort of timeouts. USB would stop working if the screen locked. With KDE Connect doing it's access over the network, in comparison it is very slick. Desktop Notifications --------------------- My Phone was on another table. I hear the new SMS bing, and there, in the notifications center of KDE is the message. I didn't have to walk over to who it was and the first bit of the message. Battery Life ------------ Again, good to be able to see this at a glance. [4]:http://revident.net/images/KDE-Connect-04-taskbar-icon.png Remote Input ------------ I can use the touch screen of the phone as a remote mouse. Works surprisingly well. This sentence was written from the phone while behind my deskchair, into Thunderbird on the laptop. Media Controls -------------- A quick test with Amarok showed that the basics work. Not sure what it will take to get it working with your media player of choice. Summary ======= A nice addition with some real conveniences. It's nice to see KDE Community Devs pushing boundaries where other desktops have yet to tread. -- Scott Sullivan

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best choices for tiny mlinux media centre in 2016?
by Matt Price 11 Jan '16

11 Jan '16

Hi everyone, I'm looking to replace my desktop-based xbmc movie playing box with a much smaller and more energy-efficient ARM-based DIY project. II'd love to hear what other people recommend for specs. I'd like to build a system with: - relatively simple and manageable OS (Raspbian has been nice on my old RP rev b) - some kind of hobbyist board, raspbi or beaglebone or whatever seems best; - cheapest possible large ssd drive - a power button (!) - a wireless keyboard or other control device - HDMI out - some kind of a box to hold everything together (likely self-designed out of some very cheap scrap materials) - power source that can drive all these pieces - as little cost as possible So, what do you all think? I really look forward to your suggestions. m

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great boxing week ultrabook deal
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 07 Jan '16

07 Jan '16

<http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/ASUS-ZenBook-UX305CA-UHM…> <http://forums.redflagdeals.com/ms-store-650-50-gc-asus-zenbook-ux305ca-256g…> An Asus ZenBook ultrabook for $650. - 3200x1800 pixel screen! - Core m2-6y30 processor (not that much crunch but low power) - 8G RAM, 256G SSD - no spinning parts (no fan, no HDD) Price so good that I and others thought it might be an error. It still seems to be available online but not in-store at Yorkdale. Hints for perfecting Kubuntu on this machine: <https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/3ia8ta/review_of_ubuntu_on_asus_ux3…>

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Seeking help with a unique Linux project?
by Karen Lewellen 05 Jan '16

05 Jan '16

greetings everyone, My name is Karen. I have only recently found this LUG, and joined the talk list. I am a professional singer/ songwriter and media producer with a unique Linux goal. I wish to make use of the varied console or command line based tools in Linux for my composition work, and if possible for accessing media materials too. I use adaptive technology, which is part of why my desire is to ssh telnet into my Linux box rather than work with it directly. I tend to prefer more traditional tools. for example one sound card in this box will be an m-audio audiofile 2496 production card to which I will be attaching my music keyboard. In any case while I have some of the tools I require, and firm knowledge that my goals are possible. I have not, at least not until now, found a Linux users group in Toronto where I can get the extra wisdom required. I am very used to Linux and UNIX based shell structures. I am using one at this moment based in freedsb, to draft my email, and use another based in Ubuntu for my nonprofit media newsroom's hosting account. Such is also part of why I want to start with a comparative way to use my Linux box. I would rather begin with a foundation where I can make use of and learn more right away, than fail to use the Linux box well at all. Let me be sure my post is suitable before both asking and answering questions. Thanks in advance, Karen

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VOIP setup
by David Mason 04 Jan '16

04 Jan '16

I know there are some people on here that know about VOIP and Asterisk, and I'm looking for some pointers. I've looked at Asterisk a bit (a while ago) and it was kind of overwhelming. I want to have several phones and several phone numbers (a 416 for where I work, a 905 for where I live, and a 902 for where a bunch of my friends and family are). I want to pick up a phone, dial a number and have the appropriate VOIP phone number be used. I'd like a different ring tone from each of the numbers. I'd like an answering machine function with multiple mailboxes for various family members. I'd like to be able to access those messages (or at least be able to see that there are pending messages) from an computer. Some of these may not be possible/easy, but that's what I'd *like*. I currently have the 416 number via Primus which connects to a VOIP box (a Cisco SPA-122 that Primus provided). Any recommendation for a cheaper/better supplier for the multiple numbers I want to have? Thanks for any help! ../Dave

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distro for old machine and non-expert users
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 01 Jan '16

01 Jan '16

Machine: old P4 with 1G of RAM an 80G HDD. Was running Ubuntu 10.04 LTS. I'm trying to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS but Unity is a real pig with the ancient Intel 865G graphics. Any desktop that tries to use 3D acceleration will be awful. I strongly suspect Fedora's Gnome would be bad. Is there an easy choice? Would Mint work? The system should be self-explanatory to casual former Windows users.

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Beginner Debian Question(s)
by Peter King 01 Jan '16

01 Jan '16

I recently acquired a Roseapple Pi board, for which a system image based on Debian 8.1 "Jessie" is provided. This system image boots into an LXDE environment, with no option to boot to the console (i.e. the CLI without all the GUI stuff). I have no idea how to get it to boot to the console -- it doesn't seem to use GRUB(2) as the bootloader, so there is no menu option at boot. I tried to use sudo to get rid of lightdm, but was told that I'm not in the sudoers group, even after changing my user privileges to "Administrator". Naturally, I don't have a root password. Searching on Google generally suggests that it's way complicated now to just boot to console in Debian. That seems ridiculous. But then again, I don't understand anything about systemd or the "new" and "improved" way of doing things. Oh, and basic tools like lsusb don't seem to be installed by default. All this is exacerbated by the fact that Debian somehow doesn't recognize my wireless dongle (it uses an RTL 8192 chip), even though it's supposed to, and I have no ethernet connection to the net. I haven't been this frustrated by a linux distro in a long time. My idea of a good time is running dwm on a gentoo system, and LXDE looks like a bad knockoff of a premodern version of Windows. Any suggestions? (Apart from, "Drop the whole thing from a tall building" which has its attractions.) -- Peter King peter.king(a)utoronto.ca Department of Philosophy 170 St. George Street #521 The University of Toronto (416)-978-3311 ofc Toronto, ON M5R 2M8 CANADA http://individual.utoronto.ca/pking/ ========================================================================= GPG keyID 0x7587EC42 (2B14 A355 46BC 2A16 D0BC 36F5 1FE6 D32A 7587 EC42) gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys 7587EC42

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In Memoriam: Ian Murdock | Docker Blog
by James Knott 31 Dec '15

31 Dec '15

https://blog.docker.com/2015/12/ian-murdock/

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Cross-platform encrypted partition/virtual disk?
by Giles Orr 30 Dec '15

30 Dec '15

I want to have an encrypted portion of a USB stick that's accessible on Windows, Linux, and OS X. This will include lots of files, to the point that individual file encryption would seem impractical, and a partition (or encrypted virtual disk) would be the best solution. I thought "TrueCrypt!" ... but the first word that came up when I searched for it was "discontinued:" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TrueCrypt . According to that same Wikipedia article, its successors are VeraCrypt or CipherShed: of the two, VeraCrypt seems more practical, as it actually has several public releases behind it whereas CipherShed seems like it's more of an idea than a product right now. Has anybody tried either of these? Any other solutions that people are using or would suggest for this circumstance? Thanks. -- Giles http://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr(a)gmail.com

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