May 2015 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

(OFF-TOPIC) Looking for pictures of an XL-87
by Paul King 24 May '15

24 May '15

Hi folks: This is even difficult to Google. I had been looking for some pictures (digital, natch) of a computer we referred to as an XL-87 back in university. They were old units back then too. I believe they were manufactured by Cybernex with the full name "Cybernex XL-87". My first exposure to an operating system was through these terminals, with the OS being a variant of UNIX. But if anyone has photos of such a terminal, could you please email as an attachment off-list? Paul King

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Niche Chrome/painless MIDI on Linux/synth nerdiness: 106.js
by Stewart C. Russell 24 May '15

24 May '15

Hi all — this might be of interest to a limited number on this list, but it really impressed me. You will need: * USB MIDI hardware (though you can noodle on the keyboard much less impressively) * a recent Chrome build (/possibly/ Chromium too; if you can enable Web MIDI under chrome://flags, it might work) Now go here: http://resistorsings.com/106/ If you've got your MIDI set up, you've got a decent-ish emulation of a Juno 106. In JavaScript. Talking to your MIDI hardware with minimal latency. I'm linking this here as my previous experience with MIDI on Linux was highly dispiriting. If I could even get it to work, there was usually a ¼s or more delay between pressing a key and getting a note. This just works. I'm impressed. cheers, Stewart

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Dinner Suggestions for June's GTALUG Meeting
by Myles Braithwaite 19 May '15

19 May '15

Anyone have any restaurant suggestions for the dinner before June's GTALUG meeting? We currently have: Love at First Bite (Pizza) Kaiju (Curry) Hookaido Ramen Santouka Lou Dawg's (BBQ) I would also like to suggest that we make Love at First Bite our fallback in case anything goes wrong.

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"ondemand" CPU governor not recommended for newer Intel machines
by Walter Dnes 16 May '15

16 May '15

I've been putting together scripts that run under bash+ash to control CPU settings. I was unhappy with current solutions. They seemed to be either out-of-date, and no longer worked, or else pulled in egregiuous dependancies. In the course of researching stuff for my scripts, I ran across a 2-year-old Phoronix article http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTM3NDQ which referenced a Google+ conversation at https://plus.google.com/+TheodoreTso/posts/2vEekAsG2QT Summary... "ondemand" worked great for notebook CPUs from 10 years ago, but... > with modern Intel processors, the ondemand CPU governor is actually > counterproductive because waking up to decide whether the CPU is idle > keeps it from entering the deepest sleep states, and so (somewhat > counterintuitively) the performance governor will actually result > in the best battery life. I don't know if the above also applies to the "conservative" governor. I put together an interactive script and an automated script. I was thinking along the following lines... * notebook runs at "powersave" by default * run a wrapper script * wrapper script kicks up to "performance" setting * launches the job you want done (kernel compile or whatever) * drops back down to "powersave" mode after the job is finished -- Walter Dnes <waltdnes(a)waltdnes.org>

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OpenStreetMap links from the other night
by Stewart C. Russell 15 May '15

15 May '15

Hi all — thanks so much for coming out the other night. Thanks to Scott, Myles and the cast of 1000_2 s who make GTALUG happen. Rather than post my presentation, which was kind of light on detail, I thought I'd post some of the most useful but harder-to-remember links I brought up: 1. ‘The Map’ — http://www.openstreetmap.org . It supports routing now, too. 2. QGIS, an open GIS manager. It's rather good — http://qgis.org/ 3. The OSM Wiki; ridiculously complete documentation: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/ 4. OSM Help Stack Exchange-style question/answer: https://help.openstreetmap.org/ 5. All of the OSM stats! — https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Stats 6. Toronto map growth animation — http://www.geofabrik.de/gallery/history/index.html#toronto 7. Crowdsourced geocoding (+ lawsuit from Canada Post) — http://geocoder.ca/ 8. Open Data Commons Open Database License (ODbL) — http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/ 9. Canada’s new Open Government portal — http://open.canada.ca related: Toronto Open Data — http://toronto.ca/open 10. CIPPIC Open Licensing Project (CLIP) — http://clipol.org/ 11. Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team [HOT] — http://hotosm.org/ 12. OpenCycleMap — http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=13/43.6666/-79.3785&layers=C 13. *The rather wonderful /uMap/* — https://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/ uMap might be a decent way of mapping out some dinner choices pre GTALUG meetings. There's a monthly OSM Meetup, and also #maptime, the web mapping meetup. Both are linked here: http://www.meetup.com/OpenStreetMap-Toronto/ Best Wishes, and it was great to meet you all again, Stewart (who, not surprisingly, is on OpenStreetMap as scruss <http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/scruss>.)

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[GTALUG-Announce] Linux in the Park 2015
by Myles Braithwaite 14 May '15

14 May '15

<http://gtalug.org/picnics/2015/> GTALUG is having the annual Linux in the Park Potluck this year at Dufferin Grove Park on 25th July at 2pm. Things we will provide: Plates, Cutlery, Serviettes, Cups, and Garbage bags. Things you might want to bring: chairs, tasty beverages (that are non-alcoholic, as the city prohibits alcoholic beverages in the park), food stuffs that you would like to share and enjoy, tarp/blanket, sunscreen, hats, things to help survive the warmth of the Canadian Wilderness. We will doing this in a pot-luck style. Thus, please bring enough food and drink for yourself and your guests, and try to bring enough to share with others in the group. We are using a Trello board to organize everything: <https://trello.com/b/JNHsDwys/linux-in-the-park-2015>. Note that if you forget anything you needed, Dufferin Mall is across the street, featuring a supermarket (No-Frills) department store (WalMart), as well as other specialty stores. ## Location Dufferin Grove Park 875 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario <https://goo.gl/maps/hnGg5> <http://osm.org/go/ZX6BHsVZx-?layers=N&way=15703371> ## Social Media Links Facebook: <https://www.facebook.com/events/694777713981257/> Google+: <https://plus.google.com/events/ch21nnnjdcq6prpp575vc0no7cc> ## Code of Conduct We want a productive happy community that can welcome new ideas, improve every process every year, and foster collaboration between individuals with differing needs, interests and skills. We gain strength from diversity, and actively seek participation from those who enhance it. This code of conduct exists to ensure that diverse groups collaborate to mutual advantage and enjoyment. We will challenge prejudice that could jeopardize the participation of any person in the community. The Code of Conduct governs how we behave in public or in private whenever the Linux community will be judged by our actions. We expect it to be honored by everyone who represents the community officially or informally, claims affiliation, or participates directly. It applies to activities online or offline. We invite anybody to participate. Our community is open. Please read more about the GTALUG Code of Conduct here: <http://gtalug.org/about/code-of-conduct/>. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the GTALUG Code of Conduct please contact one of the GTALUG Board Members @ <board(a)gtalug.org>. --- GTALUG Announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org http://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Postgres and ident used for authentication
by David Collier-Brown 14 May '15

14 May '15

While it's been discussed elsewhere*, I just tripped over a decidedly odd default in postgresql: it tries to use ident to verify that the role I'm logging in to has the same name as my unix user account, simulating the "peer" authentication available for unix domain sockets. I don't see any history for this, but It make me suspicious, just as it would if I found someone was using rsh and a .rhosts file in a world where we have ssh with keys. The common recommendation is to use "trust", which is even worse than ident. At least ident comes with a conspicuous warning that "The Identification Protocol is not intended as an authorization or access control protocol." Anyone know the back story? The FAQ is unhelpful, the bugs list seems private, and Google finds lots of bad advice (;-)) --dave [* http://www.upfrontsystems.co.za/Members/izak/sysadman/postgresqls-confusing… http://www.depesz.com/2007/08/18/securing-your-postgresql-database/ ] -- David Collier-Brown, | Always do right. This will gratify System Programmer and Author | some people and astonish the rest davecb(a)spamcop.net | -- Mark Twain

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Grk is closed -- dinner before the meeting
by Alex Volkov 12 May '15

12 May '15

Grk is closed a I and Bob Jonkman will be in curry kitchen 117 Dundas St E. Just two doors east of grk. Alex.

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Dinner before May 2015 GTALUG meeting (was Meeting 11th May, 2015 at 7:30pm)
by Myles Braithwaite 12 May '15

12 May '15

Voting open for dinner options before next month's GTALUG meeting: <http://strawpoll.me/4216617>. On Sun, Apr 26, 2015 at 7:13 PM, Myles Braithwaite <me(a)mylesbraithwaite.com> wrote: > * 6:00 pm - Before each meeting a group of GTALUGers dine at to be > determined restaurant. Vote here: <http://strawpoll.me/4216617>.

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Problem Installing Driver for Epson WF-2630
by Stephen 11 May '15

11 May '15

I am running Ubuntu 14.04 I downloaded the *.deb file from the Epson web site: epson-inkjet-printer-escpr_1.4.5-1lsb3.2_i386.deb It starts in the Ubuntu Software Centre, but I get an error message: "New software can't be installed, because there is a problem with the software currently installed. Do you want to repair this problem now?" I click "Repair". I am prompted for my password. In a few seconds I return to the Ubuntu Software Centre. I click "Install" Then a window pops up saying "Package operation failed" I check the details and I see: "dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of epson-inkjet-printer-escpr: epson-inkjet-printer-escpr depends on lsb (>= 3.2)." So I download lsb-printing_4.0-0ubuntu8_i386.deb I try to install, but the Ubuntu Software Centre prompts me to Remove. So, at this point I am calling out for HELP! Thanks in advance -- Stephen

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