October 2024 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

Re: [GTALUG] A useless factoid.
by Alvin Starr 24 Oct '24

24 Oct '24

On 2024-10-23 03:32, ac via talk wrote: > On Tue, 22 Oct 2024 13:43:58 -0400 > Alvin Starr via talk<talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: >> On a recent holiday we got on to a Boeing 777 and I noticed the boot >> screen for the inflight entertainment system. >> It was Linux. >> > okay, not so useless.. afaik the inflight entertainment systems run on their > own hardware and are basically 'normal' personal computer(s) > > Give more tea Alvin! > what media players was it? (could you tell?) and which airline (and where did you go?) > It was an EgyptAir 777-300ER whose best years were clearly behind it. I only saw enough of the boot screen to know that is was Linux then it disappeared into the airline screens. The flight was Toronto to Cairo but we were changing there for Istanbul. It had in seat screens with a small phone/controller/gamepad/keyboard. A bit of digging and it looks like the aircraft could have been as old as 2010. For those who are bored. https://www.linux.com/news/linux-based-airline-seat-back-entertainment-syst… -- Alvin Starr || land: (647)478-6285 Netvel Inc. || home: (905)513-7688 alvin(a)netvel.net ||

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simple plug & play ethernet splitters?
by Karen Lewellen 23 Oct '24

23 Oct '24

Hi wise folks, I likely found my goal at amazon, say a tp-links unit, but if it is common enough where I could just dance into say a Canada computers, that would be preferred. Basically I seek a simple classic plug and play Ethernet splitter, say with 4 or 5 ports. something that does not require software, even fanless will work. I am hoping once I also find a quality power bar, to connect equipment that is on the other side of my home studio from my desk. Everything I personally use has standard Ethernet ports, with my hoping to set things up once, no removing cables and the like. Am I picturing this correctly, and is there a simple place I can get one inexpensively? Thanks, Karen

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A useless factoid.
by Alvin Starr 23 Oct '24

23 Oct '24

On a recent holiday we got on to a Boeing 777 and I noticed the boot screen for the inflight entertainment system. It was Linux. -- Alvin Starr || land: (647)478-6285 Netvel Inc. || home: (905)513-7688 alvin(a)netvel.net ||

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Free copy of Programming Language Pragmatics 3rd Ed
by Krishnan Srinivasan 22 Oct '24

22 Oct '24

Hello, I have a copy of Programming Language Pragmatics, 3rd Edition (2009) to give away, if anyone is interested. Please contact me off list at sri.krishnanst(a)gmail.com if you're interested. Thanks.

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war story: fixing a Fedora installation that got broken during update
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 21 Oct '24

21 Oct '24

Many people don't update their software. They claim that it only brings grief. I'm the opposite: I take any update offered in the hope it is an improvement. One of my computers hung during a Fedora update. I don't know why it happened because I wasn't there (I also don't watch paint drying). Symptom: booting would not get the the log-in screen (GDM?). Step 1: have booting log to the display Normally Fedora booting is quiet so as not to disturb the serenity of the user. In this case we want to see the log. It might tell us what's wrong and it might tell us how far it got before hanging. - at the GRUB boot menu, type "e" to be given the chance to edit the commands that GRUB will execute to boot Linux. - cursor to the end of the "linux" line - remove the last two parameters ("rhgb quiet") - type CTRL-x to get the modified commands executed Now lots of logging information will scroll by on the screen. In my particular case, it didn't tell me much but I could see that booting got a long way. Step 2: boot from a live Fedora USB and examine the system's HDD/SSD. I assume that you know how to boot from a live installation USB flash drive. It is easy from that desktop to examine the broken system. - SMART scanning the system's disk might by worthwhile, if only to eliminate that source of doubt. - file system checks are always a good idea In my particular case, I didn't see anything obvious. Complicated brain surgery can be done by starting up the broken system in a chroot environment. I started down that road but was interrupted before success or failure. Step 3: boot the system console mode, without a GUI. This had promise because it looked to me as if the failure was starting the graphical system Proceed like step 1, but after erasing "rhgb quiet", add " 3"; hit CTRL-X. Log in. Now you have a shell. Since the system failed after a software update, I decided to do more of them. You could instead back out of them. sudo dnf update Failure: There was a set of kernel packages that seemed to be half installed. I removed the half that was installed and asked again for an update. It worked. I could reboot the system and it would come up as expected. Success!

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Learning Go
by William Park 21 Oct '24

21 Oct '24

Dear Go experts, I finally decided to dive into Go. Searching around "go.dev", I can't seem to find proper introduction, suitable for C programmer. Can someone point me to where it might be buried? I want the usual introduction, starting with - data types, variables, data structures - syntax (Go seems to use more symbols than C) - if-then, loops, functions, etc. Eg. I started with func main() { code, text := fmt.Print ("Print:", "hello", "world\n") code, text := fmt.Printf ("Printf: %s %s\n", "hello", "world") code, text := fmt.Println ("Println:", "hello", "world") } and got errors. I managed to figure it out, by trial and error. Not very efficient learning...

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Linux and on line banking?
by Karen Lewellen 18 Oct '24

18 Oct '24

Hi folks, Anyone using Linux successfully to access their on line bank account? If so, where? TD is not a prospect, so may be opening another account where I can manage a few things this way, if inclusive of course. Happy fall, Karen

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October Meeting Reminder
by Alan Heighway 08 Oct '24

08 Oct '24

Calling All Gamers! Gaming on Linux Discussion <https://new.gtalug.org/?p=106> We’re going to have a discussion about gaming on Linux. Bring you questions, comments, concerns, and complaints about your experiences with Linux gaming. This will be a discussion, so participation is encouraged. We will be hosting this in person and online so there are no excuses for not joining us! See all the details below… Date / Time: October 8th, 2024 19:30 EST Location: In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below) Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i NOTE: The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call. *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing]

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cheap as dirt old notebooks
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 07 Oct '24

07 Oct '24

Dell Refurbished is an arm of Dell Canada that sells off-lease computers. They are having a sale right now: 25% off all systems with a coupon (shown on this page): <https://www.dellrefurbished.ca/hot-deals?cjdata=MXxOfDB8WXww&nocache=1&utm_…> Note: shipping is extra. The Dell Latitude 3310 looks a little tasty: <https://www.dellrefurbished.ca/item/dell-latitude-3310-no-os-000004/dell-la…> - $179 - 25% + shipping + tax (cheap as a Raspberry Pi 5 system) - OK CPU i5-8265U - Latitude line is a business line, so should be well made - only cosmetic grade B - no OS license. But we have Linux - I'm guessing that it has an open SoDIMM slot to add a second 8G, but I haven't checked - screen resolution is only 1366 x 768 - 100 day warrranty

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