- Talk - lists.gtalug.org

Chinese attackers accessed Canadian government networks – for five years
by Ron / BCLUG 31 Oct '24

31 Oct '24

A sobering report: > A report by Canada's Communications Security Establishment (CSE) > revealed that state-backed actors have collected valuable information > from government networks for five years. > > The biennial National Cyber Threat Assessment described the People's > Republic of China's (PRC) cyber operations against Canada as "second > to none." Their purpose is to "serve high-level political and > commercial objectives, including espionage, intellectual property > (IP) theft, malign influence, and transnational repression." > > Over the past four years, at least 20 networks within Canadian > government agencies and departments were compromised by PRC cyber > threat actors. https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/31/canada_cybersec_threats/ https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/national-cyber-threat-assessment-2025-2… -- To subscribe, send an email to discuss-subscribe(a)lists.bclug.ca -- https://bclug.ca -- List Web site: https://lists.bclug.ca/mailman/listinfo/discuss

1 0

a Firefox performance mystery
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 30 Oct '24

30 Oct '24

Firefox performance problems are usually opaque to me. I always have too many tabs open. I don't like any alternatives that I've found. Bookmarks have only gotten worse. I can tell that Firefox is eating too much CPU when my computer's fan comes on (all performance problems on my desktop seem to be Firefox related). Finding the bad tab(s) isn't always easy. You can try to analyze what's going on with the URL <about:performance> It tells you the memory and CPU resource usage for each tab, except some things don't get assigned to tabs. That display seems to have gotten less useful over time. What prompted this message is yet another time this happened. I found that the bad tab was: <https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/10/finally-upgrading-fr…> This is a topic that I want to study. Later. I had had it open for more than a week. This tab was burning more than one core's worth of CPU. I deleted the tab. The fan became silent. Then I re-opened it and the load was much smaller. That's today's ad hoc solution. Quite unsatisfactory. Does anyone else have a recommendation for investigating and fixing some Firefox performance problems?

10 14

Re: [GTALUG] 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) -> TOTP (Time-limited One-Time Password)
by Lennart Sorensen 29 Oct '24

29 Oct '24

On Mon, Oct 28, 2024 at 11:12:25AM +0200, ac via talk wrote: > for the short term, personally, i rely on platforms and sites still supporting > text messages, these are becoming fewer though and is beng phased out. I really hope they stop supporting text messages. It is the one method that is extremely insecure. SIM swapping is a huge problem making text messages something you really shouldn't be relying on for security at all. -- Len Sorensen

2 1

exfat usb disk
by CAREY SCHUG 28 Oct '24

28 Oct '24

I bought a 4 gb usb (spinning) disk. it mounts fine on winblows 10 on ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS crickets. I kind of think I have used other (smaller) exfat usb disks with no problems. i went through several sets of instructions for installing exfat support, none did anything. gparted shows it as all unallocated. does that mean it has a different partiton table format? can I add that to ubuntu, or should I just allocate and format with gparted? (as what? seeking an answer for this) console from my attempts is below another question: what do I need to do in the script command to get a file thaT LOOKS like I did in unix, something that looks just like my terminal, not all this other cr*p (and not including all the "[c" that i edited out). Script started on 2024-10-23 07:47:35-05:00 [TERM="xterm-256color" TTY="/dev/pts/13" COLUMNS="80" LINES="24"][?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ sudo -[K[7msudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils[27m[Asudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils[1P[1P[1P[1P[1P[?2004l[sudo] password for careyschug: Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 100%Reading package lists... DoneBuilding dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... DoneReading state information... 0% Reading state information... 0%Reading state information... DonePackage exfat-utils is not available, but is referred to by another package.This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, oris only available from another sourceE: Package 'exfat-utils' has no installation candidate[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [7msudo add-apt-repository ppa:arter97/exfat-linux[27msudo add-apt-repository ppa:arter97/exfat-linux[?2004lRepository: 'deb https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu/ jammy main'Description:Production-ready exFAT kernel module for Linux.https://github.com/arter97/exfat-linuxMore info: https://launchpad.net/~arter97/+archive/ubuntu/exfat-linuxAdding repository.Press [ENTER] to continue or Ctrl-c to cancel.Adding deb entry to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/arter97-ubuntu-exfat-linux-jammy.listAdding disabled deb-src entry to /etc/apt/sources.list.d/arter97-ubuntu-exfat-linux-jammy.listAdding key to /etc/apt/trusted.gpg.d/arter97-ubuntu-exfat-linux.gpg with fingerprint 71D641738AA0BEA26DA949516BA7349C5FD45AE10% [Working] Hit:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease0% [Waiting for headers] onnecting to ppa.launchpadcontent.net] onnected to Get:2 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease [129 kB]0% [Waiting for headers] [2 InRelease 1,120 B/129 kB 1%] onnecting to ppa.lau Get:3 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease [128 kB]0% [3 InRelease 12.5 kB/128 kB 10%] [2 InRelease 14.0 kB/129 kB 11%] onnectin Get:4 https://deb.nodesource.com/node_14.x jammy InRelease [4,563 B]0% [3 InRelease 46.8 kB/128 kB 37%] [2 InRelease 48.2 kB/129 kB 37%] onnectin0% [3 InRelease 46.8 kB/128 kB 37%] [2 InRelease 51.1 kB/129 kB 40%] onnectin0% [3 InRelease 128 kB/128 kB 100%] onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620% [Waiting for headers] onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:1 Get:5 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports InRelease [127 kB]0% [5 InRelease 5,404 B/127 kB 4%] onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (26200% [5 InRelease 127 kB/127 kB 100%] onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620% onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:1::81)] [Waiting for he 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:6 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu jammy-apps-security InRelease [7,553 B]0% [Waiting for headers] [6 InRelease 7,553 B/7,553 B 100%] 0% [Waiting for headers] Get:7 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu jammy-apps-updates InRelease [7,456 B]0% [Waiting for headers] [7 InRelease 7,456 B/7,456 B 100%] 0% [Waiting for headers]0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Ign:8 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu jammy InRelease0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:9 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [43.1 kB]0% [9 Components-amd64 1,630 B/43.1 kB 4%] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for h 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers]0% [9 Components-amd64 store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] [ 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:10 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu jammy-infra-security InRelease [7,450 B]0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] [10 InRelease 7,450 B/7,450 B 10 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:11 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [208 B]0% [11 Components-amd64 208 B/208 B 100%] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for he 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:12 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [126 kB]0% [12 Components-amd64 5,503 B/126 kB 4%] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for h0% [11 Components-amd64 store 0 B] [12 Components-amd64 5,503 B/126 kB 4%] [Wai0% [12 Components-amd64 9,787 B/126 kB 8%] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for h Err:13 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu jammy Release 404 Not Found [IP: 2620:2d:4000:1::81 443] 0% [12 Components-amd64 76.9 kB/126 kB 61%] [Waiting for headers] 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:14 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [208 B]0% [12 Components-amd64 store 0 B] [Waiting for headers]0% [12 Components-amd64 store 166 kB] [Waiting for headers] 0% [Waiting for headers]0% [14 Components-amd64 store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers] Get:15 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu jammy-infra-updates InRelease [7,449 B]0% [Waiting for headers] [15 InRelease 7,449 B/7,449 B 100%] 0% [Waiting for headers] Get:16 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main i386 Packages [712 kB]0% [16 Packages 5,473 B/712 kB 1%] 0% [Working]0% [16 Packages store 0 B] Get:17 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main amd64 Packages [2,112 kB]0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [17 Packages 2,615 B/2,112 kB 0%]0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [17 Packages 788 kB/2,112 kB 37%] 0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] Get:18 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [103 kB]0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [18 Components-amd64 24.8 kB/103 kB 24%] 0% [16 Packages store 0 B] Get:19 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [19 Components-amd64 212 B/212 B 100%] 0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] Get:20 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [356 kB]0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [20 Components-amd64 16.4 kB/356 kB 5%] Get:21 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [940 B] 0% [16 Packages store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] 0% [Waiting for headers]0% [17 Packages store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] Get:22 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports/main amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [5,324 B]0% [17 Packages store 0 B] [22 Components-amd64 4,048 B/5,324 B 76%] 0% [17 Packages store 0 B] Get:23 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports/restricted amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]0% [17 Packages store 0 B] [Waiting for headers] Get:24 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports/universe amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [23.1 kB]0% [17 Packages store 0 B] [24 Components-amd64 23.1 kB/23.1 kB 100%] 0% [17 Packages store 0 B] Get:25 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports/multiverse amd64 DEP-11 Metadata [212 B]0% [17 Packages store 0 B]0% [17 Packages store 0 B]0% [17 Packages store 0 B] 0% [Working]0% [18 Components-amd64 store 0 B]0% [18 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 0% [Working]0% [Working]0% [20 Components-amd64 store 0 B]99% [20 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 100% [Working]100% [21 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 100% [Working]100% [22 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 100% [Working]100% [23 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 100% [Working]100% [24 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 100% [Working]100% [25 Components-amd64 store 0 B] 100% [Working] Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 2%Reading package lists... 2%Reading package lists... 4%Reading package lists... 4%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 6%Reading package lists... 6%Reading package lists... 20%Reading package lists... 30%Reading package lists... 30%Reading package lists... 42%Reading package lists... 42%Reading package lists... 53%Reading package lists... 53%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 58%Reading package lists... 58%Reading package lists... 60%Reading package lists... 60%Reading package lists... 63%Reading package lists... 63%Reading package lists... 68%Reading package lists... 68%Reading package lists... 69%Reading package lists... 69%Reading package lists... 72%Reading package lists... 72%Reading package lists... 74%Reading package lists... 74%Reading package lists... 76%Reading package lists... 76%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 77%Reading package lists... 81%Reading package lists... 81%Reading package lists... 82%Reading package lists... 82%Reading package lists... 85%Reading package lists... 85%Reading package lists... 88%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 94%Reading package lists... 94%Reading package lists... 96%Reading package lists... 96%Reading package lists... 97%Reading package lists... 97%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... DoneE: The repository 'https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu jammy Release' does not have a Release file.N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ sudo apt update[?2004l[33m0% [Working][0m Hit:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy InRelease[33m0% [Waiting for headers] onnecting to security.ubuntu.com (2620:2d:4002:1::10[0m Hit:2 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates InRelease[33m0% [Waiting for headers] onnecting to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:[0m Hit:3 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-security InRelease[33m0% [Waiting for headers] onnecting to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:[0m Hit:4 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-backports InRelease[33m0% onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:1::81)] [Waiting for he[0m Get:5 https://deb.nodesource.com/node_14.x jammy InRelease [4,563 B][33m0% onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:1::81)] [5 InRelease 4,[0m[33m0% onnected to ppa.launchpadcontent.net (2620:2d:4000:1::81)] onnected to e[0m[33m 0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers][0m[33m0% [Waiting for headers] [Waiting for headers][0m Ign:6 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu jammy InRelease[33m 0% [Waiting for headers][0m Hit:7 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu jammy-apps-security InRelease[33m0% [Waiting for headers][0m Err:8 https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu jammy Release 404 Not Found [IP: 2620:2d:4000:1::81 443][33m0% [Waiting for headers][0m Hit:9 https://esm.ubuntu.com/apps/ubuntu jammy-apps-updates InRelease[33m 0% [Working][0m[33m0% [Waiting for headers][0m Hit:10 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu jammy-infra-security InRelease[33m 0% [Working][0m Hit:11 https://esm.ubuntu.com/infra/ubuntu jammy-infra-updates InRelease[33m0% [Working][0m[33m0% [Working][0m[33m0% [Working][0m[33m0% [Working][0m[33m0% [Working][0m[33m0% [Working][0m[33m100% [Working][0m Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 2%Reading package lists... 2%Reading package lists... 4%Reading package lists... 4%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 5%Reading package lists... 6%Reading package lists... 6%Reading package lists... 21%Reading package lists... 30%Reading package lists... 30%Reading package lists... 42%Reading package lists... 42%Reading package lists... 53%Reading package lists... 53%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 54%Reading package lists... 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lists... 77%Reading package lists... 81%Reading package lists... 81%Reading package lists... 82%Reading package lists... 82%Reading package lists... 85%Reading package lists... 85%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 91%Reading package lists... 92%Reading package lists... 94%Reading package lists... 94%Reading package lists... 96%Reading package lists... 96%Reading package lists... 97%Reading package lists... 97%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... 98%Reading package lists... Done[1;31mE: [0mThe repository 'https://ppa.launchpadcontent.net/arter97/exfat-linux/ubuntu jammy Release' does not have a Release file.[0m[33mN: [0mUpdating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default.[0m[33mN: [0mSee apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details.[0m[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [7msudo apt install exfat-dkms[27msudo apt install exfat-dkms[?2004lReading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 100%Reading package lists... DoneBuilding dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... DoneReading state information... 0% Reading state information... 0%Reading state information... Done[1;31mE: [0mUnable to locate package exfat-dkms[0m[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ sudo apt install exfat-dkms[12Pupdatedd-apt-repository ppa:arter97/exfat-linux[4Ppt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils[?2004lReading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 100%Reading package lists... DoneBuilding dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... DoneReading state information... 0% Reading state information... 0%Reading state information... DonePackage exfat-utils is not available, but is referred to by another package.This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, oris only available from another sourceE: Package 'exfat-utils' has no installation candidate[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils\\\\[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[K[Kprogs[?2004lReading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 100%Reading package lists... DoneBuilding dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... DoneReading state information... 0% Reading state information... 0%Reading state information... DoneE: Unable to locate package exfat-progs[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ sudo apt-get install exfat-progs[1Pprogs[?2004lReading package lists... 0%Reading package lists... 100%Reading package lists... DoneBuilding dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 0%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... 50%Building dependency tree... DoneReading state information... 0% Reading state information... 0%Reading state information... DoneThe following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required: libflashrom1 libftdi1-2 libllvm13Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.The following NEW packages will be installed: exfatprogs0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 5 not upgraded.Need to get 40.5 kB of archives.After this operation, 151 kB of additional disk space will be used.0% [Working] Get:1 http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu jammy-updates/universe amd64 exfatprogs amd64 1.1.3-1ubuntu0.1 [40.5 kB]2% [1 exfatprogs 1,138 B/40.5 kB 3%] 100% [Working] Fetched 40.5 kB in 0s (135 kB/s)Selecting previously unselected package exfatprogs.(Reading database ... (Reading database ... 5%(Reading database ... 10%(Reading database ... 15%(Reading database ... 20%(Reading database ... 25%(Reading database ... 30%(Reading database ... 35%(Reading database ... 40%(Reading database ... 45%(Reading database ... 50%(Reading database ... 55%(Reading database ... 60%(Reading database ... 65%(Reading database ... 70%(Reading database ... 75%(Reading database ... 80%(Reading database ... 85%(Reading database ... 90%(Reading database ... 95%(Reading database ... 100%(Reading database ... 265370 files and directories currently installed.)Preparing to unpack .../exfatprogs_1.1.3-1ubuntu0.1_amd64.deb ...Unpacking exfatprogs (1.1.3-1ubuntu0.1) ...Setting up exfatprogs (1.1.3-1ubuntu0.1) ...Processing triggers for man-db (2.10.2-1) ...[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ df -k[?2004lFilesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted ontmpfs 3272708 3880 3268828 1% /run/dev/sda4 32948984 25453092 5789964 82% /tmpfs 16363528 348856 16014672 3% /dev/shmtmpfs 5120 4 5116 1% /run/lock/dev/sda6 35249 6192 29057 18% /boot/efi/dev/sda7 118162236 106767416 5346356 96% /hometmpfs 3272704 2588 3270116 1% /run/user/1001[?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ sudo gparrt[K[Kted[?2004l(gpartedbin:1649786): Gtk-[1;33mWARNING[0m **: [34m08:08:47.831[0m: cannot open display: [?2004h]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ [K]0;careyschug@OptiPlex-7050: ~[01;32mcareyschug@OptiPlex-7050[00m:[01;34m~[00m$ exit[?2004lexitScript done on 2024-10-23 08:19:50-05:00 OMMAND_EXIT_CODE="1"] --Carey

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2FA (Two Factor Authentication) -> TOTP (Time-limited One-Time Password)
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 28 Oct '24

28 Oct '24

Many sites are trying to tighten up security, for good reason. I access GitHub and GitLab using SSH. I think that that is unaffected because SSH Public Key Cryptosystem is secure in a way that password system are not. But I also want to github them via the HTTPS interface. GitHub is forcing me to go to TOTP for 2FA next month to access their web interface. (ssh ought to continue working since it's authentication is solid). Sadly, I know little about TOTP. Sites try to make it so easy that it is hard to understand what they want. There is a strong push to put The Thing (authenticator? Client?) on you mobile phone. I don't really want to because (1) I take my phone outside my house, and (2) my phone software isn't open source. I want The Thing to run on my Linux desktop. ==> What do you guys do? GNOME's "Software" program finds 3 progams: OTPClient - most used - download size: 348.1 MB! Probably because it is a flatpak - when I run it it says "memlock value to low" <https://github.com/paolostivanin/OTPClient/wiki/Secure-Memory-Limitations> That suggests that you need to have a memlock limit greater than 67108864 KB (larger than 67 GB). That's the amount of memory that programs can lock into RAM. Nonsense: how many machines even have 67 GB of physical RAM, let alone RAM you want to dedicate to an accessory. The diagnostic seems to be a known error with flatpak version <https://github.com/paolostivanin/OTPClient/issues/372> In fact, that points out multiple problems with the flatpak version, which is what I was delivered. ABANDON, with a comment. <https://github.com/paolostivanin/OTPClient/issues/384> Authenticator - download size: only 32.8 MB Numberstation - download size: only 28.4 KB Python, I think. EPIPHANY: I want a CLI-based Thing since I'd like to access it via SSH. So looking in the GNOME repos was a mistake. To be continued...

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revised bottom line, my laster word [was: soapbox, what I consider a GParted failure]
by CAREY SCHUG 27 Oct '24

27 Oct '24

Thank you again Lennart, this ignorant mainframer is slowly being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age. 1. Linux (the whole thing, not the kernal) should handle random hardware as well as any major competitors, at least windows, android, MacOS, and maybe gaming consoles. Any commodity devices sold at retail should just work as well as on the competitors. I realize actual new hardware devices are sold with proprietary binary only drivers in not all operating systems, so this is a "best effort". However, disk drives, spinning or solid state that are formatted (and hence could be filled with data by the purchaser) for one operating system, should be readable on Linux. If some niche company takes an m2 disk and packages it to look like some specialty device, say amiga, that does NOT need to be supported. aside: huh? so many variations on mbr, including one with 12 extended partitions? Is there a list of which operating systems (with what years they were active) AND which are supported by the most common current ones? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record this is also interesting (don't recall even hearing of midnightbsd before) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table and i notice other OSes previously covered in this thread are not listed (are they all MBR only?). Some reading for me in the future, much is still beyond my comprehension. and I guess I missed something, because this page says there can be up to 23 extended partitions: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/mbr-vs-gpt-whats-the-difference-between-a… If windows and/or MacOS, with a default install, will access an amiga filesysystem, then linux should. Since an exFAT disk without a partition table will "just work", on windows, it "should" on linux too. other than that, including a disk without a partition table but a filesytem that would work if it was in a partition table, a warning of non-blank is sufficient. and yes, I was not paying attention to the details of gparted vs other tools. I have a very poor memory for specific names (partly why I was good at assembler, the instruction names are mnemonic and follow simple patterns). I remember when, trying to install dual boot, since the top level directory and other files marked "unmoveable" and in the middle of the partition, you could only shrink windows partitions down to a little over half their original size. Then I think the linux tools got smarter, and the windows partitions could be shrunk to the minimum size needed for the os. Would it be possible for that shrinking program, or some new program, to insert a partition table in before an existing filesystem on a disk without any partition table? to this ignorant-of-the-internals person, it seems like one should be able to: --do disk "defragging/compaction" if any files are near either extreme of the filesystem --lop off the end of the filesystem to make room, for primary and backup gpts --move everything up enough to add the partition table (worst case) --or adjust block numbers in directory to account for changing origin ** --build the partition table --invoke current process for moving data from old center to new smaller center hopefully combine the steps so data is not moved more than once. ** do FILES as opposed to directories, contain absolute block numbers of other parts of the file? note that *I* do not need this, I caught this before I put anything of mine on the disks, so I can wipe them clean and start fresh, I am just thinking about the other guy who knows far less than me, and who might get pissed and decide to just stay with windows instead of converting to linux. <pre>--Carey</pre> > On 10/26/2024 10:35 PM CDT Lennart Sorensen <lsorense(a)csclub.uwaterloo.ca mailto:lsorense@csclub.uwaterloo.ca> wrote: > > On Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 02:59:48AM -0500, CAREY SCHUG wrote: > > > Your response is helpful Lennart, and this ignorant ex-mainframer even believes he understands. Thank you. > > > > ... > > > > > Will linux access an amiga filesystem? Willow? Netware? CP/M? I suspect the number of filesystems a running LINUX can actually access is small enough that adding code to recognize them without a partition table entry is reasonable. > > > To a large extent the answer is that yes it can. For example: > > mythtv64:~/gp# find /lib/modules/6.11.2-amd64/kernel/fs/affs//lib/modules/6.11.2-amd64/kernel/fs/affs//lib/modules/6.11.2-amd64/kernel/fs/affs/affs.ko.xz > mythtv64:~/gp# modinfo affs > filename: /lib/modules/6.11.2-amd64/kernel/fs/affs/affs.ko.xz > license: GPL > description: Amiga filesystem support for Linux > > I think warning about not blank is enough. You can then go use file to > check what it contains and get much better results from a tool designed > and maintained for exactly the purpose of identifying things. > > But certainly you could expect to encounter a drive without partitions > with some file system (NTFS, exFAT, FAT or even HFS+) or a partition > table, usually MBR or GPT (since the mac has used GPT for years now ever > since moving to x86 and not ARM processors). Hitting a partition table > from Amiga or BSD or AIX or something else is highly unlikely. > > ... > > > And ... I would hope WE could be one (or two, or three) better then Microsoft. > > > > In practical terms, I am not going to walk into Microcenter and buy a spinning/solid state/usb drive with an Amiga file-system on it. A new and easy to acquire drive will contain > > --a partition table that identifies the file-systems on it) > > --absolutely nothing (added in this reply) > > --an empty partition table > > --APFS (probably with a partition table) (added in this reply) > > --EXT4 or maybe one of a short list > > > > the last two if removed from a computer with that OS installed, where I replaced the disk with a larger one and want to repurpose the original, but I suspect ONLY with a partition table (revised here). > > > Will an "absolutely empty" disk contain all zeros, or some random bit pattern from QA testing? how much testing is done of disks when manufactured? is there a universal, or one of several common "worst case" bit patterns used for testing, so that they would not be confused with a totally empty disk? > What if it contains an MBR and a GPT partition table? They are not in > the same sector locations by design. What if it has GPT but the two > copies are not in sync? > warning of which of the above problems should be sufficient, with wording to enable a web search to find suggested next steps. i.e. just "there may be data on this disk" is not enough for a non linux sysadmin. > > > And once I have defined partitions, gparted and/or the linux install process WILL format it at least in linux and (some?) microsoft formats, so it DOES understand them. I have never tried formatting a partition for amiga with gparted... but if so, might that be useful for running an amiga emulator? > > > > Since apparently disks with one of a few microsoft filesystems are "common", I think it is reasonable for both Linux AND gparted to recognize them. > > > > If I have pulled a disk out of some other computer, I should be expected to have the knowledge of how to check for a filesystem in THAT format. > > > > another aside, just out of curiosity: If I find a mainframe storage array (in a dumpster, or "fell off a truck") made from commodity disks, do they have one of the two partition tables, and a filesystem we might know about, or just some hidden binary that only the mainframe controller knows about? > > > Of course parted is far from the only partitioning tool on linux. > It is certainly NOT the one I would pick to use if partitioning a drive. > cfdisk is so much more pleasant to work with. > > I will use gparted if I need to resize partitions on a drive though. > About the only think I will consider using it for. > > Disk partitioning is a somewhat complicated thing, although at least on > modern machines it is much much nicer than the insanity you used to have > to do on Solaris or IRIX or those other old unix systems where you had > to tell it the drive geometry and then create disk labels all manually. > > -- > Len Sorensen > --Carey

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Re: [GTALUG] still seeking confirmation of my search, for inexpert user [was: exfat usb disk]
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 26 Oct '24

26 Oct '24

> From: CAREY SCHUG via talk <talk(a)gtalug.org> Note: several Microsoft patents "read" on exFAT. They even sued one populare GPS manufacturer to death for unauthorized use of those patents. > Preview question: NB, I am considering some flavor of Solaris for my > future fileserver, so the ability to read and if possible write (for > backups) from there is a requirement. OpenSolaris was abandoned long ago. Regular Solaris is expensive to acquire, unless you got a license with old hardware. Such old hardware is probably a bad choice for a server unless you like the novelty. Even with a license, support is expensive. I think that a support contract is the only way to get security patches. If by "Solaris" you mean some fork of Open Solaris, that's quite possible. I think that they are all downstream of OpenIndiana. My impression of that community is that they are having trouble keeping up. My guess is that you are attracked by maintained forks of Open ZFS. Subsequent developments of ZFS by Sun were not made available to Open ZFS. Although ZFS was original designed for Solaris, the open source successors "home" OS became a *BSD. Now, upstream is actually Linux! > subsequent queries specifically > for writing seemed to confuse solaris with linux.... > > AI Overview > … > Yes, Solaris can read exFAT and NTFS file systems: It probably wasn't in Open Solaris. You probably cannot make a blanket statement about all Solaris variants and versions. > ------------------------------------------------------ > > Two questions, partition table (1) and filesystem (2) > > 1. When I first looked, I only saw GPT vs MBR partition tables, now I > found many: > https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/289389/what-are-the-differences-be… > > The options correspond to the various partitioning systems > supported in libparted http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/; there's > not much documentation > https://www.gnu.org/software/parted/manual/html_node/mklabel.html#mklabel, > but looking at the source code > http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/parted.git/tree/libparted/labels: > * > o aix provides support for the volumes used in IBM’s AIX (which introduced what we now know as LVM); > o amiga provides support for the Amiga’s RDB partitioning scheme; > o bsd provides support for BSD disk labels; > o dvh provides support for SGI disk volume headers; > o gpt provides support for GUID partition tables; > o mac provides support for old (pre-GPT) Apple partition tables; > o msdos provides support for DOS-style MBR partition tables; > o pc98 provides support for PC-98 http://people.freebsd.org/~kato/pc98.html partition tables; > o sun provides support for Sun’s partitioning scheme; > o loop provides support for raw disk access (loopback-style) — I’m not sure about the uses for this one. > As you can see, the majority of these are for older systems, and you probably won’t need to create a partition table of any type other than gpt or msdos. There are few reasons to create msdos partitions these days. - running a quite old OS - fear of the third milenium. > For a new disk, I recommend gpt: it allows more partitions, it can > be booted even in pre-UEFI systems (using grub), and supports disks > larger than 2 TiB (up to 8 ZiB for 512-byte sector disks). > Since these are 4 TB disks, gpt it is?. I think that MBR works with 4 TB hard drives because the blocksize will be 4k, not 512. I no longer remember all the hacks for handling large sized drives on older systems. There were a lot of them! > Unrelated bonus question: i had thought sun WAS the same as gpt, > are they close to being the same? I remember that sun put a > fingerprint on raid drives, physically move them around and it > would recognize them wherever they appeared, and if one re-appeared > was automatically resynced, is that unique to sun, or is that a > unix programming function? Every modern system fingerprints things with (at least) UUIDs. Except older MSDOS. (Anecdote: this was one way that Atari ST's TOS disks were different from MSDOS disks. Circa 1985.) Sun, back in my day (up until about 1994) didn't use GPT. They used a BSD-style partitioning scheme, I think. > 2. what filesystem? am I confused, is exfat older than ntfs? FAT dates back to the filesystem create for 86-DOS by Seattle Computer Products (PCDOS / MSDOS was derived from that). It was a little different from the CP/M filesystem. There have been a million variants since then. FAT is older than NTFS. Some FAT variants, such as exFAT, are newer. > AI Overview > Learn more > … > NTFS and exFAT are both file systems with different characteristics, including: > Compatibility > NTFS is only read-only on a Mac, while exFAT has read/write compatibility with macOS. ExFAT is also more broadly compatible than NTFS, and works with all versions of Windows and modern versions of macOS. > File size > exFAT has a maximum file size of 128 petabytes, while NTFS is designed to perform well on very large hard disks. > Features > NTFS includes features like access control lists (ACLs), filesystem encryption, transparent compression, and volume shadow copy. exFAT lacks some of the newer features of NTFS, like journaling and encryption. > Speed > When using an external drive system, exFAT may be the faster option than NTFS. > Use cases > NTFS is better for internal drive file systems, while exFAT is better for external drives and storing and writing larger files on multiple devices. > Storage devices > exFAT is optimized for flash drives, and is the default file system for SDXC and SDUC cards larger than 32 GB. > so, exFAT? I think I used NTFS in the past when I wanted to share a > partition between windows and linux (for a dual boot system). While I > don't expect to ever need access from IOS, it might be better for that > reason too. Not FAT32 because of a file size limit of 4 GB, potentially > smaller than a DVD image. DVD's have their own filesystems. > do either or both retain the linux read/write/execute permissions, even > partially (since ownership is hard to maintain across systems)? or some > other filesystem that fulfills my other requirements? There are details that matter. For example, filesystems with file "owners", make exchanging files a little more difficult. *FAT* does not record owners.

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Linux expels Russian Kernel Maintainers
by Ansar Mohammed 25 Oct '24

25 Oct '24

https://www.theregister.com/AMP/2024/10/23/linus_torvalds_affirms_expulsion…

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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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