- Talk - lists.gtalug.org

Degraded systems (all of mine, yours too (probably))
by Ron 06 Mar '26

06 Mar '26

For reasons unknown, I ran the following on a machine today: > # systemctl is-system-running > degraded Uh-oh. *All* my machines were like this. Some due to, i.e., `certbot` failing to renew a cert for an expired domain. To find out what's going on, I ran: # systemctl list-units --state failed UNIT LOAD ACTIVE SUB DESCRIPTION ● cantonese-milter.service loaded failed failed Rewrite Cantonese Word-of-the-Day LOAD = Reflects whether the unit definition was properly loaded. ACTIVE = The high-level unit activation state, i.e. generalization of SUB. SUB = The low-level unit activation state, values depend on unit type. 1 loaded units listed. I was then able to fix the failed unit(s) and now: # systemctl is-system-running running Curious, am I really sloppy, or is it common to have a failed unit on machines? What are your results?

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Fwd: [linux] XDC 2026 in Toronto Sep 28th-30th
by Ron 04 Mar '26

04 Mar '26

If anyone is interested... -------- Forwarded Message -------- Subject: [linux] XDC 2026 in Toronto Sep 28th-30th Date: Mon, 02 Feb 2026 17:02:24 -0500 From: Lucas via linux <linux(a)linux-ottawa.org> Reply-To: linux(a)linux-ottawa.org To: OCLUG Linux <linux(a)linux-ottawa.org> Hey all, In case you weren't aware the X.Org Developers Conference is going to be happening this year from Sep 28th to 30th at Daniels Spectrum in Toronto. Which isn't that far if you want to attend! The event is free to attend. For those unfamiliar the event is hosted by the X.Org foundation which manages many of the Linux graphics stack projects like Mesa, wayland, DRM/DRI, X.Org display server and more. http://xdc2026.x.org/ The event is great if you're interested in meeting people working on the Linux graphics stack, want to learn about new developments in the various graphics projects, or if you want to learn how you can contribute to the various projects. I'll likely be attending and presenting about my work in Mesa. If you're planning to go, please let me know. Would be fun to have an Ottawa meetup there! BR, Lucas

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OAuth(2) / OpenID Connect / LDAP / "?" / ...
by Ron 04 Mar '26

04 Mar '26

I was hoping Stalwart would be able to act as my central ID server along with handling email, quotas, etc. via OAuth2 / OpenID Connect. I'm kinda struggling with that in Stalwart though; new concept, new software. I've never been fond of LDAP, so I tried Keycloak. It's *really* complicated, but it does work in the sense that I can configure Nextcloud to "Log in via My Keycloak" and ... it works. I'm not yet sure if it works as managing quota though, without massive headaches. Anyone have experience / opinions on any of the above? I'm not sure I'm even heading down the right path. Goal: One central authority for user IDs / authentication / quota management for email / calendar / contacts / documents & files.

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Off Topic .ca Domain Providers
by Ivan Avery Frey 03 Mar '26

03 Mar '26

I'm asking for a friend. Does anyone have a preference for .ca domain providers? Ivan.

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(off topic) Water heater recommendation
by William Park 02 Mar '26

02 Mar '26

Hi all, My water heater started to leak this weekend, so I'm shopping for water heater. From your experience, which brand is better? - Rheem brand at Home Depot, or - Giant brand at Rona

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Bunnie's Baochip board available through CrowdSupply
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 02 Mar '26

02 Mar '26

This is a really open microcontroller. Kind of like a RaspBerry Pi Nano. Not only is it open (including the circuitry), the software is Rust, all the way down. <https://www.crowdsupply.com/baochip/dabao> Here's a talk he and Sean Cross gave at the 2025 3c (Chaos Computer Conference): <https://fahrplan.events.ccc.de/congress/2025/fahrplan/event/xous-a-pure-rus…> The video is somewhere, including on YouTube.

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I have to cancel my Rust presentation for 3/4/2026
by Steve Litt 02 Mar '26

02 Mar '26

Hi all, I'm sorry, but I must attend an in-person meeting that will prevent me from giving the planned Rust presentation on 3/4/2026, and I very likely won't get home in time to attend the GoLUG meeting at all. So I'll need to reschedule the Rust presentation for April's GoLUG meeting on April 1, 2026. You all can decide what to do or discuss at the 3/4/2026 GoLUG meeting, either on GoLUG's mailing list (golug(a)golug.org) or when you get to the meeting, which will still be at https://meet.jit.si/golug . SteveT GoLUG Publicity Coordinator

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California vs. Linux. Anyone interested in a Canada Linux?
by Colin McGregor 01 Mar '26

01 Mar '26

The following is a bit of a rant regarding a law in California that takes effect 1st January 2027 that will require that ALL OSs (yes, including Linux and the BSDs) do age verification on all users. A bad law for a number of reasons. If an 11 year old knows that if they lie about their age there will be some benefit and effectively no penalty for lying, will they lie... Duh... YES. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQLdDR-hJpc It is reported that the MidnightBSD people have updated their license terms, revoking their license in (and only in) California effective 1st January 2027, details here: https://ostechnix.com/midnightbsd-excludes-california-digital-age-assurance… I gather that Colorado is considering a similar law to California. I assume that most (all?) the people on this mailing list live outside the USA, thus the above law doesn't apply to us. But what happens when a distro who has a presence (a commercial presence or just volunteer presence) in California (and maybe Colorado) decides to start changing the distro. to try to accommodate USA state law(s)? So, is it time to consider Canada (or at least non-USA) specific Linux distributions? Colin.

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Email clients: Opinions? RoundCube webmail is very nice these days
by Ron 27 Feb '26

27 Feb '26

I've just setup RoundMail and it's very, very nice - even on mobile. Curious if anyone uses it or has any opinions? I've always considered webmail a 2nd class experience but I've had to update my opinion on that. Also, Thunderbird has been my go-to client since PolarBar ceased updates. I still like it, but Evolution has been quite good too. So, what are the group's thoughts on email clients? Also, if anyone wants to test out Stalwart for email / CalDAV / CardDAV / optional encryption-at-rest with S/MIME or PGP, I'd be happy to set up an account for testing. Connect with RoundCube or any client you wish. Stalwart also supports OAuth, OpenID Connect, etc. but I don't know what to do with them. It's the entire email tech stack redone in a single Rust package - quite desirable to do away with all the fiddly components...

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3/4/2026 GoLUG meeting, 7pm Eastern STANDARD time
by Steve Litt 26 Feb '26

26 Feb '26

Hi all, Where: GoLUG Online: https://meet.jit.si/golug When: Wednesday, 3/4/2026 7pm sharp Eastern STANDARD time Arrive at 6:45pm for Microphone check & discussion Who: Steve Litt, Troubleshooter, Developer, Tech Writer What: Find out for yourself about Rust It's coming. You've seen it. You've heard of Rust. You've seen the evangelism. You've heard the skepticism. At the next GoLUG meeting, you get to decide for yourself. Using the Rust compiler as your instructor, you'll derive a Rust Hello World, go on to numeric and string manipulation, data structures, branching, looping, command line argument handling, and multi-file projects. The pace will geared to people who have never touched Rust, but have written a program in some language, including Bash or Powerscript, as well as the usual suspects such as C, Python, Javascript etc. Time permitting, after that we'll take a quick AI dip into the things that make Rust special, so that you'll recognize what techniques to use when, and be able to read other peoples' Rust code. If you want to code along with the presentation, and this is recommended although not necessary, install Rust on your computer before the presentation. It's very easy to install on most Linux distros, and I assume on Windows, Mac, and BSD also. Hope to see you there. SteveT Steve Litt GoLUG Publicity Coordinator

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