April 19, 2017
It has been a personal desire to have mobile broadband connectivity with a laptop and not have a requirement for peripherals like MiFi or PAM, for half a decade. When I first experienced using a Panasonic Toughbook it had a Qualcomm Gobi that was an insane challenge to get working in Linux. In every incantation of laptop acquisition I’ve made sure to option for LTE modem connectivity, however its typically marginalized by most manufactures as an edge requirement.
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April 17, 2017
With Linux as my primary environment daily, I need to be able to consume CIFS shares in a variety of different environments. Systemd has some amenities that allow you to continue using the conventional file system table but with helpful coordination that doesn’t require user intervention. Some assumptions:
You are running ArchLinux, or some distribution that is consuming systemd without mucking to deeply in the internals You understand how to manage mount points via the fstab You understand the basics of networking You understand the basics of user identification As I move around to different networks I prefer to be able to dynamically mount/un-mount CIFS targets transparently without manual intervention.
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April 14, 2017
Trying to find a modern laptop that works well with Linux is quite difficult. I seemed like for a long time as long as you avoided the baddies like Broadcom networking controllers you were able to find a decent machine to hack on. Then awful technology like optimus appeared and, made life a lot more difficult for the Linux adventurer. Things got even worse when optimus moved from a hwmux (bios toggle) to direct frame-buffer access, then manufactures started arbitrarily putting some video connectors on the dGPU and some on the iGPU.
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February 7, 2017
In this I’ll outline a simplified install procedture that will allow you to go from metal to a machine that has a graphical desktop environment. Arch has several principles, the one your should be the most aware of is versatility. Versatility is user choice to build and use systems how they want. In following this guide you’re allowing me to make a significant amount of choices for you. For many folks a first time through the ArchLinux wiki on install procedure is too much to feel like you’re comfortable to make headway.
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February 7, 2017
In this I’ll outline a simplified install procedture that will allow you to go from metal to a machine that is managed over ssh and has ZFS. Arch has several principles, the one your should be the most aware of is versatility. Versatility is user choice to build and use systems how they want. In following this guide you’re allowing me to make a significant amount of choices for you. For many folks a first time through the ArchLinux wiki on install procedure is too much to feel like you’re comfortable to make headway.
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February 6, 2017
After several deployments of varying size and complexity, an offered opinion on the advantages and disadvantages of choosing Ubiquiti hardware for your next project. Originally written in early 2017, there are some updates from early 2018 relating to technical/ideological facets that have come up in the last couple years of operating Ubiquiti equipment. The article makes some assumptions:
You’re growing tired of that ddwrt or tomato router you’ve felt so cool operating for the last several years.
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February 4, 2017
As our digital legacies continue to grow with advanced capture systems, its important to consider taking some control over assuring how that legacy is perpetuated. There are many enterprise grade technologies that are within easy reach of the individual who wants to start building out their home lab. Rather than send monolithic emails to people who inquire about this topic it seemed more appropriate to write out my opinions openly, and maintain them as more experience is gained.
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February 1, 2017
Choosing a hosting provider when you want the familiarity and trust of your native distribution resources is actually quite difficult. Many of the juggernaut providers offer features that require them to have control over your kernel and boot-loader. We assume for this article:
You want to use VPS as a medium because you need full backups and snapshots You want to install from distribution supplied media into your VPS You want to have block level backup (in case using FDE via LUKS/Geli) You’re somewhat familiar with VPS providers rolling their own Kernels and customizing distribution, and you’re a bit uncomfortable with it The Saga (past years) # This is long and rambly, sorry.
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