- Roundtable - muug.ca

noscript brainstorm
by Trevor Cordes 18 Apr '26

18 Apr '26

I'm very close to switching from a default-deny to a default-allow paradigm in the browser extension NoScript. It's just gotten way too much of a pain to keep checking & allowing things (especially on mobile with its clunky interfaces). So my goal now is to create the best always-untrusted/block list of the worst/easiest offenders and then switch to default-allow. I have the usual suspects like doubleclick and various google domains, et al. I was wondering if anyone else would care to share the domains they always block for js in their browsers? I'd love a good standard list of what to block. Stuff that doesn't really break anything but limits the scripts running from trackers/ad-ers. Thanks!

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shortened cert expiries
by Trevor Cordes 13 Apr '26

13 Apr '26

Anyone interested, first read the MUUG newsletter article on certs last month: https://muug.ca/pub/muuglines/pdf/muug2604.pdf page 2 As a followup, it gets worse! I just discovered that if you want to impelment ACME to automate cert renewals with a for-pay cert company like Digitcert (who after buying tons of people up is a massive share of the market) you have to register with their "enterprise" system. If you do that and migrate your certs then you are converting to a direct sales model and can no longer buy from a reseller. This is important for me as I'm the reseller! So a by-product of this move is they just killed the reseller market, and undoubtedly not by accident. Ya, I get it, but this doesn't just hurt the reseller, it hurts the customer: because in many cases I was able to discount the cert vs retail price. Now you'll pay whatever retail price digicert says. It looks like *my* upstream reseller (opensrs) could possibly implement ACME, but they haven't yet, and claim to be blindsided by these expiry changes, so I doubt can implement it anytime soon. Apparently they can, since select (few) other resellers are implementing ACME... but who knows how all this would work. In any event, all the decisions are being made *now* because as of a month ago certs with the short expiries are needing to be renewed, and needing automation because I'm not updating everyone's cert many times a year (even 2). Unless someone says "ACME is coming soon!" I'll have to tell everyone to use Let's Encrypt and sell nothing but my time from now on. Which is fine, but a vast departure from how I've sold/handled certs for 25 years, and impacts the relationship I have with my customers. In this space, absolutely no one likes change or having to think about "new things". It needs to Just Work(tm). Literally no one cares about it unless it breaks, and the costs were so miniscule to companies that even having to explain the new options is a waste of everyone's time. All for, what, exactly? CRL and quantum... ya, right.

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is zscaler9 a thing here?
by Trevor Cordes 11 Apr '26

11 Apr '26

Does anyone know of zscaler9 and its products? We are getting a large number of DNS lookup hits on our DNS server from zscaler9 sattelites / proxies. They appear to be a security provider who sits MITM to cleanse traffic for corps? Are there users of this product in MB, or Canada? Is this a big thing or a little thing? Can anything justify large quantities of DNS queries from them from all over the world? It looks like they intercept DNS and spoof with their own stuff, but if their proxies are caching shouldn't they only produce a sane/normal amount of hits?

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Reminder: MUUG Meeting, Tonight, Apr 7, 7:30pm (NEW LOCATION) -- Audio Files for the Audiophile
by Gilbert E. Detillieux 07 Apr '26

07 Apr '26

A reminder that the MUUG meeting is happening, both in-person and online, this evening... The Manitoba UNIX User Group (MUUG) will be holding its next monthly meeting IN PERSON, on Tuesday, April 7th, at 7:30pm. Yes, that's the FIRST Tuesday of the month... Audio Files for the Audiophile In April’s presentation, Reb James will delve into the nuances of ripping audio CDs into a digital format. Playing on various devices is desirable; more importantly, archiving physical media into files for multiple backups. Discs can be damaged or lost. First is a discussion of suitable lossy/lossless audio formats. Reb tested available codecs in July 2024 with a new setup from previous types. Finally, the 7-step process that transforms audio into better quality than the original. Join us at the April meeting! Where to find the Meeting: **NOTE NEW LOCATION** Winnipeg Senior Citizens Radio Club, 598 St. Mary's Road, 2nd Floor WSC is located at 598 St. Mary's Road, 2nd Floor, a block South from the St. Mary's / St. Anne's fork, on the West side beside the Miller's Meats. It's in the old fire hall, so you really can't miss it! Look for the red door. There are a limited number of parking spaces for WSC around the building. If you arrive early you'll probably snag one. If not, there is parking available on the nearby streets, such as Mager Dr, or the streets off of St. Mary's such as Blenheim or Clonard Ave. Be careful not to park in nearby private parking lots unless otherwise indicated. There is no elevator, so attendees will have to be able to climb a flight of stairs. Apologies to anyone requiring accessibility. *Please Remove Your Footwear!* To keep the carpets clean and dry, please remove your outdoor footwear at the top of the stairs. Feel free to bring a pair of indoor shoes, sandals, or Crocs to use indoors. *Entry Log Book:* To support WSC operations, we ask all guests to sign the log book provided by WSC as you enter the meeting space. Online Meeting Option: For those unable or preferring not to attend in person, the meeting will also be available online, using BBB as usual. Stay tuned to our muug.ca home page for the official URL, which will be made available about a half hour before the meeting starts. (Reload the page if you don't see the link, or if there are issues with connecting.) The group now holds its meetings at 7:30pm on the *first* Tuesday of every month from September to June. (There are no meetings in July and August.) Meetings are open to the general public; you don't have to be a MUUG member to attend. For more information about MUUG, and its monthly meetings, check out their web server: https://muug.ca/ Help us promote this month's meeting, by putting this poster up on your workplace bulletin board or other suitable public message board, or linking to it on social media: https://muug.ca/meetings/MUUGmeeting.pdf -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)muug.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://muug.ca/ -- Gilbert E. Detillieux <gedetil(a)gmail.com> Winnipeg MB CANADA

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Roundtable
by Tait Palsson 01 Apr '26

01 Apr '26

Hello MUUG Roundtable, Is it just me or is it impossible to burn a .iso to an optical disc? I have tried with dd, various iso writers on various distributions but these either grey out or do not list the target device, and with multiple pieces of hardware. I am always met with an error that the media is read-only when the disc drive is read and write. I also tried /dev/sr0 and its alias /dev/cdrom but nothing different happened. An internet search tells me that special software like wodim, growisofs, or Brasero could be needed. Why and is this just me? If dd did work I imagine that I could use bs= to bring down the write speed and improve accuracy. Sincerely, Tait

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MUUG Meeting, Tuesday, Apr 7, 7:30pm (NEW LOCATION) -- Audio Files for the Audiophile
by Gilbert E. Detillieux 31 Mar '26

31 Mar '26

The Manitoba UNIX User Group (MUUG) will be holding its next monthly meeting IN PERSON, on Tuesday, April 7th, at 7:30pm. Yes, that's the FIRST Tuesday of the month... Audio Files for the Audiophile In April’s presentation, Reb James will delve into the nuances of ripping audio CDs into a digital format. Playing on various devices is desirable; more importantly, archiving physical media into files for multiple backups. Discs can be damaged or lost. First is a discussion of suitable lossy/lossless audio formats. Reb tested available codecs in July 2024 with a new setup from previous types. Finally, the 7-step process that transforms audio into better quality than the original. Join us at the April meeting! Where to find the Meeting: **NOTE NEW LOCATION** Winnipeg Senior Citizens Radio Club, 598 St. Mary's Road, 2nd Floor WSC is located at 598 St. Mary's Road, 2nd Floor, a block South from the St. Mary's / St. Anne's fork, on the West side beside the Miller's Meats. It's in the old fire hall, so you really can't miss it! Look for the red door. There are a limited number of parking spaces for WSC around the building. If you arrive early you'll probably snag one. If not, there is parking available on the nearby streets, such as Mager Dr, or the streets off of St. Mary's such as Blenheim or Clonard Ave. Be careful not to park in nearby private parking lots unless otherwise indicated. There is no elevator, so attendees will have to be able to climb a flight of stairs. Apologies to anyone requiring accessibility. *Please Remove Your Footwear!* To keep the carpets clean and dry, please remove your outdoor footwear at the top of the stairs. Feel free to bring a pair of indoor shoes, sandals, or Crocs to use indoors. *Entry Log Book:* To support WSC operations, we ask all guests to sign the log book provided by WSC as you enter the meeting space. Online Meeting Option: For those unable or preferring not to attend in person, the meeting will also be available online, using BBB as usual. Stay tuned to our muug.ca home page for the official URL, which will be made available about a half hour before the meeting starts. (Reload the page if you don't see the link, or if there are issues with connecting.) The group now holds its meetings at 7:30pm on the *first* Tuesday of every month from September to June. (There are no meetings in July and August.) Meetings are open to the general public; you don't have to be a MUUG member to attend. For more information about MUUG, and its monthly meetings, check out their web server: https://muug.ca/ Help us promote this month's meeting, by putting this poster up on your workplace bulletin board or other suitable public message board, or linking to it on social media: https://muug.ca/meetings/MUUGmeeting.pdf -- Gilbert E. Detillieux E-mail: <gedetil(a)muug.ca> Manitoba UNIX User Group Web: http://muug.ca/ -- Gilbert E. Detillieux <gedetil(a)gmail.com> Winnipeg MB CANADA

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Re: DVD audio file type
by destiny2b＠wisdomtree.info 27 Mar '26

27 Mar '26

** Reply to note from Adam Thompson <athompso(a)athompso.net> Thu, 26 Mar 2026 02:19:13 +0000 > > It's entirely up to the playback device. If it can read a file off a CD, and > it *can* read DVDs, it usually can read the same file types. > What may be at issue is the DVD filesystem. It's quite possible the playback > device doesn't understand UDF filesystems, in which case you *might* be able > to make it work by burning an ISO9660 filesystem onto DVD media, but this is > very non-standard and may be far more trouble than is worth. One of my dvd players requires ISO9660 filesystem for mp3 disks. Other players here can do several codecs, do not specify a file system > In other words, is putting an MP3 file in CD works, and putting an MP3 file on > DVD doesn't, is has nothing to do with the file. > > Check the user manual for your playback device; it should tell you exactly > what formats and media are supported. And if it doesn't, tell us the make and > model of the device. For universal play capability, was thinking more of dvd video format using \video_ts with .vob files. Only audio instead of video. The app Lplex had a good description of process. Upsampling to 48khz required, particular with codecs. More effort than a simple audio cd. Thanks for response!

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DVD audio file type
by destiny2b＠wisdomtree.info 26 Mar '26

26 Mar '26

While we are on a dvd discussion, what file type extension should be used to burn audio files to a dvd playable on a home dvd player? Some dvd players will read computer audio file extensions from usb connector or other inputs. They do not seem to read the same when on a dvd disk. R e b

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Re: Roundtable iso write
by destiny2b＠wisdomtree.info 24 Mar '26

24 Mar '26

** Reply to note from Tait Palsson <votetaitpalsson(a)protonmail.com> Mon, 23 Mar 2026 22:06:58 +0000 > > line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it just me or is > it impossible to burn a .iso to an optical > disc?</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px; > line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have tried with > dd, various iso writers on various distributions but these either grey out or > do not list the target device, and with multiple pieces of hardware.  I > am always met with an error that the media is read-only when the disc drive is > read and write. I also tried /dev/sr0 and its alias /dev/cdrom but nothing > different happened.</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: > 12px; line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">An internet > search tells me that special software like wodim, growisofs, or Brasero could > be needed.  Why and is > this just me?</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px; > line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">If dd did work I > imagine that I could use bs= to bring down the write speed and improve > accuracy.</span></div><div><br></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px; > line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica, > sans-serif;">Sincerely,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 12px; > line-height: normal; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tait</span></div><div><br></div><span></span> An .iso is a complete image of a disc, the same way .img files filled up a floppy drive. Whether dvd or cd must realize the following: DVD R + or - is Read-only as in burn complete image, write one time. DVD RW is Read/Write, needs to be formatted before write, can do multiple times. ISO is Read-only, use a DVD R disc. Read-only means Write Once! The drive could be: cd-r, cd-rw, dvd-r, dvd-rw, will read any of these types. Writing at slow speed a good idea. R e b

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Computer Hardware
by Ken Yoga 16 Mar '26

16 Mar '26

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone has any hardware they are looking to get rid of. I’m particularly interested in non-x86 Unix machines, but mini PCs/thin clients are quite interesting as well. Heck, even x86 hardware for home-labbing, or netbook sized machines. Thanks, Ken

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