- Roundtable - muug.ca

Email client selection blog post
by Adam Thompson 24 Dec '17

24 Dec '17

Someone was looking for a new email client recently here... Don't know if this will help, but here's hoping: https://snork.ca/posts/2017-03-04-the-quest-for-a-desktop-email-client/ -- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

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Desktop PIM/mail programs
by Glen Ditchfield 23 Dec '17

23 Dec '17

Aside from plain orneryness, I picked Linux long ago because of KDE, and KDE because of Kontact. And because it was long ago, I still pull my mail off the ISP's server and dump it into a local Maildir folder, my contacts are still in a vCard file, my calendar is still in a vCalendar file. The "Cascade of Attention-Deficit Teenagers" development process (Google it) made this harder with each KDE release. For a long time I was willing to edit RC files to trick it into using boring text files in my home directory instead of shiny new formats in hidden directories, but the CADT Team finally produced a release where the shiny desktop search daemon rendered the maildir folders unusable if a mail filter tried to move mail out of the inbox. After three rebuilds I gave up and switched to Evolution. Evolution is mostly adequate, but I just spent 5 hours composing a carefully argued response to a proposal, and Evolution threw it away when I tried to apply the TT style to a word in a bulleted list. So, it you wanted PIM functions on an Ubuntu 17.10 laptop, and you wanted to keep your files locally, and you wanted to know where all the relevant files were so you could back them up, what would you use?

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git expert needed
by Trevor Cordes 22 Dec '17

22 Dec '17

Are there any git *experts* out there that want a super-short consultant job? Like a couple/few hours? It would be for me, mostly just talk, not much "doing". Maybe an initial "here's what I want to do", followed by your opinion, and maybe a couple of followup emails as I actualize your ideas. I can offer very good per-hour pay, as the hours would be minimal. No set time required, ultimate flexibility, no onsite visit required, work from home! I need someone who *really* understands subtrees and (possibly) submodules, and how to use them on a tightly coupled 2 shared libs + 2 moderately related projects. Most of the work has already been done to make these things happen, but I'm running into tons of gotchas and error messages that make no sense to me regarding subtrees. I don't want to waste a zillion hours doing and redoing my git architecture trying to guess which of a hundred ways to do it when I can just pick the brain of an expert. P.S. If you are qualified, but don't have time or inclination and just want to help out a MUUGer, maybe I can just email you a quick outline informally and you could offer brief advice? Email me offlist. Thanks!

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Weird SSL agreement verbiage
by Trevor Cordes 21 Dec '17

21 Dec '17

No hits on the net about this, so I'll pick the MUUG brains instead: I just bought a new cheapo cert using the newly-acquired-by-GeoTrust- who-then-got-acquired-by-Symantec (I think; it's confusing) RapidSSL. I'm a fine-print reader... and the confirmation email lists the terms I must accept and this one surprised me: 2. RapidSSL may issue SSL/TLS certificates for sites including one of the domain names above as the leftmost label. Huh? What does that even mean? The more I thought about it, the more it sounded suspiciously like they are saying they can issue a cert *to someone else* (or themselves) like tecnopolis.otherdomain.com? I'm not even sure that makes sense. Maybe I'm reading it incorrectly. Maybe they're just saying they could issue tecnopolis.us to someone else? If so, why even mention that; it goes without saying. No other cert vendor I've dealt with has bothered to stipulate that before. Can anyone else decipher this verbiage? Thanks!

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Laser printer free to good home
by Adam Thompson 11 Dec '17

11 Dec '17

Free to a good (or even bad) home: Lexmark Optra S 1255 laser printer (working) * Duplexer included * Has PCL5, Postscript 3, not sure what other personalities * 1200dpi * Has ethernet card (works) * 3 "trays" (1 manual, 2 trays capable of 11x14" paper) * Still has a good amount of toner left in the super-high-volume cartridge, IIRC * I think it was a 35ppm printer? Downsides: * Fuser drum is nearing end of life - probably only has another 2~4k pages left in it * Paper pickup rollers are at end of life - easy enough to fix, I can't be bothered. Mostly works. * LCD is almost unreadable now - theoretically fixable, but again can't be bothered. Barely works. * Slightly larger than modern units * Slightly heavier than modern units First come, first served. No bites = it gets recycled. -Adam

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MUUG Meeting, Dec 12, 7:30pm -- KeePass, Round-table, Mingling and Munchies
by Gilbert E. Detillieux 05 Dec '17

05 Dec '17

*** Please note the updated meeting location below *** The Manitoba UNIX User Group (MUUG) will be holding its next monthly meeting on Tuesday, December 12. The meeting topic for this month is as follows: KeePass Wyatt Zacharias will give a short demonstration of KeePass. KeePass is a free open source password manager, which helps you to manage your passwords in a secure way. KeePass is fully open source (OSI certified). You can have a look at its full source and check for yourself whether the encryption algorithms are implemented correctly. Round-table, Mingling and Munchies As 2017 draws to a close, MUUG continues our recent tradition of turning the December meeting into more of a social event. We will have the usual round-table session, followed by a mini-presentation, and then have some time for mingling, eating, and drinking. *This will be a pot-luck snack event.* Cookies and pop will be provided by MUUG, but members are encouraged to bring their own finger food to sample and share. Feel free to bring your own drink as well if you want something particular - just remember that we don't have a liquor license! Winnipeg Harvest Food Drive Also as in previous years, we will combine our pot luck with a food drive for Winnipeg Harvest. This month, any member who brings at least 1 item for Winnipeg Harvest to the December meeting will be given an entry into the door prize draw! Winnipeg Harvest has information about what they're looking for on their website: http://winnipegharvest.org/donate-food/ The group usually holds its meetings at 7:30pm on the second 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. ******************************************************************* Please note our *NEW* meeting location for this month: *Room 1C16A* Centennial Hall, University of Winnipeg, entrance on Ellice Ave. between Spence St. and Balmoral St. Parking is available on the surrounding streets and in the lots on nearby streets. Look for signage once you're at the building, or ask a security guard. ******************************************************************* 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: https://muug.ca/meetings/MUUGmeeting.pdf -- Manitoba UNIX User Group E-mail: <gedetil(a)muug.ca> c/o Gilbert E. Detillieux Web: http://muug.ca/ University of Manitoba Phone: (204)474-8161 Winnipeg MB CANADA R3T 2N2 Fax: (204)474-7609

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Linux Journal back issues
by Kevin McGregor 03 Dec '17

03 Dec '17

I'm moving, and trying to get rid of stuff. I have 40 back issues of Linux Journal to give away. Is anyone interested? Should I bring them to the December meeting? If not, I'll try giving them away on WpgFreeshare, or just recycle them. Kevin

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Firefox 57 "Quantum"
by Trevor Cordes 25 Nov '17

25 Nov '17

For those that haven't made the switch to Firefox 57 yet, I thought I'd share some helpful notes: 0. 57 is fast!! I'd say it feels 2X to 3X faster loading the average page. It really does live up to the hype. I should also mention that 56 was hot garbage and was about 10X slower than 55, so if you're on 56, switch to 57 right away. Maybe they slowed down 56 just to make 57 feel faster :-) 1. 57 breaks most(!) extensions/addons; before upgrading to 57, make sure any extensions you depend on have been ported to the new "WebExtension" format; any non-WebExtension will not work at all. 2. I need NoScript and ABP, and both are now (as of a few days ago) supported in 57. Both have new interfaces, and NS seems like a complete rewrite. Both seem to work fine. BUT... the Fedora rpms I usually use for them have not been updated to the new (57-compatible) versions yet, so I had to remove the rpms and install the newest versions via the in-browser tools: I will reverse this once Fedora releases the appropriate versions. YMMV depending on your choice of extensions and whether you like the distro vs in-browser method. 3. 57 changes your profile in an irreversible way so you cannot revert back to <57 if you want without deleting your profile. Best to run cp -a ~/.mozilla /some/backup/dir before upgrading. 4. From what I've read, the latest Android FF does not use any "Quantum" tech yet, so everything I've written here only applies to desktop. I tested (only) on Linux. P.S. If anyone else has problems with formfill dropdowns appearing over form fields in FF 54-57, please add your voice to https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1420356

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Ryzen latency (was: Reddit - networking - Can a BSD system replicate the performance of high-end router appliance?)
by Adam Thompson 17 Nov '17

17 Nov '17

I found the thread where Jim Thompson of Netgate (gonzopancho) talks very briefly about the Ryzen cache architecture: https://www.reddit.com/r/networking/comments/6upchy/can_a_bsd_system_replic… -Adam -- Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

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Ryzen + ECC
by Trevor Cordes 16 Nov '17

16 Nov '17

To follow up on the in-meeting roundtable the other day: I found some newer reports that ECC can work on Ryzen, if the stars are aligned. http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/75030-ecc-mem… Basically says they got to the stage where EDAC in linux recognized the ECC and could get single-bit errors generated and logged. That's all I'm interested in, really (double-bit errors don't concern me as much, esp if they're still logged). So this looks promising. Looks like you have to be quite selective in mobo, and the one they tested was: ASRock X370 Taichi (not cheap!) I wouldn't buy a Ryzen mobo for ECC support unless someone had already tested it like they did to confirm it supports ECC. So it's nice to see it is possible, though the support & guarantees are pretty dodgy. Ah, back to the good (bad) ol' days (2000-2005) of VIA chips and Intel boards that maybe/maybe-not had ECC that actually did something. === If you want guaranteed (validated) ECC on Ryzen, looks like you go with the recently released Ryzen Threadripper 8c/16t CPUs and HEDT "high-end desktop" boards. However, then you are looking at prices like Intel "workstation" products, though you will get more threads/buck. Personally, I don't have a use for tons of threads (yet), so for me a lower-end Xeon with a workstation board might on the table again, unless I want to take the risk with a maybe/might/should-work regular Ryzen. Adam's article (coming soon!) on Ryzen random mem latency for routing might be the straw that breaks the Ryzen camel back for me. We'll see... As always, if someone beats me to building (from parts) an ECC *workstation* (i.e. real, full x16 slot) in '17 or '18, post your results here!!

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