p2004a's recent activity
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
p2004a LinkI've finally finished automatic disk decryption in my home Debian Sid system using tpm2. It's all automatic, without a need to run any commands manually during kernel updates etc: just like...I've finally finished automatic disk decryption in my home Debian Sid system using tpm2. It's all automatic, without a need to run any commands manually during kernel updates etc: just like bitlocker on Windows. And dual boot works just fine too.
I've been sitting down to this project every few months and moving it slightly every time. One of my most important goals was simplicity: both to setup and understand.
I've ended up with setup that consists of
- secureboot enabled with own keys for signing bootloaders and dkms modules
- ditching grub and using systemd-boot instead (I've tried to keep it for a long time, I believe it's possibile, but IMHO too cumbersome)
- using EFI unified kery images that contain kernel, commandline, initrd all packed and signed together
- clevis for actual encryption tpm2 key management and initramfs integration
- a small post initramfs build script that builds and copies EFI unified kernel image to ESP partition
Now I only want to write a howto somewhere and share it with more folks who might find it useful: which is a challange in itself because I don't have a place like this yet. For now I'm mostly leaning toward setting a static blog website using Hugo and hosted on GCS+Cloudflare... Just another small project...
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Comment on I'm thinking of getting a password manager. How does it work and any advice on transitioning to one? in ~tech
p2004a Link ParentAnd it doesn't have to be necessarily a cloud privider. I'm using Syncthing for synchronization across multiple devices.And it doesn't have to be necessarily a cloud privider. I'm using Syncthing for synchronization across multiple devices.
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Comment on IRCv3: Modern IRC in ~comp
p2004a Link ParentI agree that it's too late for IRC. Its usage will only decline further. Closed platforms are unfortunately winning. I really hope matrix.org will become a thing because it looks really promising...I agree that it's too late for IRC. Its usage will only decline further. Closed platforms are unfortunately winning. I really hope matrix.org will become a thing because it looks really promising from technological point of view and it has interest from community.
With all that there are still very valid use cases for IRC so it won't die completely. IRC is very, very simple. It's well know, has many server and client implementations and is stable and reliable. Because of that it's good as for example backup method of communication. Eg. Google has internal use case 1 where it's used as communication platform for incident response. When eg. hangouts is down, and you are dependency of hangouts, it's good to have a backup communication channel that works.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
p2004a Link ParentI will pass https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/49782/is-telegram-secure Currently my preference is Signal which is extremely simple and offers real security. I will probably switch to...I will pass https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/49782/is-telegram-secure
Currently my preference is Signal which is extremely simple and offers real security. I will probably switch to matrix.org in the future. -
Comment on DeepMind’s move to transfer health unit to Google stirs data fears in ~health
p2004a Link ParentSerious question: Could you explain what do you mean by selling data?Is Google going to sell that data as well?
Serious question: Could you explain what do you mean by selling data?
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Comment on Reddit experiencing a site outage in ~tech
p2004a Link ParentComplexity of the site and number of features it provides is definitely a huge factor but you can't forget about complexity that is needed to support so many users as Reddit supports. The more...Complexity of the site and number of features it provides is definitely a huge factor but you can't forget about complexity that is needed to support so many users as Reddit supports. The more scalable the site needs to be the more complex becomes the infrastructure that supports it.
Let's make a small example: At some point you just can't run it from one machine, but if you use more machines the probability of one of machines you are using dying becomes bigger so you need to make sure that machines can die freely and restart and everything is still working which usually adds more complexity. Also if you are using more machines you need to figure out how to split work.
Making sure that system handling many requests is reliable is really hard and company has to invest time and money in making it reliable. And you just can't make it perfect and up 100%. That's just not a realistic goal if you want to add more features and constantly improve it in some way. -
Comment on Palm's making a tiny Android phone with 3.3" display & 800 mAh battery in ~tech
p2004a LinkI would love to see more small Android phones. Every new flagship device is just huge in my opinion. And I'm not a short person with small hands so I can't imagine how terrible must for others....I would love to see more small Android phones. Every new flagship device is just huge in my opinion. And I'm not a short person with small hands so I can't imagine how terrible must for others.
Currently I have Pixel 1 and the size is okish but I don't use it with any protective case because with it the size starts to annoy me. Before I had Xperia X2 and it was a little to big. -
Comment on Overcooked! 2 | Release trailer in ~games
p2004a LinkI own Overcooked 1 and it's a great game! Fun and easy to pick up. The new one also looks great with added online multiplayer and Linux support :). Unfortunately according to FAQ on Steam: It's...I own Overcooked 1 and it's a great game! Fun and easy to pick up. The new one also looks great with added online multiplayer and Linux support :). Unfortunately according to FAQ on Steam:
- It's currently impossible to play online multiplayer across platforms eg. PS4 and PC. And as far as I understand it will be hard to resolve because of Nintendo/Sony politics (I found some comments mentioning that, not first hand knowledge)
- Only the hosting game can have multiple local players, so it's not possible to play online 2+2, only 2+1+1. Developers said that they will probably resolve that in the future.
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Comment on What are your opinions on cryptocurrency? in ~tech
p2004a Link ParentYes, for a few months. Used it already when I was abroad and for some online payments. The cost of card is 0, they earn money on the conversion ratios which are exactly the same as for transfers.Yes, for a few months. Used it already when I was abroad and for some online payments. The cost of card is 0, they earn money on the conversion ratios which are exactly the same as for transfers.
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Comment on What are your opinions on cryptocurrency? in ~tech
p2004a Link ParentThat's the only way I do international transfers. Really convenient and easy, the fees are very low. I can't really complain about anything. They also offer a debit card tied to prepaid account....That's the only way I do international transfers. Really convenient and easy, the fees are very low. I can't really complain about anything.
They also offer a debit card tied to prepaid account. Much cheaper than credit card to use abroad.
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Comment on Now that Ubuntu 18.04.1 is out, have you upgraded from 16.04 LTS? in ~comp
p2004a LinkIs there nowadays any appealing argument for using Ubuntu and not Debian on servers? What are the advantages of using Ubuntu instead of Debian on server? I'm assuming stable version on server. I...Is there nowadays any appealing argument for using Ubuntu and not Debian on servers? What are the advantages of using Ubuntu instead of Debian on server? I'm assuming stable version on server.
I can see some pros on desktop: It's still easier to use because it's better configured by default. Also it's more stable than Debian testing but has fresher versions of packages than Debian stable.
I'm myself using Debian stable on my VPSes and testing at home. From my perspective testing on desktop is quite stable nowadays, more stable than eg. 2 yeas ago thus it's safe to use. Also it works as rolling release for me which I like a lot. Package versions are often fresher then in current non LTS Ubuntu and I don't have to play with big, inplace upgrades from version to version.
After a few months of succesfully using it at my home, open sourced a simple daemon listening for BLE advertisements from Ruuvi sensors and publishing them over MQTT: https://github.com/p2004a/gbcsdpd