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    1. Rubber Duck just saved me. What about you?

      To put this into context: I'm still minor, in Europe, and I was hired into SW company as backend developer. I'm making about 2-3 times as much as my friends in fastfoods. I'm basically making WS...

      To put this into context: I'm still minor, in Europe, and I was hired into SW company as backend developer. I'm making about 2-3 times as much as my friends in fastfoods.

      I'm basically making WS that would be unified wrapper for about 15 another WS - instead of crafting request for each of those, you will just call the API and it will do everything for you.

      Everything was fine, until I encountered a nightmare: WSDL/SOAP protocol over HTTPS with need to use client certificate.

      Full of false hope, I thought: "It'll be easy, I finished communication with another companies in few hours, this will be quick".

      I was very wrong. I spent countless hours on this. I tried 3 programming languages and 4 different frameworks, copy-pasting solutions from stack overflow and wondering why does this still throw errors! I copied it from stack overflow! I used windows alongside linux and installed like 10 wsdl/soap clients from 2008 forums.

      I created 8 or so SO questions, most about different language/framework, but the same problem.

      Worth of mentoining, at the time, I could obtain wsdl and xsd of the WS with usage of two certificates (crt.pem and key.pem) over PHP. I tried to use PHP SoapClient, which accepted just one certificate file. I used .pem certificate that I received and should get the work done.

      Then, I started writing the final question. Including PHP that downloaded wsdl and SoapClient that didn't work. Knowing someone will probably want to see certificates, I used cat key.pem cert.pem > certCombined.pem and diff certCombined.pem cert.pem. cert.pem was the certificate I received and should work. I expected no differences. When I saw two pages of differences, I started to suspect the cert I was given is wrong. So I pointed the PHP SoapClient to certCombined - and it started working!

      This would have never happened (at least for several more hours) unless I known someone will want to see diff between working and not-working certificates. Thank you, rubber duck debugging! Next time I'll be solving something, I'll write on paper everything I use and know.

      What are your stories?

      13 votes
    2. What conferences are on your wish list? (for team leads or wannabee managers)

      Imagine that your boss told you that the company is happy to send you to one or two conferences next year, with the aim of helping you to improve your leadership skills. In this context,...

      Imagine that your boss told you that the company is happy to send you to one or two conferences next year, with the aim of helping you to improve your leadership skills.

      In this context, "leadership" includes Culture; Coaching & Mentoring; Teamwork; Continuous Improvement; Collaboration; Agile; Culture Change.

      You want to make a list of conferences worth considering in order to estimate the budget. What events would you put on your list?

      7 votes
    3. Now that Ubuntu 18.04.1 is out, have you upgraded from 16.04 LTS?

      The first point release came out July 26, and enables upgrades from 16.04 LTS. https://blog.ubuntu.com/2018/07/26/first-point-release-of-18-04-lts-available-today Have you upgraded your desktop?...

      The first point release came out July 26, and enables upgrades from 16.04 LTS.

      https://blog.ubuntu.com/2018/07/26/first-point-release-of-18-04-lts-available-today

      Have you upgraded your desktop? Server?

      Happy with it? Any pitfalls?

      20 votes
    4. Learning to Program

      Hi folks, I figured this would be a good place to ask a rather simple question. Where do I start to learn to code? I'm in high school, so I have (some) time to dedicate to it, and it seems there...

      Hi folks,

      I figured this would be a good place to ask a rather simple question.

      Where do I start to learn to code?

      I'm in high school, so I have (some) time to dedicate to it, and it seems there are a plethora of websites/resources out there, so I ask: what do you recommend, and why has it worked for you? I have no prior experience. I believe that this would really help out in the long run, as I will graduate high school with an Associate's Degree in Business. Thank you!

      EDIT: Thank you for all your responses! I'll start with Python and move on from there. You guys have been a great help, and I'll vote you up or reply.

      26 votes
    5. Personal Wikis

      I have been looking for some software where I can brain dump all the things I need to remember on a constant basis so I can easily find it again in the future. A personal wiki basically. I am...

      I have been looking for some software where I can brain dump all the things I need to remember on a constant basis so I can easily find it again in the future. A personal wiki basically. I am wondering what any of you tilderians are using?

      The things I am looking for:

      Absolute requirements:

      • Open Source: I want to be in control of the data myself, and I want to be able to hack on it myself as the need arises.
      • Self Hostable: Goes hand-in-hand with with open sourceness, I want the data to live on the server in my apartment, under my own control.
      • An API of some sort so I can programmatically add/read/modify data.

      Nice to haves:

      • Revision history of some sort.
      • Common/simple data format for easy backup and longevity.
      • Web interface, with mobile compatibility.
      • Lightweight as possible, so I can run it on a low powered server.

      Does anything know anything like that?

      Options I have heard of:

      Here is a previous discussion on the topic @ Lobste.rs

      25 votes
    6. Thoughts on agile and scrum

      When I started working with development teams 3 years ago, I started learning all about agile and scrum. I'm currently a product manager working with two dev teams that loosely follow scrum. Since...

      When I started working with development teams 3 years ago, I started learning all about agile and scrum. I'm currently a product manager working with two dev teams that loosely follow scrum. Since we don't have an official scrum master, I somewhat fill that role too. I've done my best to learn as much as I can about it and so far I'm a big fan. However I feel like most of the things I hear about it are from the scrum and agile community, which means I don't hear too many negatives. What's your experience with these been and if you were in the right position, how would you try to structure people to produce software?

      8 votes
    7. What operating system do you use?

      I'd imagine that this website probably has an above average linux user percentage, considering that one of the main principles of tildes is to respect your privacy. Personally I use fedora. I...

      I'd imagine that this website probably has an above average linux user percentage, considering that one of the main principles of tildes is to respect your privacy.

      Personally I use fedora. I started with windows, than moved to ubuntu when windows 10 came out. I tried a few others and settled on fedora because I wanted an operating system with a quicker package update cycle than debian, but I wanted it to "just work".

      42 votes
    8. FOSS Alternatives

      I got into FOSS recently and have been researching replacements for common proprietary software. Along with reddit (r/privacytoolsio) I have used alternativeto.net & privacytools.io. I would love...

      I got into FOSS recently and have been researching replacements for common proprietary software. Along with reddit (r/privacytoolsio) I have used alternativeto.net & privacytools.io. I would love to make a list on Tildes for anyone that is also interested in this stuff.

      Telegram -> Signal: signal.org
      Discord -> Riot: riot.im (surprised this isn't as popular)
      Google -> FindX: findx.com (there are many others but this is my favorite)
      .................searX: searx.me
      Reddit -> Tildes: tildes.net (obviously)
      Chrome -> Firefox: mozilla.org (there are many others but this is my favorite)
      LastPass -> Bitwarden: bitwarden.com (my personal favorite but there are others)
      Photoshop -> GIMP: gimp.org
      FireAlpaca -> Krita: krita.org
      Microsoft Office -> LibreOffice: libreoffice.org
      Windows Media Player -> VLC: videolan.org (Best FOSS ever)
      uTorrent -> qBittorrent: qbittorrent.org
      ...................Deluge: deluge-torrent.org
      Adobe Illustrator -> Inkscape: inkscape.org
      Adobe Premiere Pro -> Blender: blender.org (mainly 3d stuff but can be used as animation)
      Windows -> Linux: ubuntu.com (ubuntu is just one distro, there are so many)
      Adobe Audition -> Audacity: audacityteam.org
      ..............................Ardour: ardour.org
      Github -> Gitlab: gitlab.com
      Trello -> Taiga: taiga.io
      Fraps -> OBS: obsproject.com
      Gmail -> ProtonMail: protonmail.com
      Youtube Client -> NewPipe: newpipe.schabi.org
      Outlook -> Thunderbird: thunderbird.net
      Adblock+ -> uBlock Origin: (you can get it in your browser's addon store)
      Unity -> Godot Engine: godotengine.org
      USD -> Bitcoin: bitcoin.org (I would suggest an altcoin like Stellar though)
      ... anything else? any programs you don't know a FOSS alternative to that I can find?

      66 votes
    9. Any Rustaceans in the House?

      I'm just starting to get into the ecosystem by going through the Book of Rust, and then maybe playing with Parity. Just wondering if anyone else has been through this yet and is up for some...

      I'm just starting to get into the ecosystem by going through the Book of Rust, and then maybe playing with Parity. Just wondering if anyone else has been through this yet and is up for some conversation!

      11 votes
    10. Good open source projects for beginners to contribute to?

      I'm looking for a project to contribute too. I'm not that experienced with programming, so I want something that isn't too complex. I'm also looking for a fairly young project. Big, mature...

      I'm looking for a project to contribute too. I'm not that experienced with programming, so I want something that isn't too complex. I'm also looking for a fairly young project. Big, mature projects don't really have much that a newbie can work on.

      27 votes
    11. Need advice about Tomboy notes and note apps in general

      I'm looking for some advice on what note programs people recommend. Not a basic text editor, but something capable of doing some basic categorizing, chronological sorting, that sort of thing. I've...

      I'm looking for some advice on what note programs people recommend. Not a basic text editor, but something capable of doing some basic categorizing, chronological sorting, that sort of thing. I've used Evernote most recently, but I'm becoming less and less of a fan. I don't need cloud sync necessarily, although device sync could be handy. A pleasant UI (not fettered with extraneous crap) would be nice, but aesthetic appeal takes a backseat to navigation and stability. Target OS is mostly likely going to be windows 10.

      What are you experiences with note apps, what are your favorites?


      (A bit of context for anyone interested)
      Years ago, I used tomboy notes in Ubuntu for keeping track of timesheets/daily logs. It seemed like a good program to set up for my step dad to use as well. A few years later, Tomboy notes petered out without much fanfare. I've kept his laptop running with that setup for as long as I could, but the hardware is just getting worn out (it's about 10 years old now).

      So! Time to get him an upgrade. This time around, I don't think I'm gonna set up up with Linux. He isn't really up to the task of doing his own troubleshooting in linux (i.e. when an automatic update breaks something), and I haven't even been keeping up on Linux for the past few years myself. So I'm probably going to set him up on a Windows machine.

      I should be able to export the tomboy notes database fairly easy, but it would be a huge load off my mind if I could settle on a decent program to migrate to first.

      Thanks in advance for any input!

      11 votes
    12. Learning to pentest

      Hi, I need your help to learn pentesting. I'm programming for several years. I'm really good in C# and can write moderately complex apps in Dart, Python and JavaScript. I'm in highschool and work...

      Hi, I need your help to learn pentesting.

      I'm programming for several years. I'm really good in C# and can write moderately complex apps in Dart, Python and JavaScript. I'm in highschool and work for software development company as backend developer. But general programming starts to feel so boring...

      I've started to watch LiveOverflow on youtube (no link, there is no wifi here and I don't want youtube to drain my data) and it was so interesting - so I tried it. I've tried few CTFs, read many writeups, and now I've discovered CTF hack the box.

      When I know what to do, I have no problem googling and researching and later applying my knowledge. But I often discover, that I just don't know what I don't know.

      There is one CTF challenge that I haven't completed yet. It's 20 line html page, no javascript, nothing suspicous. No cookies. It has just form with password input, which sends post request to server. Here's the problem - how do I get the flag (the password)? I can bruteforce it, but it clearly isn't the correct way. I know that the php runs on apache, debian. I've tried getting some files, I've tried going up (../), sql injection, nothing works.

      And here's the general problem - what am I missing? What to learn? What should I google? I don't want ideas what I'm missing on this one example - Instead I need some sources where I learn generally about vulnerabilities I can exploit. Some blog, some website, something like this.

      Could someone here recommend me some sources where I learn about this? How did you start and what things do you generally check when you face something you have to break into?

      Thank you

      16 votes
    13. What are the first things you install on a new computer?

      Or phone, or after an OS reinstall, etc. Just got to thinking about it because I did a fresh install of Arch on my chromebook the other day, and I'd be curious what other people's priority...

      Or phone, or after an OS reinstall, etc. Just got to thinking about it because I did a fresh install of Arch on my chromebook the other day, and I'd be curious what other people's priority software installs are. For me, after the basics like drivers, it's xfce, Firefox, Transmission, Libreoffice, and VLC on linux. Pretty much the same on Windows, plus a few utilities like 7zip, PuTTY, and notepad++. For Android installs I grab nova launcher, Hangouts Dialer, F-Droid, NewPipe and MoonReader before anything else.

      EDIT: Forgot firefox on android, as well as ublock origin on all platforms.

      Also not completely sure if this belongs more in ~tech or ~comp.

      17 votes
    14. How do you go from "knowing" a programming language to actually making useful software?

      I'm in a bit of a rutt with my journey to learn how to write software, and I really have no idea where to go from here. I've taken a bunch of software engineering courses on edx.org, and I've done...

      I'm in a bit of a rutt with my journey to learn how to write software, and I really have no idea where to go from here. I've taken a bunch of software engineering courses on edx.org, and I've done a few personal projects with what I've learned, but I still don't know enough to be able to contribute to open source projects or make anything useful.

      TL;DR
      How can I learn to actually make things?

      28 votes
    15. Advice on how to make a personal website

      Hi, I want to make a personal website, as basic as possible (I don't even want SEO or stuff like that). This is totally a personal project, I don't want to generate revenue from it or anything...

      Hi,

      I want to make a personal website, as basic as possible (I don't even want SEO or stuff like that).

      This is totally a personal project, I don't want to generate revenue from it or anything like that (at least for now), I just want an old school website to link it to possible employers and contacts. I have about 12 years of coding experience but mostly low-level (DSP, ASM, C, C++) and scientific code (Python, R, Julia). So I'm not scared of doing it from scratch (even though it will be much uglier in the beginning than pre-generated websites) or using some basic lightweight libraries.

      Until now I have been using github pages but I want to put some projects that require server side work, so I'll probably have to host somewhere else. I really like tildes' technical goals, but I don't know if the stack it uses is overkill for a personal website (I know I will need some database for some of the projects though).

      My questions are:

      • Is Pyramid a good choice or is it more appropriate for huge multiuser platforms? I do need some level of interaction between users (some of my more artsy projects are related to NLP) as well as interaction between user-server (some projects include simulations with parameters etc.).
      • How does hosting/DNS work? How much should I expect to spend per year? I know there exist hosting services and also places like Heroku, I don't really know the difference between them or what should I be looking for.
      • How much should I worry about security? In other words, what is the threat level? I don't plan to have confidential info in the website, or information about the users (other than a hash value). But should I be worried about other kind of threats?
      • Is making a website as basic as possible and then keep on improving it as time goes a sound plan for a long-term personal project? With this I mean, will it be fun or will it be 100% frustrating and I should just go to (whatever hosting service that has premade web applications) and make my website there even though it will be bloated with scripts and stuff?
      • Is there something I'm not asking that I should be asking? As I said I know how to code but it feels like web development is a completely different beast sometimes.
      • Is there any compelling reason for me to use google analytics, SEO, all that stuff that big websites use? I have never understood the point for it in, for example, github pages.

      Thanks for your help! Feel free to correct me on any stupid thing I may have said, I definitely speak from ignorance.

      Edit: My biggest issue with this kind of format for conversations is that I cannot thank everybody at the same time, and responding to everyone with a thanks is definitely not contributing anything to the conversation. So I'll put it in an edit. Thanks for all your help! I'll probably be coming for more advice soon...

      22 votes
    16. Self-directed learners of programming, sysadmin topics and so on: what is your approach to material that is too advanced?

      First post: hello Tildeans! In fairness, the title question no doubt applies to those on traditional courses/paths too - such is software. Anyway -- in my experience, reading technical material...

      First post: hello Tildeans!

      In fairness, the title question no doubt applies to those on traditional courses/paths too - such is software.

      Anyway -- in my experience, reading technical material which is too advanced is without a doubt the most intellectually confusing, emotionally damaging, and personally rewarding part of learning about software development. How about you?

      I started basically from scratch last September without any knowledge about programming or Linux except a very brief stint in 2010. I'm a somewhat disorganised person (to say the least), and my learning habits have reflected that: I've followed my nose and impulse, reading pretty much whatever I've felt like. But I've ended up with a presumably ridiculous ratio of hours reading about code vs hours actually coding.

      I'm a lazy person, so I'd rather sit and struggle with something I am definitely not ready to understand than go sit in front of a REPL, working from the ABCs til I can do the A-Zs. But the longer I look into things, and the more I play, the more I realise how much coding is like an instrument -- you really do have to just sit down and practice your damn scales! My experiences also support the argument for that 'T-shape' style of mastery (learn one thing very well, then branch). 20-odd Project Euler problems in a week or two has taught me far more than several months half-reading or half-listening to online material.

      (Though, I think my 'inverse-T' approach simply has it's own set of trade-offs, rather than being plainly weaker, but that's for another discussion...)

      The most ridiculous thing about this field is that there is no end to things you've never heard of: and I hate not having heard of things. My usual style when getting into a new obsession is to read very widely, but it feels like this is at best wasted effort here, if not actively counter-productive. It takes just a few clicks through HackerNews (or say, a read of some of the comments on Systems Programming topics) to find a paragraph that is entirely impenetrable to me. Man, that pisses me off. I think maybe as an ego-defense thing, I've always tried to get a 'gist' of the conversation or topic, but I reckon now this probably just breeds half-formed misunderstandings at best (Alexander Pope, "a little learning is a dangerous thing" etc etc).

      Over the past couple months I've made far more visible progress than in any before, and I think a large part of that is learning how to admit when I am completely unable to access some sentences written in English, and how that's totally fine. My path is a lot clearer, and a visceral notion of sub-goals and stages of learning is a really nice thing to have. It's very relaxing to skim a blog post that goes completely over my head and think 'NBD'.

      So, what are your experiences? Blocked by hubris/a short attention span like me? Or perhaps the opposite problem - finding you could grasp way more than you gave yourself credit for, after sticking too long with what you already knew? (These questions definitely intersect with things like perfectionism and imposter syndrome.)

      I'm really curious to hear how you've dealt with things you feel you 'should' understand -- or how you manage the sheer volume of potentially-useful information out there (RSS, Pocket, something else?). Thanks for reading.

      14 votes
    17. Alternatives to Markdown for writing short documentation/TODOs?

      Hi guys, I often find myself writing small text files for projects, like a bit of documentation or TODOs. I have a proper system in place for larger projects, but would love to be able to scribble...

      Hi guys,

      I often find myself writing small text files for projects, like a bit of documentation or TODOs. I have a proper system in place for larger projects, but would love to be able to scribble down things for larger ones.

      As big of a fan of Markdown as I am, I find that it's often inappropriate for these kinds of tasks. For example, I find myself mimicking a task list with multiple-paragraph list items.

      What do you guys use? Do you know of any Markdown alternatives that give you a bit more control over the layout?

      Thanks!

      14 votes
    18. Need help dispelling myths about how hackers access websites

      I hope I’m posting this in the correct place. I’ve been having a disagreement with someone over the abilities of hackers. I kinda hope Deimorz pops in because he wrote automod. I said that the...

      I hope I’m posting this in the correct place. I’ve been having a disagreement with someone over the abilities of hackers. I kinda hope Deimorz pops in because he wrote automod.

      I said that the only way for someone to gain access to a subreddit to make changes is if they steal a moderator’s account password or they are added to the mod team. The person I’m having a disagreement with believes that adding text to the wiki for users to view (like the extensive wiki r/skincareaddiction has) would make it easier for hackers to insert malicious code in order to gain access to the sub. This person also mentioned being able to change the subreddit through browser tools. She insists the sidebar and wiki are potential access points for scripting attacks. Automod just so happens to be enabled which is why I mentioned Deimorz.

      I’m not an IT professional. My brothers currently are which helped me learn most of what I know. I’ve supplemented that over the years with whatever info I came across online. What she’s saying sounds like crazy town to me. But since I’m not a hacker, is there a way to use the sidebar or wiki area to hack into a subreddit?

      Thanks in advance to anyone who pities me by providing a detailed answer to this thinly veiled request to help me win an internet argument 🙇🏾‍♀️.

      10 votes
    19. For any given product, why is the iOS client often the best client?

      Background: I was deciding what to do since we use Atlassian’s Stride and it will be sunsetted. For us, the options are Teams or Slack. I’m going to give Teams a try since we already pay for it....

      Background:
      I was deciding what to do since we use Atlassian’s Stride and it will be sunsetted. For us, the options are Teams or Slack. I’m going to give Teams a try since we already pay for it. Someone I know also happens to be a PM there. I texted him “wow, Teams iOS has a 4.7 rating in the App Store!” He said, yes, it’s probably our best client. It made me realize that this is very often the case. The iOS client is often the best client for many services.

      Questions:
      Do you all find this to be true as well?

      If so, why do you think this is? iOS itself? iOS app guidelines? iOS devs are more product minded? Android device fragmentation?

      Any and all thoughts appreciated.

      note: I am mobile OS agnostic, I use them all (both) regularly.

      12 votes
    20. Thoughts on a ~comp survey of some sort?

      After seeing the "what OS do you use?" thread earlier, I was wondering what everyone here on ~comp would think of a sort of group demographics survey. I think that it would be super interesting to...

      After seeing the "what OS do you use?" thread earlier, I was wondering what everyone here on ~comp would think of a sort of group demographics survey. I think that it would be super interesting to see the data on things like preferred OS, main programming language, preferred text editor/IDE, device OEM, etc.

      14 votes
    21. File sharing over a network

      Me and my friend arrive at an arbitrary place, we have access to a network from there. Now, we want to share a file and the network connection is all we have. The challenge: make the file go from...

      Me and my friend arrive at an arbitrary place, we have access to a network from there. Now, we want to share a file and the network connection is all we have. The challenge: make the file go from my device to my friends device in a pure p2p setting. If you know, for sure, that incoming connections are allowed this is very simple but here i want to explore which solutions exist that do not assume this.

      Assumptions:

      • Same network altough possibly different access points (one might be wired and the other wireless)
      • We have no prior knowledge about the network, incoming traffic might be blocked (outgoing isn't for sure)
      • No extra machines can aid in the transaction (no hole punching etc)
      • Should work reliably for any kind of device that you have free -- as in freedom -- control over. that is PCs, android phones/tablets and macs. most of Apple's other hardware can be excluded because they don't allow for anything anyway.
      • hard mode: We are both digitally illiterate

      Goal:

      • Send a file, p2p, from one party to another.

      Me (MSc cs) and my friend (PhD cs) tried to do this last week. And it appears to be among the hardest problems in CS. I would like to discuss this and hear which solutions you might have for this problem.

      Edits:

      1. this is not an assignment
      2. Added some specifics to the assumption set
      3. we're looking for practical solutions here.
      4. more specs
      10 votes
    22. Have any of you set up GPU passthrough for a virtual machine?

      Right now I dual boot windows 10 and fedora, windows for gaming, fedora for everything else. I'm considering running linux as my only native operating system, and running windows in a virtual...

      Right now I dual boot windows 10 and fedora, windows for gaming, fedora for everything else. I'm considering running linux as my only native operating system, and running windows in a virtual machine for gaming. This will be more convenient than restarting my pc every time I want to play a game, and I'll feel better about having windows sandboxed in a VM than running natively on my computer.

      To get gaming performance out of a virtual machine, I'm planning to have two gpus. One for linux to use, and one reserved exclusively for the virtual machine.

      Have any of you set up a computer like this before? What was your experience like? How was the performance?

      16 votes
    23. Full blown SSH servers within Docker containers?

      Trying to get a sense on how the networking would go down? If I had one public IP address and say 4 Docker containers on the host, how would the SSH connections work? Would I have to reserve ports...

      Trying to get a sense on how the networking would go down?

      If I had one public IP address and say 4 Docker containers on the host, how would the SSH connections work? Would I have to reserve ports for each container?

      7 votes
    24. Favorite data visualization toolset?

      I'm primarily a non-programmer these days, but have a fairly extensive background in statistical analysis - seeking recommendations for best/cheapest/easiest-to-learn data visualization tools. I...

      I'm primarily a non-programmer these days, but have a fairly extensive background in statistical analysis - seeking recommendations for best/cheapest/easiest-to-learn data visualization tools. I have access to PowerBI and Tableau through work, but any other recommendations are welcome. You can take the SQL-family relational database query skills for granted, but not necessarily noSQL, Hadoop or the other popular big data sources.

      9 votes
    25. Which domain registrar has the best pricing / services?

      What domain registrar do you suggest? I have several domains with GoDaddy. I have them there because one of them is a .it domain, and several other registrars didn't offer them at the time. So I...

      What domain registrar do you suggest? I have several domains with GoDaddy. I have them there because one of them is a .it domain, and several other registrars didn't offer them at the time. So I kept everything at GD to have it all in one place. And for the longest time, they were giving me great deals, but not so much anymore.

      They send me a lot of coupons and try to sell me on the domain club here and there. They sent me a coupon for 20% off renewals. I thought great, but when I checked my control panel the prices of renewing had doubled. GD is really overcharging at this point. I plan to let several domains just lapse and keep the ones worth money and the ones I use personally. Which makes this even more of an ideal time to switch.

      I was hoping Name Silo finally offered .it, but they don't. At this point I have been waiting several years for them to offer .it support, and they keep saying check back in 6 months. So I'll just bite the bullet and leave my .it and .me at GD and move everything else out if they end up being the best deal. I'd like the keep them together because I use those two for email, and I'd like them in one place for management ease.

      Thanks

      12 votes
    26. What are the positive aspects of Microsoft's acquisition of GitHub, if any?

      As someone who is relatively removed from the programming world (I do basic Python scripting and not much else), I'm curious to see an argument opposing what I perceive as the majority viewpoint....

      As someone who is relatively removed from the programming world (I do basic Python scripting and not much else), I'm curious to see an argument opposing what I perceive as the majority viewpoint. Those against the acquisition have cited examples of Microsoft "ruining" services such as Skype and Minecraft.

      21 votes
    27. What's in a git repo?

      Okay, I know the obvious answer is the history of the files. But how can I, from the command line, really understand what is hiding inside that .git directory? Today I was doing one of my periodic...

      Okay, I know the obvious answer is the history of the files. But how can I, from the command line, really understand what is hiding inside that .git directory?

      Today I was doing one of my periodic disk space audits, trying to figure out where my usage goes. This comes from having a 64GB drive mounted as /home on my Linux laptop. I found some 15G of old video files to delete today, so I'm no longer as pressed for space. But my interest was piqued by one thing I have downloaded from Github that is ~120 megs for a very simple program. Poking around further I find that most of that usage is a single file:

      $ ls -lh withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack
      -r--r--r-- 1 elijah elijah 102M Mar 14 23:28 withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack
      $ file withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack
      withExEditorHost/.git/objects/pack/pack-df07816cd15fb091439112029c28ebc366501652.pack: Git pack, version 2, 299 objects
      $
      

      Is there a unzip or tar xzf equivalent for Git pack files? Naive usage of git unpack-file is only generating errors for me.

      17 votes
    28. Angular with PureScript

      I have to do an assignment for university soon-ish, and it requires Angular. I'm not very fond of that framework specifically, but I would be interested in making it more interesting as a learning...

      I have to do an assignment for university soon-ish, and it requires Angular. I'm not very fond of that framework specifically, but I would be interested in making it more interesting as a learning project. I've also recently discovered PureScript, which I have no experience with right now.

      Searching online, I've purescript-angular, which hasn't been updated in years. I also couldn't find much else. Of course, I may be missing something simple (for instance, it's actually supported by default in Angular these days), so I wanted to ask if any of you know if this is possible, and if so, how?

      6 votes
    29. Searching entry-level linux laptop recommendation

      Hey there! I'm planning on going full linux again (last time was 5-6 years ago). The only problem is: i've lost track of the community and especially what hardware is currently best to run,...

      Hey there!

      I'm planning on going full linux again (last time was 5-6 years ago). The only problem is: i've lost track of the community and especially what hardware is currently best to run, especially tech that was really giving me headaches back then (GPU - remember the omega drivers?).

      But searching for linux compatible laptops without purchasing a machine from some dedicated vendor is quite hard.

      Any recommendations?

      17 votes
    30. Components involved for flashing a custom Android ROM. Am I understanding things correctly?

      I'm going to be flashing a custom ROM on my Nexus 5X device, and I was just curious if I'm understanding all the components involved. I currently have CopperheadOS on my device, but that ROM may...

      I'm going to be flashing a custom ROM on my Nexus 5X device, and I was just curious if I'm understanding all the components involved. I currently have CopperheadOS on my device, but that ROM may be dead based on current events. I'm not switching because of this news, but mainly because I just want to try something else for the hell of it. I think I'm going to make the switch to Lineage, but there are way more options involved versus flashing CopperheadOS.

      It seems the main components to consider when flashing are the following:

      • The ROM itself (CopperheadOS, Lineage, PureNexus, etc.)
      • The custom recovery (TWRP, etc.)
      • The kernel (ElementalX, Franco, etc.)
      • root (magisk, etc.)
      • Play Services (OpenGApps, etc.)

      CopperheadOS was kind of it's own package, so I didn't have to consider all of these other options.

      My understanding is the minimum decisions I need to make if I want a custom ROM, is picking the ROM itself, and a custom recovery. In my case I'm going for LineageOS and TWRP.

      Choosing a custom kernel seems to be optional. I think I might go with Franco on this one based on the little research I've done. But to flash a custom kernel, I think I need root, right? So now I'll need to get root access which requires another tool. I was going to go with Magisk based on not much. Just seems to be common. So that's 4 main things there. The ROM (LineageOS), the recovery (TWRP), the kernel (Franco), and root (Magisk). I personally don't want any Google services on my device, so I'm fine with skipping that part. I currently don't have any installed, and I'm doing fine without them.

      So does my view on this seem correct? Are all the things I mentioned necessary for what I want to do? If I want LineageOS then I need a custom recovery right? If I want a custom kernel, then I need root which requires a separate tool, right? Just making sure I'm not doing more than I need to if I decided to go through with this. As a side convo, please recommend whatever ROMs, kernels, or root tools that you want. I have a Nexus 5X, and I'm hoping it doesn't bootloop after I'm done doing all this flashing =)

      9 votes
    31. Why doesn't Common Lisp see more usage?

      Hey all, I've been studying Common Lisp recently, and as far as I can see, this is a pretty capable, mature language. Moreover, Lisp has been around since the 60s and it doesn't see much usage (as...

      Hey all,
      I've been studying Common Lisp recently, and as far as I can see, this is a pretty capable, mature language. Moreover, Lisp has been around since the 60s and it doesn't see much usage (as far as I'm aware) outside of Emacs Lisp and AutoLISP. What gives?

      17 votes
    32. Favorite Desktop Environment for Arch?

      I've been using Solus for years now as my main driver, but I think I may be switching to Arch soon. Or at least, start using Arch on my laptop, and keep Solus on my desktop. The main reason I...

      I've been using Solus for years now as my main driver, but I think I may be switching to Arch soon. Or at least, start using Arch on my laptop, and keep Solus on my desktop. The main reason I wanna give Arch a try is because of how minimal it can be. I don't need a lot of applications, and I like to have the least amount of software installed on my machine as I can. Plus, distro-hopping is a disease, and it's time I try something new, haha.

      So, I was just curious what DE people are using with Arch. Ideally I want something very minimal, but not too ugly. I liked using Budgie with Solus, so I may very well just use Budgie with my Arch install, but I thought I would see if anyone has any recommendations first! Thanks!

      18 votes
    33. Anyone got suggestions for coding / gaming headphones?

      By coding headphones I mean with active noise cancellation, to be focused on your work. However I'd like to have it more universal since i do play videogames in my freetime, so with a microphone...

      By coding headphones I mean with active noise cancellation, to be focused on your work. However I'd like to have it more universal since i do play videogames in my freetime, so with a microphone would be best - Or should i have 2 sets for both activities?

      Something below 100€ would be nice (naive yes, but I aint got much).

      I looked at the Mixcder e7 on Amazon, which looked promising. Thoughts?

      9 votes
    34. Best linux distro and/or tiling window manager for a small touch screen?

      There seems to be a solid community of Linux people growing here, so thought I might try asking... I'm building a head unit for my car, using a Raspberry Pi to a 7" (and eventually 10-14") touch...

      There seems to be a solid community of Linux people growing here, so thought I might try asking...

      I'm building a head unit for my car, using a Raspberry Pi to a 7" (and eventually 10-14") touch screen.

      I'd like to have a fast-booting Linux distro with tiling windows that lets me set up a config file to launch a bunch of programs that are tiled perfectly edge to edge, with minimal border (a 1px line us OK), minimal header (just the name of the program? or none at all maybe), and have them all locked in place so I can't accidentally drag one or resize one when touching audio controls, for example.

      The idea is to have a few windows, such as an audio player, a GPS map, 2 dash cam feeds, and an OBDII style sensor readouts, all on screen at the same time, each sized differently.

      I've got each individual program working fine on Raspbian right now, but no idea how to go about the tiling-on-boot, locking them in place, etc.

      Can I do it with Raspbian with some specific window manager? or do I need a different distro?

      Thanks in advance.

      8 votes
    35. Post your setup!

      A thread to post your desktop (or laptop) setups - what OS you use, what desktop environment you use, what window manager you use, what editor you use, what terminal emulator you use etc.

      24 votes
    36. What will be the future of desktop interfaces?

      I feel that the mobile user interfaces has been developed and changed immensly compared to desktops, when it comes iOS and Android. While Windows has pushed some controversial but interesting...

      I feel that the mobile user interfaces has been developed and changed immensly compared to desktops, when it comes iOS and Android. While Windows has pushed some controversial but interesting features, macOS and Linux DEs has been kind of stagnant. Has desktop interfaces reached its peak form? Or is there more developments to come?

      10 votes
    37. Does anyone have tips or tricks for self studying / preparing to get a CCNA?

      Hey everyone, I've decided to start studying to get my CCNA. My books are showing up Monday and I'm really excited. I'm going to shoot for self studying and prep for the testing. I think I can do...

      Hey everyone, I've decided to start studying to get my CCNA. My books are showing up Monday and I'm really excited.

      I'm going to shoot for self studying and prep for the testing. I think I can do it as I've always thrived in a more self paced learning environment (I also have no money for the classes).

      I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips, supplemental material, etc they could recommend? What was hardest for you and what was easiest? What did you spend too much time studying and what didn't you spend enough time on?

      6 votes