• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
  • Showing only topics in ~comp with the tag "ask". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      15 votes
    2. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      17 votes
    3. Seeking advice as a Frontend web developer

      We have this big project at work...an "all hands on deck" kinda thing that has us rank-and-file frontend devs working alongside our manager more closely than I'm used to. And it was fine, because...

      We have this big project at work...an "all hands on deck" kinda thing that has us rank-and-file frontend devs working alongside our manager more closely than I'm used to. And it was fine, because I like the guy and he's been a decent manager. But this project is killing me.

      On multiple occasions now I've written code, had it pass code review (often with his approval after a round of changes/guidance), and then every few days we get these massive re-write PRs from him where he completely rewrites large chunks of what we've done. It's leaving me feeling a few different ways:

      1. Angry because how quickly your code gets replaced is a (imo, bullshit) metric used as a part of our annual reviews and promotion discussions
      2. Doubting myself because in my head a good developer doesn't have their code rewritten that quickly.
      3. Confused because features I thought I understood are constantly being rewritten leaving me wasting time trying to relearn how things work
      4. Wondering what the point of writing code is if it's just going to be thrown in the garbage later in the week?

      And like I'll be the first to admit I'm not the most proficient developer on our team. React and Typescript are relatively new concepts to me, despite a long career in web development. But I've been writing with it for about a year now and I had thought I was finally getting a good grasp on things. But now I'm wondering if I'm just an idiot? Is it imposter syndrome or have I actually somehow coasted through a 15 year career across various stacks and it's just now catching up to me?

      Or is this just the nature of massive projects like this? We had a half-baked product scope to begin with and its getting daily changes with entire chunks of it not very well thought out by our PM. I can see how it would make sense that the more senior developer might see the need to refactor things when things are constantly changing and we're left writing code based on assumptions and half-written requirements. I'm also getting are comments on my PRs that request changes, but mid-comment he's like "I'll just take care of this because it's blocking me".

      It's just really taking a toll on my mental health and how I feel about my job. I've been trying to find another job for a few months now, but I'm not having any luck. Job hunting sucks and when you're already demoralized as hell, it's hard to sell yourself to prospective employers.

      Could really use some insight from other experienced devs, please!

      12 votes
    4. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      20 votes
    5. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      10 votes
    6. Server admins, PHP/Symfony experts: I need your guidance

      I've been the sole developer for my company's website for over a decade now. It's gone through a bunch of evolutions throughout the years, but I've been sidetracked lately and have let things...

      I've been the sole developer for my company's website for over a decade now. It's gone through a bunch of evolutions throughout the years, but I've been sidetracked lately and have let things stagnate as far as maintenance goes. Now, I'm looking to do some upgrades for security purposes and I'm trying to wrap my head around everything.

      Some facts:

      • PHP 8.0.12
      • MySQL 5.7
      • Symfony 5.4
      • Web server is currently Apache only because that's what I've always used. I'm open to nginx or other options.
      • Running on a Google Cloud VPS with Ubuntu 20.04
      • I also use Google Cloud Storage to host thousands of images

      My first thought was to take baby steps and start by upgrading Symfony as much as possible. However, the next major version (6.0) requires PHP 8.0.2. Symfony 6.1 requires PHP 8.1. Symfony 7.2 (the current release) requires PHP 8.2. So, then it just makes sense to upgrade PHP to the latest version.

      However, I am terrified of upgrading PHP in the current (outdated) Ubuntu environment. So I might as well upgrade the distro while I'm at it.

      And then, MySQL 5.7 is no longer supported, so I might as well bring that up to date too (8.0, I believe).

      There will be no baby steps. I'm gonna have to just upgrade everything all at once. Which then leads me to my next question: should I stick with the self-managed VPS, or is it time to look at something like Google App Engine or Fly.io that is a little bit more managed and "locked down" than what I'm doing right now? Should I look into just going with Docker instead?

      Put another way, if I'm going to start from ~scratch, what's the modern best practice to host all of this, given that I'm going to have to upgrade a bunch of different things all at once? (Turns out the "baby step" of upgrading Symfony will actually have to come last since I need to hit these prerequisites first).

      Please let me know if I've left anything out. PS, security is a pretty big concern for us because we manage user auth, so I'm all for anything the cloud providers can do to take some of that responsibility away from me.

      9 votes
    7. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      17 votes
    8. Is there a free LLM frontend that works out of the box?

      I want something like typingmind but for free, and that doesn't require installation. mainly for gemini and mistral (or perhaps groq too) I just want to be able to paste my API key and just use...

      I want something like typingmind but for free, and that doesn't require installation. mainly for gemini and mistral (or perhaps groq too) I just want to be able to paste my API key and just use it. I know about OpenWebUI and msty but OpenWebUI requires installation, and msty doesn't have an android version.

      anyone know something like this ? (would also be nice if it supports LaTeX)

      17 votes
    9. Private DNS (DoT) on Embedded / IOT Android Devices - Help With Connection Errors

      Good evening, everyone. I was wondering if any of my fellow Tilders had experience with using Android's Private DNS feature on unconventional android devices e.g. WearOS, Android TVs etc. It was...

      Good evening, everyone. I was wondering if any of my fellow Tilders had experience with using Android's Private DNS feature on unconventional android devices e.g. WearOS, Android TVs etc.

      It was quite easy to figure out exactly how to set up an alternative DNS server on these devices. By default, Google has hidden the private DNS setting on them, but it is still accessible from ADB. In both of my examples it is likely easiest to enable “Wireless Debugging”, pair the devices successfully, and then run the commands.

      settings put global private_dns_specifier one.one.one.one (replace this with the pertinent server!!)
      settings put global private_dns_mode hostname

      The issue I have been running into, however, is if there is seemingly any form of content filtering enabled on the DNS server of your choice, the WearOS device seems to think internet is unavailable when first connecting. If you open the Settings app and leave it open for long enough on the Wi-Fi page, it will switch from “Internet not available” to “Connected”. Contrary to this, if you open an app like Samsung Internet for, it does not take this time and just refuses to use any configured Wi-Fi network.

      To go into my specific situation in a little more detail, I use NextDNS configured with Hagezi Multi PRO++ block list. I have no issues on my S24+ with regard to internet being deemed unavailable by the OS (sure the occasional public Wi-Fi network blocks DoT—I just use mobile data then). I have also yet to try it on my Smart TV, which is frankly the more important target device than my watch (I will get around to it in the new year once the holidays are over).

      This is all a potentially very convoluted way to ask what people's experiences are with this, and if they have faced similar problems to me when using providers like NextDNS, AdGuard etc. that provide content filtering options on their encrypted DNS connections.

      Merci beaucoup !

      4 votes
    10. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      6 votes
    11. Time for a new mouse?

      I've been having intermittent problems with selecting text. I'm not sure which software it is in, but it is certainly in Slack and IntelliJ. The text I select will often/sometimes not stay...

      I've been having intermittent problems with selecting text. I'm not sure which software it is in, but it is certainly in Slack and IntelliJ. The text I select will often/sometimes not stay selected once I lift my finger up. It will take several times to make the selection last, sometimes swiping in a different direction.

      Is it my mouse or the software?

      My mouse in made by Inland, model RTM098( J10 ). Probably very old.

      11 votes
    12. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      5 votes
    13. What is the best modern-ish OS to install on older computers? (Parameters within)

      By "modern-ish" I mean support for wifi, USB, etc. Maybe modern is the wrong word, but "not prehistoric" fits better? I primarily want to use these machines for some old school mudding. Bonus...

      By "modern-ish" I mean support for wifi, USB, etc. Maybe modern is the wrong word, but "not prehistoric" fits better? I primarily want to use these machines for some old school mudding. Bonus points for a browser that works with encryption to make web browsing somewhat usable.

      Computer #1: "Ole trusty"

      This one came with the OG Windows NT. I've toyed with FreeBSD installs from version 4 to 7 or so. Right now I believe it has Windows 95 or 98.

      • Compaq / Pentium
      • 3.25" disk drive
      • Broken CD-ROM and I haven't found a plug-and-play replacement yet, even though I've tried 3 or 4. I can get it to work by forcing the tray open and closed, but I'm certain the tray is going to snap soon.
      • I've replaced the hard drive with a compact flash
      • Right now it has a PCI LAN adapter, but I have the option to replace this with a wifi adapter (Linksys I believe)

      Computer #2: "MTV was still cool"

      This one's running Windows 3.1 at the moment. It's going to be much tougher to get a network connection going. Is it possible to do some sort of modem-to-wifi bridge?

      • Compaq / 386
      • 5 1/2" and 3.25" disk drives, no CD ROM
      • Compact flash HD
      • It has a modem, I'm not sure how fast. I'm also not sure how many expansion slots are left.
      18 votes
    14. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      11 votes
    15. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      9 votes
    16. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      13 votes
    17. Is OneDrive for Linux Mature Enough Yet?

      I'm looking to see if anyone can speak to how life is (good, bad, or meh) with using one of the popular OneDrive clients on a common enough Linux distribution. Ok, so allow me to set the...

      I'm looking to see if anyone can speak to how life is (good, bad, or meh) with using one of the popular OneDrive clients on a common enough Linux distribution.

      Ok, so allow me to set the context...

      • My partner uses Windows laptop, and with next year's end of life on Win10, I need to make decision to advise them on whether we get them another Windows laptop (presumably running Win11), or finally get them to take the plunge on using Linux - (a laptop running some common enough linux distro).
      • I run linux as my personal daily driver on my laptop for more than a decade, and on server side having been using and dabbling with linux since about 2004. So, i will add also that i'm all bought in on the linux, libre/free and open source lifestyle.
      • I'm not a fan of Windows, but not judging that others like my partner use it. By the way, my partner doesn't care about tech nor computing, they simply use applications and move on with their life. (Yes, i have politely nudged them over the years to try linux, but they have been hesitant to do so without a true need, so why rock the love boat, right?)
      • My partner's computing needs are quite basic, but slightly tricky...Here is what i mean:
        • They use a web browser or mobile apps for the vast majority of their compouting/app needs
        • For office suite, they use desktop versions of MS Word and Excel
        • Quite importanrtly, they use OneDrive to sync their files (and there are alot important files for them and our family)

      So, from a computing needs perspective, that's pretty much it. For every other function and need (e.g. email, productivity, etc.), they simply use browser or mobile apps as noted above.

      You might be thinking, well, move them to linux, and if they like Microsoft, then use the Word or Excel browser app, right? Well, they LOATH having to use the browser or mobile versions of Microsoft Office. Being of a certain age, they might be ok with LibreOffice, since it mimics close enough to desktop versions of Word, Excel desktop apps...So, I think the desktop and office suite are less of a problem to find an alternative if needed...
      But, OneDrive, yeah, this is the one app that they won't let go. Not because they love Microsoft (they could careless about the company), but because they have a good trust and experience of its functions to date on Windows. Onedrive has really empowered their workflow. That is, because they jump from browser to mobile app often through their day, etc....the feature of having a file easily and reliably sync (via onedrive) between devices is probably the most important need that they have.

      Now, before anyone says, well try "NextCloud"...yeah, been there and done that. Nextcloud works wonderfully for me (has for years)...but it does not conform exactly to my partner's workflow. I've tried Collabera, but could never get it to work reliably enough. I want to state again, i am a strong, emphatic open source advocate...But if my partner can't get their work done without me constantly diagnosing and fixing things....then its not proper solution for them.

      So, while i have a solid linux or open source option for all of their other needs, Onedrive is the challenge here. So, can anyone advise, how things are with onedrive clients on linux? Any particular client that is worth me looking into? What about a specific linux distro that, maybe possibly works best with a particular onedrive linux client? I should add that my partner is willing to pay for file synching and does NOT want to have me self-host things for this single function since they don't want to have me kill myself in supporting it. So, if there is a valid alternative to onedrive that is awesome on linux, and that they can pay a company to reliably host, that is welcome as well.

      Or, should i simply advise them to stick to Windows through EOL, get them set on Win11 along with native Onedrive, and move on with our lives?

      I'm thankful for anyone's recommendations and advice. Cheers!

      16 votes
    18. Help with Email & Changing Name Servers/Webhost?

      Alright, time to ask for help. I designed a website for my cousin using Wordpress, hosted via BlueHost. It's 99% done. The problem: she'd originally registered her domain through wordpress.com....

      Alright, time to ask for help. I designed a website for my cousin using Wordpress, hosted via BlueHost. It's 99% done.

      The problem: she'd originally registered her domain through wordpress.com. She also has an email through that, which she accesses via Google Workplace. We've transferred the domain, but the nameservers are still registered to wordpress.com. I've found the guides for transferring nameservers on BlueHost and wordpress.com, but this is a step above what I've dealt with in the past.

      My main concern and frustration are the email. She's already using it for work, and I want to make sure there's no downtime, but I... honestly have no idea how it's even set up, right now. Or how this would work when transferring hosts entirely. Attempts to search it haven't been too helpful for me.

      So my questions: How will changing nameservers impact the email? Would updating them potentially just... break her email entirely? Need her to set up the email separately? And if she does, can it be kept through Google Workplace/Gmail since that's what she's already using? Is it fine to leave it as-is? I assume not but her wordpress.com account shows that it expires in 2027, so...?

      Just, please help.

      10 votes
    19. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      13 votes
    20. Advice Needed: Simple and Reliable notifications

      I have a long standing problem that probably has several good solutions, I just haven't been able to figure them out. So here I am, asking you. I'm selfhosting some services, a mix of selfbuilt...

      I have a long standing problem that probably has several good solutions, I just haven't been able to figure them out. So here I am, asking you.

      I'm selfhosting some services, a mix of selfbuilt and open source software. But some things I don't want to selfhost. Notably backups and alerts/notifications. For backups I have a solution which works well in every regard except one - I don't always get alerted when things fail, because the way I send myself those alerts is failing more than the actual backups.

      Currently I'm using python and gmails smtp interface to send myself email, but gmail disables my smtp access from time to time, and it's really easy not to notice not getting an email. I've tried sending the email regardless of whether the backup failed or not, but I've noticed several times that I still don't notice if the they stop coming.

      Now on to my requirements/wishlist.

      1. I'm already using s3 glacier at aws for the backups, so preferrably something in the aws space.
      2. I would like to get an popup/toast on my phone when a message is being sent. And the ability to review messages later.
      3. I would like as few moving parts as possible.
      4. I don't want to write my own client.
      5. I want it to be cheap, and if there's a cost I prefer to pay it at a place where I'm already paying, meaning aws (or possibly proton).
      6. I want a stable service.
      7. I prefer to manage as little as possible of the infrastructure.
      8. I'd like a simple programmable interface that can't easily fail. E.g. http based.
      9. It's no problem if messages are not received instantly, I could easily tolerate delays up to 24 hours.

      As you may have noticed I'm pretty much expecting there to be something in aws that I can use, but aws documentation is so abstract, that I often don't understand what the point of something is or how I'm supposed to use it.

      10 votes
    21. Computer Airflow

      I have a standard Meshify 2 that has a lot of space in it. Its pretty much only got my GPU (3080) and a few drives. Anyway, it idles around 40C in my office, which is fine. Here's my question ---...

      I have a standard Meshify 2 that has a lot of space in it. Its pretty much only got my GPU (3080) and a few drives. Anyway, it idles around 40C in my office, which is fine.

      Here's my question --- I've got five 140mm fans, not including the normal exhaust on the back. Here's the setup I did today.

      • Front (top to bottom): two intake
      • Top (front to back): optional intake (comes on at 50C), two exhaust

      The top exhausts run around 50rpm slower than the two intakes. I read that I should build negative pressure. This case is covered in filters, too, so dust hasn't been an issue.

      Under load (GTAV) the system maxes out around 60C.

      Is that top optional intake a waste of time?

      Apologies for the terrible tagging...

      7 votes
    22. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      11 votes
    23. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      14 votes
    24. Ideas for a side project I'm working on -- an RPG to help me curb my alcohol consumption

      Preface: I am familiar with Habitica. This idea would probably scratch a similar itch, but I'm also using this as an opportunity to sharpen my Rust skills. My idea came about when I was trying to...

      Preface: I am familiar with Habitica. This idea would probably scratch a similar itch, but I'm also using this as an opportunity to sharpen my Rust skills.

      My idea came about when I was trying to find out some new tactics to curb my alcohol consumption, which isn't quite out of control yet, but I don't want to tempt fate.

      I've also really liked the progression aspect of RPGs. What if I could gamify my quest to not drink alcohol and make it sort of a fun, unique RPG experience at the same time?

      In the broadest sense, it would go something like this:

      • You open the game up, ideally each day. You are instantly prompted: "Did you drink yesterday?" (and perhaps it will go back a few more days if you skipped).
      • For each day you answer "no", you are rewarded with some sort of tokens, credits, etc. -- currency to play the game. If you answer "yes", maybe you get penalized somehow.
      • Then, you pick up your journey, which is sort of a standard RPG experience -- fighting battles, buying gear, learning spells, leveling up, advancing through the world, you name it.
      • The game should get progressively more difficult, but should not have an ending, as "quitting alcohol" does not have an ending either. At the same time, it should scratch the RPG progression itch.

      The initial game concept I came up with is just one that I see as the quickest way to get this off the ground, which would be something CLI-based, where you are presented with a menu ("visit shop, enter arena, view equipment" etc.). You spend battle tokens to enter into arena battles, which reward experience points, money, and gear. You level up, work towards a build (there needs to be a way to respec because restarting isn't really an option), and progress through the arena.

      In total, you would probably spend less than 5 minutes every day playing the game, which is by design. It should be an every day habit. But, there should be enough entertainment value that, if I'm not getting those sweet battle tokens by not drinking, I'm missing out on experiencing the game (or, I could lie, which defeats the purpose of the app).

      So that's where I'm at right now. I'm really interested to hear your thoughts, ideas, critiques, etc. before I spend a free weekend building out a concept.

      Some questions in particular:

      • I was leaning toward just building this in CLI because it will be extremely simple. It could just be a matter of STDINs. However, I'm open to other Rust-based options. Is there a good Rust UI toolkit or web framework that is worth looking into that would make this a little more modern?
      • What about game features? What could make this a really fun experience, while also balancing the whole concept of being built around your life and your habits?

      In the end, this is a deeply personal project that would be built, first and foremost, for my specific needs. But that's not to say I couldn't build it with some scalability in mind. Rather than asking about alcohol, perhaps the "habits" can be customized, and so forth.

      Anyway, have a great weekend!

      23 votes
    25. Linux Mint desktop environment recommendations?

      I am planning on switching to Linux Mint as my first Linux daily driver. I know someone who's used Cinnamon (the default) and it works fine, but I was wondering if the other options officially...

      I am planning on switching to Linux Mint as my first Linux daily driver. I know someone who's used Cinnamon (the default) and it works fine, but I was wondering if the other options officially provided (Xfce and MATE) are any better? I have a little bit of (pretty trivial) GNOME experience on Ubuntu, but I don't really understand the pros and cons of different DEs. I've used KDE on the Steam Deck, and I hear that's a popular one, but can I get that on Mint?

      12 votes
    26. Cmake strategies or alternatives for building (different) code for different platforms

      Okay, so this is getting really long, I'll put the ask up front: I have a strategy, I think it is reasonable. Now is a point where I can easily change things, and it won't be so easily later. So...

      Okay, so this is getting really long, I'll put the ask up front: I have a strategy, I think it is reasonable. Now is a point where I can easily change things, and it won't be so easily later. So I'm looking to see if anyone has trod this road before and can recommend any of:

      1. a different build system that will be easier to manage for this use case
      2. a different strategy for using cmake that will be easier to manage
      3. any gotchas I should be aware of, even if you don't have better solutions.

      Background

      I have a project I'm working on where the ultimate deliverable will be a hardware device with 3-4 different microcontrollers coordinating with each other and interacting with a PC-ish platform. This is a clean rewrite of a C++ codebase. Due to the microcontroller (and some of the PC APIs) being C++, the language of choice for most of it is likely to remain C/C++.

      I'm succeeded in setting up a build system for embedded code. The old code was arduino, so it relies a lot on those libraries, but I've managed to set up enough custom cmake to get off of the ardunio tools altogether, even if I am borrowing their libraries and some of the "smarts" built into the system about setting build flags, etc. So far, I have a dockerized toolchain (cmake + make + gcc-arm-none-eabi) that can successfully build ARM binaries for the target platform.

      The thing that I'm up against now is that I'd like to have a robust off-target unit testing infrastructure. My ideal case is that everything in the embedded system will be broken down into libraries that have clear interfaces, then to use unit tests with mocks to get high coverage of test cases. I'll still need some HIL tests, but because those are harder to set up and run, I want to use those for integration and validation.

      In terms of OSes available, we're mostly working on Windows systems using WSL for linux. I'd like things to be as linux-based as possible to support CI on github, etc.

      Goals and Cmake limitations

      I started out using cmake because I hate it least of the tools I've used, and I am at least pretty far up the learning curve with it. But a limitation I'm hitting is that you can't do a mixed compile with two different toolchains in one build. The reasons why cmake has this limitation seem reasonable to me, even if it is annoying. You can easily change the toolchain that your code is built with, but that seems to be largely targeted at cross-compiling the same binaries for different systems. What I want to do is:

      • build my code libraries with embedded settings for linking to the embedded binaries and build those embedded binaries (the end product)
      • build my code libraries with linux-ish tools and link them against unit tests to have a nice CI test process
      • (eventually) also be able to build windows binaries for the PC components -- when I get to that point, I'd like to get away from the MSVC compilers, but will use them if I have to

      Current strategy

      My current plan is to configure a library build like this (pseudocode):

      add_library(mylib sources)
      if (BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL BUILD_TYPE_EMBEDDED)
      <embedded config>
      elseif (BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL BUILD_TYPE_LINUX)
      <linux config, if any>
      endif()
      
      #unit tests are built for each library
      if (BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL BUILD_TYPE_LINUX)
      add_executable(mylib_test sources test_sources)
      target_link_libraries(mylib gtest etc.)
      endif()
      

      For the rollup binaries, I make the whole target conditional

      if (BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL BUILD_TYPE_EMBEDDED)
      add_executable(myembedap sources)
      target_link_libraries(mylib)
      endif()
      

      Then the build script (outside cmake) is something like

      cd build/embedded
      cmake <path to src> <set embedded toolchain> -DBUILD_TYPE=embedded
      make
      cd ../../build/linux
      cmake <path to src> -DBUILD_TYPE=linux
      make
      

      Things I like about this strategy:

      • It's relatively simple to do all the builds or just one of the builds (that control would go in the shell script)
      • I have one source tree for the whole build
      • It lets configuration be near code
      • It lets tests be near code.
      • I think it's extensible to cover the PC component builds in the future

      Things that worry me:

      • It feels like a hack
      • Support for off-target tests feels like it should be solved problem and I'm worried I'm missing something

      Thanks for reading. If you made it this far, you have my gratitude. Here's a video with funny out of office messages that I enjoyed.

      6 votes
    27. Best solution to extract PDF data?

      Hi folks-- To those more knowledgeable than I am: What would be the best local solution to extract numerical data from a batch of PDF file reports? The values I want are interspersed among word...

      Hi folks--

      To those more knowledgeable than I am:

      What would be the best local solution to extract numerical data from a batch of PDF file reports? The values I want are interspersed among word processor formatted tables and irrelevant text. The text and table formatting are (nearly) identical across reports. The data I want vary across reports. The PDFs are not of images...I can select and copy text without OCR. I have thousands to process, and the data themselves are confidential (I have clearance) and cannot be shared. I can use Windows or Linux but no MacOS.

      I am technically inclined, so I bashed my head against regular expressions just enough to use notepad++ to find and delete most of the irrelevant stuff and make a CSV, but it's a hacky, imprecise method and not nearly automated enough for batches. For reference, I don't code for a living or even as a hobby, but I use R and bash, am familiar with IDEs, and can follow pseudocode well enough to edit and use scripts.

      Any thoughts? Thanks in advance!

      24 votes
    28. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      14 votes
    29. Are Feeds - like RSS or Atom feeds - Really worth it for a personal blog?

      I stopped blogging several years ago. Over the last few years, I've been writing plenty of private essays. However, very recently I have been considering starting to publish my writing and, well,...

      I stopped blogging several years ago. Over the last few years, I've been writing plenty of private essays. However, very recently I have been considering starting to publish my writing and, well, start blogging again publicly. I have no desire to waste time on templates, look-and-feel, visual stuff, etc. I just want to write a bog-standard html file, and then publish it...I do value leveraging html elements that help with meta data (e.g. microformats, etc.), but don't care about how things look - and these elements that i value are all invisible to most users anyway. I would be fine with just crafting html by hand, deploying it via sftp or some boring deployment pipleine, and that's it. But, then, I started thinking: what about having an RSS/Atom feed? I used to consume content via an rss reader, but have not done so in years. But, I don't want to manually craft that feed file; nope, sorry. But, I've heard a comment or two from acquaintances that rss/atom feeds and syndication are really something that people - like my potential audience - might really desire. So, I should really consider having one. This means that either I have to craft several things manually (from the blog post itself, the list of archived posts, the feed file, etc.), or use a static site generator that will handle all this for me, etc. I don't want to get trapped down a rabbit hole where I am spending so much on the tooling, the scaffolding, twiddling with templates, or the publish process itself. I just want the minimal for writing and publishing, I want it to live on my domain name, and that's it. Am I crazy or extremely lazy for not wanting to generate an RSS/Atom feed file?

      So, here's my ask of you all nice people: are feeds like RSS/Atom feeds even worth it? If so, does anyone have recommendations for a manual process where i can craft the blog post's html by hand, but somehow leverage a portion of a static site generator (or some minimal tool) to only automate the creation of the RSS/Atom feed file? Thanks in advfance for any constructive feedback!

      P.S. - One thing that re-ignited my desire both to write more in public, and keep it alive with minimal fuss was my re-reading of Jeff Huang's excellent "This Page is Designed to Last" post: https://jeffhuang.com/designed_to_last/

      19 votes
    30. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      18 votes
    31. Real-time speech-to-speech translation

      Has anyone used a free, offline, open-source, real-time speech-to-speech translation app on under-powered devices (i.e., older smart phones)? There are a few libraries that written that...

      Has anyone used a free, offline, open-source, real-time speech-to-speech translation app on under-powered devices (i.e., older smart phones)? There are a few libraries that written that purportedly can do or help with local speech-to-speech:

      I'm looking for a simple app that can listen for English, translate into Korean (and other languages), then perform speech synthesis on the translation. Although real-time would be great, a short delay would work.

      RTranslator is awkward (couldn't get it to perform speech-to-speech using a single phone). 3PO sprouts errors like dandelions and requires an online connection.

      Any suggestions?

      6 votes
    32. Formatting Maven Errors

      Maven conveniently puts all errors at the end of a build. However, the error messages are not formatted. The errors messages are presented as once giant line via word wrap. I'm on a windows box,...

      Maven conveniently puts all errors at the end of a build.

      However, the error messages are not formatted. The errors messages are presented as once giant line via word wrap.

      I'm on a windows box, using Git Bash to run maven.

      I could futz around and make a macro in Notepad++ for formatting the error messages into a more readable format.

      Before I go that route I was wondering if maven had any handy settings or if there is some handy utility that will do that for me.

      3 votes
    33. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      11 votes
    34. Best way to voice call and screenshare with audio on Linux?

      One thing I really enjoy is being able to share my screen with family and friends to watch movies together or share gameplay. On Windows, you can do this trivially with Discord. On Mac, you can do...

      One thing I really enjoy is being able to share my screen with family and friends to watch movies together or share gameplay. On Windows, you can do this trivially with Discord. On Mac, you can do this on Discord if you install some software they recommend. On Linux, I believe it's impossible with Discord unless you use a third party front end, which I'd rather not do. Zoom has screenshare with sound, but I don't know what the Linux support is like, and it's capped at 40 minutes unless you pay.

      Are there other messaging services that have voice call and audio screenshare support on Linux, no unofficial front end necessary, that's also available on Windows and Mac? It's ok if it requires some setup. Ideally it would be a group chat as opposed to streamed publicly on a site like Twitch.

      11 votes
    35. Relative installed shady browser extension

      [Possibly solved, please look at comments] Hey, so recently a family member accidentally downloaded a shady browser extension called: "Easy Print" on Firefox. 30k downloads, no ratings, weird...

      [Possibly solved, please look at comments]

      Hey,

      so recently a family member accidentally downloaded a shady browser extension called: "Easy Print" on Firefox. 30k downloads, no ratings, weird "offical" website and installed accidentally trying to buy tickets. I assume it showed something along the lines of: "Buy ticket now" and they just clicked on it (being overall inexperieced with security). Only extension installed was uBlock until then.

      I won't post a link just in case, but you can easily find it by googling: "Easy Print Firefox" or "Easy Print App" for their website.

      What makes this weirder is that they change the default search engine to Yahoo, which for me was always a red flag for a hijacked browser.

      I uninstalled it, but am concerned that they installed something like a keylogger along with it.

      Can anyone help me what this is and, especially, how I can properly teach them the basics of internet safety? Not the first time their PC/browser was filled with unwanted stuff...

      Thank you and best regards!

      15 votes
    36. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      14 votes
    37. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      14 votes
    38. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      12 votes
    39. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      7 votes
    40. Share your personal dotfile treats and Unix tool recommendations

      I am currently preparing for a new job and cleaning up my dotfile repository. During the process, I had the idea that it would be nice to create a list of amazing tools, aliases, functions, and...

      I am currently preparing for a new job and cleaning up my dotfile repository. During the process, I had the idea that it would be nice to create a list of amazing tools, aliases, functions, and recommendations together.

      I will start.

      First, here is a list of nice tools to apt-get install or brew install that I can wholeheartedly recommend:

      • nvim is just an amazing text editor.
      • fzf is a very good fuzzy finder util. For example, you can quickly find files with it.
      • eza is a good ls replacement (and the successor of exa).
      • bat is a great replacement for cat with nice integrations and many options.
      • stow is great for managing your dotfiles. Thanks to @TangibleLight for telling me about it some while ago. I really love it.
      • tmux is a terminal multiplexer, i.e. you can have many sessions in one single terminal window. It's easy to use and super helpful. (When on a mac, I prefer iTerm tabs, though.)
      • nvm is practically a must if you are working with Node.
      • glow is an excellent markdown reader.
      • tldr is a nice man replacement. (You must run tldr -u after installing it to update available texts.)
      • z, an amazing tool for switching directories quickly.

      Also, I can recommend Oh My ZSH! which I have been using for years.

      Here is a small list of aliases I enjoy (I have 100+ aliases and I tried to pick some others may enjoy as well):

      # Serve current dir
      alias serve="npx serve ."
      
      # What's my IP?
      alias ip="curl --silent --compressed --max-time 5 --url 'https://ipinfo.io/ip' && echo ''"
      
      # This should be the default
      alias mkdir="mkdir -p"
      
      # Nice git helpers
      alias amend="git add . && git commit --amend --no-edit"
      alias nuke="git clean -df && git reset --hard"
      
      # Make which more powerful
      which='(alias; declare -f) | /usr/bin/which --tty-only --read-alias --read-functions --show-tilde --show-dot'
      
      # This saves so many keystrokes, honestly
      alias -- +x="chmod +x"
      
      # Turns your path into a nice list and prints it
      alias path='echo -e ${PATH//:/\\n}'
      
      # Map over arguments and run a command
      # Usage: map <command>
      # Example: ls | map cat
      alias map="xargs -n1"
      

      And, finally, here are some fun functions:

      # Get cheat sheets for almost anything!
      # https://github.com/chubin/cheat.sh
      cheat() {
          WITH_PLUS=$(echo $@ | sed 's/ /+/g')
          CAT_TOOL=$(command -v batcat || command -v bat || command -v cat)
          curl "cheat.sh/$WITH_PLUS" | $CAT_TOOL
      }
      
      # Send everything to /dev/null
      nullify() {
        "$@" >/dev/null 2>&1
      }
      
      # Create a new dir and enter it
      mk() {
        mkdir -p "$@" && cd "$_"
      }
      
      # Create a data URL from a file
      # Source: https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles/blob/master/.functions
      data-url() {
      	local mimeType=$(file -b --mime-type "$1");
      	if [[ $mimeType == text/* ]]; then
      		mimeType="${mimeType};charset=utf-8";
      	fi
      	echo "data:${mimeType};base64,$(openssl base64 -in "$1" | tr -d '\n')";
      }
      
      74 votes
    41. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      10 votes
    42. Reverse-Proxying services both inside and outside of Podman

      Hey all, not-a-networks-guy here. I've currently got an rpi set up running pihole natively (not in a container) for ad and website blocking reasons. (Using port 80, no TLS) I've used the pihole...

      Hey all, not-a-networks-guy here.

      I've currently got an rpi set up running pihole natively (not in a container) for ad and website blocking reasons. (Using port 80, no TLS) I've used the pihole localdns feature to set an internal hostname for that ip (me.lan).

      On the same pi, I have podman "set up" to run FreshRSS, and I'm getting more and more annoyed about using the port # to access it. (me.lan:12345) I'd like to set up a reverse proxy (probably Traefik) in a container to redirect internally, but considering that port 80 is taken (by pihole, outside of podman) I don't see a way to direct traffic from the pihole to Traefik.

      I'd really rather not reconfigure the whole setup to use containers.... I'm lazy, and also prefer my dns resolver to have the least amount of overhead possible. Is configuring the router an option here, or is the only way to achieve what I'm looking for an overhaul of the pi and containers?

      If I've missed any pertinent details, let me know and I'll update here.

      4 votes
    43. best way to go about with a script that seems to need both bash and python functionality

      Gonna try and put this into words. I am pretty familiar with bash and python. used both quite a bit and feel more or less comfortable with them. My issue is I often do a thing where if I want to...

      Gonna try and put this into words.

      I am pretty familiar with bash and python. used both quite a bit and feel more or less comfortable with them.

      My issue is I often do a thing where if I want to accomplish a task that is maybe a bit complex, I feel like I have to wind up making a script, let's call it hello_word.sh but then I also make a script called .hello_world.py

      and basically what I do is almost the first line of the bash script, I call the python script like ./hello_world.py $@ and take advtange of the argparse library in python to determine what the user wants to do amongst other tasks that are easier to do in python like for loops and etc.

      I try to do the meat of the logic in the python scripts before I write to an .env file from it and then in the bash script, I will do

      set -o allexport
      source "${DIR}"/"${ENV_FILE}"
      set +o allexport
      

      and then use the variable from that env file to do the rest of the logic in bash.

      why do I do anything in bash?

      cause I very much prefer being able to see a terminal command being executed in real-time and see what it does and be able to Ctrl+c if I see the command go awry.

      in python, you can run a command with subprocess or other similar system libraries but you can't get the output in real-time or terminate a command preemptively and I really hate that. you have to wait for the command to end to see what happened.

      But I feel like there is something obvious I am missing (like maybe bash has an argparse library I don't know about and there is some way to inject the concept of types into it) or if there is another language entirely that fits my needs?

      6 votes
    44. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      11 votes
    45. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      16 votes
    46. [Home networking] Setting my Ruckus APs to DFS channels manually, any chance of running afoul of the US Federal Communications Commission?

      Hi everyone, I recently finally setup the Ruckus AP unleased system that came with my townhome. After spending a long night learning how to properly configure the system I finally set it up in a...

      Hi everyone, I recently finally setup the Ruckus AP unleased system that came with my townhome. After spending a long night learning how to properly configure the system I finally set it up in a way that provided me the best speeds/range without interference.

      This was achieved by setting my Ruckus APs to manually sit on the DFS channels (60-140) via the Ruckus configuration app (shown here)

      This has been working great as I'm avoiding the 10~ other wifi networks in the area that are all set to the standard 36-48 and 149-160 channels (wifi analyzer screenshot here) but I'm concerned I may be inadvertently violating FCC guidelines. Note I do not live near any military installations, but I am about 13 miles away from a major airport. Will the Ruckus APs automatically change channels if they detect radar interference or am I causing trouble for someone?

      11 votes
    47. Looking for portable keyboard recommendations: must have USB-C connectivity, not just bluetooth

      TL;DR: recommendations for a small or folding keyboard that in addition to Bluetooth, also connects directly by USB C. Hello all. I'm a contractor who does a bunch of different stuff, and one of...

      TL;DR: recommendations for a small or folding keyboard that in addition to Bluetooth, also connects directly by USB C.

      Hello all. I'm a contractor who does a bunch of different stuff, and one of the areas I occasionally do is on-site IT work.

      I'm always looking for better tools, and while I can and do keep a standard full-size USB keyboard in my van, I'd like something more space efficient that I can fit in a small toolbag. There are tons of mini and/or folding Bluetooth keyboards out there, and some of them have USB-C or mini-USB ports, but so many of them are either only for charging, or just don't tell you if you can connect to a computer by USB. Since most rack servers aren't going to have Bluetooth and I want an option that involves the least number of steps (trying to avoid a bluetooth keyboard and having to use a USB bluetooth adapter), I'd really like a mini or folding keyboard that, while it can do Bluetooth, also can connect to a computer by standard USB. I specifically want a USB C port since I'm trying to standardize my gear on that.

      Thank you everyone!

      23 votes
    48. What is a software you wish existed?

      I've been feeling pretty bored for a while and my job isn't really giving something fulfilling to do, So I want to make something. However, I don't want to make something useless. unfortunately, I...

      I've been feeling pretty bored for a while and my job isn't really giving something fulfilling to do, So I want to make something.

      However, I don't want to make something useless. unfortunately, I can't think of any software I'm in a particular need for. I would love to make something that solves a real problem for a real human.

      So, please tell me, what's something that you wish existed because it would reduce suffering in your life that little (or big) bit?


      Edit: Wow wow and wow, I didn't expect this thread that I made on a whim to blow up so much. So many idead!

      69 votes
    49. What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's...

      This is a recurring post to discuss programming or other technical projects that we've been working on. Tell us about one of your recent projects, either at work or personal projects. What's interesting about it? Are you having trouble with anything?

      13 votes