/dev/chat

strugee

7:56 AM

eugh

/me just read his blog post on the U&L blog (rest in peace)

and I found a typo

which @terdon, who (according to the footer) was my editor, did not catch :P

ohhhh whoa

logins on that thing still work!

Faheem Mitha

8:24 AM

@strugee Whose blog post?

Marc.2377

Hi guys

Anyone using LightDM?

strugee

8:50 AM

@FaheemMitha mine haha

Stack Exchange Unix and Linux Blog: Getting started with version-controlled configurations

strugee on April 15, 2014

Hey everyone, welcome to the inaugural Unix & Linux community blog post. Let’s get started.

If you’re like me, you work on many different kinds of computers. I have two Darwin machines that I regularly work on; I have about four different installs of Arch GNU/Linux, and I am planning to add even more esoteric distributions to one of my boxes. I work in Cygwin. And I have a Debian Sid box, which needs to be converted to something else.

My point is not that I like distribution-hopping. My point is that many of us use very diverse environments, and even if we don’t use very di …

Pandya

9:02 AM

trisquel.info/en/forum/waiting-trisquel-8-flidas

Faheem Mitha

@strugee Ah, the royal "his".

@strugee I don't see what advantage the unfortunately named WTFPL has over the standard BSD license with no advertising clause.

Michael Homer

The lack of disclaimer of warranty, obviously.

Stephen Kitt

@FaheemMitha see wtfpl.net/about

Faheem Mitha

@StephenKitt I read it.

@MichaelHomer The lack of disclaimer of warranty in the WTFPL? But I think you want that disclaimer.

Stephen Kitt

As pointed out by @MichaelHomer, WTFPL doesn't include a warranty by default (but see wtfpl.net/faq); it also doesn't place any requirement at all on anything, which for example means you can change the license if you want on copies you redistribute.

Michael Homer

9:16 AM

@FaheemMitha Well, I certainly would, but clearly there are people out there who are super keen on implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Faheem Mitha

@MichaelHomer I wonder what use an implied warranty is. You can't return the software to the store and get your money back.

Stephen Kitt

@FaheemMitha you might be able to sue for loss of whatever if the software destroys your data or stops you from working etc.

Faheem Mitha

@StephenKitt Oh. Does the BSD place restrictions on relicensing?

@StephenKitt I see. Sounds like a good reason not to use the WTFPL.

Stephen Kitt

@FaheemMitha "Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution."

@FaheemMitha most WTFPL-licensed software includes a disclaimer of warranty, as described in the FAQ.

Faheem Mitha

@StephenKitt Does that imply a licensing restriction?

Stephen Kitt

9:20 AM

@FaheemMitha not quite, but it means you can't remove the BSD license's terms, you can only add to them.

Faheem Mitha

@StephenKitt Yes, I see it.

@StephenKitt Ah, right. Got it.

Michael Homer

@StephenKitt ... for the covered work as conveyed to you, not for parts you added.

Stephen Kitt

@MichaelHomer yes, indeed.

strugee

@FaheemMitha not a lot

truthfully I think the WTFPL's naming is hilarious

@FaheemMitha you seen /me before?

Faheem Mitha

@strugee I saw the /me at the beginning, yes.

Stephen Kitt

9:29 AM

@FaheemMitha I think @strugee means IRC-style

on IRC, "/me just read his blog post on the U&L blog (rest in peace)" would have shown up as

strugee

@StephenKitt indeed

Stephen Kitt

"strugee just read his blog post ..."

Faheem Mitha

@StephenKitt Oh, I see. Too much processing required for my poor brain. :-)

strugee

:P

I really wish chat.SE did /me

in a magical fairyland where I had endless free time, I'd write a userscript for it

Faheem Mitha

@strugee I don't think that kind of functionality exists in SE chat.

strugee

9:34 AM

@FaheemMitha exactly.

:(

Faheem Mitha

10:00 AM

Random off-topic. This is what happens in the US when you actually try educating your students - ladyliberty1885.com/2016/09/21/…

Hey @JennyD. How's it going?

Jenny D

10:32 AM

@FaheemMitha hey Faheem, it's good.

today I got on one of the major CS magazine's list of 50 best developers in Sweden (techworld.idg.se/2.2524/1.670319/sveriges-basta-utvecklare-2016)

Kind of weird because I see myself as a syadmin, not a developer... but still fun!

terdon

10:45 AM

@strugee Dang!

@JennyD Hey, nice! Congratulations!

strugee

@JennyD that's really cool! Congrats!

@terdon :P

user334283

11:10 AM

@JennyD how many years are required to become like you?

terdon

11:24 AM

:33779790 Because it was repeating what was already explained by the accepted answer.

Jenny D

11:39 AM

@user334283 I was born in 1971...

and thanks @terdon and @strugee

terdon

@JennyD But how long did it take to become like you? Surely you were like you even the day you were born! :P

Jenny D

@terdon It took a little more than 45 years to become like I am now :-)

and looking at my old code I must admit that I was a lot less knowledgeable and a lot worse programmer some years ago

terdon

I should hope so!

Jenny D

@terdon yes - if you look at old stuff and still think it's perfect then that means you've learned nothing in the meantime

5

terdon

Which might mean you are perfect, just the way you are, but is likelier to mean you're an idiot.

Jenny D

11:48 AM

is also relevant here

still, to be honest, my getting on that list of "best developers" does throw some doubts on the validity of the list - since I'm not really a developer, and there was no evaluation of actual code. But somebody nominated me (I don't know who) and they did check that I actually do write code, so it's not entirely random.

terdon

12:03 PM

And they do list you as a sysadmin, at least.

user334283

12:19 PM

the thing I like about programming is that you can control machines whichever the way you like ..though I'm still a beginner and have no knowledge of shell commands

Jenny D

12:54 PM

I enjoy problem solving, both as a coder and as a sysadmin. And figuring out new ways to do things.

Faheem Mitha

1:24 PM

@JennyD Congratulations!

Jenny D

@FaheemMitha Thanks!

Faheem Mitha

@JennyD Did they interview you as part of this article?

Jenny D

@FaheemMitha Yes, they called everyone who'd been nominated to verify that they actually do code, that they're not just managers or project leaders or whathaveyou. And I do write some code, like most sysadmins, so it's not entirely wrong. But they didn't actually look at what I've written.

or at least not as far as I know. They may have looked for me on github.

aurelien

Hello stack!

I recently use for the first time bouty system point unix.stackexchange.com/questions/323596/…

I seen that the one who respond in that system will be the one who own the point

but

the fact is that the guy does not respond to the question

how can I do?

terdon

1:41 PM

@aurelien you choose whom to award the bounty to. If you don't make a choice, then half the bounty will automatically go to the highest voted answer. I'll have to check to be completely sure, but I'm 90% sure that if there is no upvoted answer, the bounty is just lost. So a 0 or <0 scored answer won't be awarded the bounty.

In general, when an answer isn't answering a question, it can be flagged as "not an answer". In this case, that is more of a comment than an answer, so I will convert it to one.

Oh, and welcome to the site!

That said, your question isn't very clear. I can't quite understand what you need. Could you explain in more detail here and we can try and edit it?

(Et si il faut le faire en français, dis moi d'ouvrir un chat dédiée).

@aurelien ^^

aurelien

Thanks you @ter

Thanks you @terdon

terdon

You're welcome. So, could you explain what you need in more detail? What is this USB key supposed to do? What is its relationship to the running system? What problem are you trying to solve with it?

aurelien

to keep the things simple, I would like to create an alive backup ...

example

you run on your machine

you have to leave ... you plug the key

you load the command

and then you plug the key on another place and have everything working like at home

so not just a backup

not just a live usb

but a persitent of your system as is

cool idea :-)

Stephen Kitt

@aurelien you should add all that to the question

aurelien

ok @StephenKitt

does the things as I have explain here are clear enought?

Stephen Kitt

1:53 PM

to me yes, but it feels like a huge task

aurelien

:'(

Stephen Kitt

unless you run a system which is designed to work like that from the beginning

such as Tails

aurelien

hmm .... the idea was not about privacy such as tail ... but efficiency and cool trick

terdon

@aurelien Oh wow. Yes, very cool idea, but not simple and not at all clear (to me) in the question.

Stephen Kitt

@aurelien yeah I get that, there are no doubt other live systems which can store data on the USB key

and I get that you're not looking for a live system either

terdon

1:56 PM

Why not just use a live system from the beginning?

aurelien

@terdon that is a good question, but, maybe because that is not in my habits like for must of users

terdon

Well, if you need the sort of functionality you are describing, maybe it should be in you habits :)

I mean, there is already a tool that lets you take your entire system with you on a USB drive: a live system. You are trying to reinvent this, and it is usually simpler to use the existing approach.

aurelien

the persistant system @terdon but what I am looking for is a different approach close to backup and persistant system at the same time

/me have to go ... see you o/

terdon

I know, I'm just saying it might be simpler to use a live system instead.

Oh, @aurelien, please also clarify what you mean by "the state of the system". Should this backup include installed packages, running processes, etc, or just your personal files?

Jenny D

@aurelien I'm actually basically doing that, by keeping VMWare images on an SSD card that I move between laptop and desktop. I just need to suspend them before moving between systems. It works.

Faheem Mitha

2:21 PM

@JennyD I see.

terdon

2:31 PM

@JennyD Does suspending automatically update the image stored on the USB?

Stephen Kitt

@terdon if the VM image is stored on the removable device, it would, yes. I would only be wary of wear-and-tear on the device, but high-quality SD cards are quite resilient nowadays.

terdon

3

Jenny D

@terdon Yes. Of course, I still need to take backups - like Terdon says, cards aren't indestructible, and there is a risk of corruption.

Faheem Mitha

3:54 PM

@JennyD Well, there is a law of diminishing returns. Nobody keeps improving forever. And it's even possible to get worse.

Jenny D

@FaheemMitha Certainly. There are some areas where I've gotten less skilled, from not keeping up with the topic.

Faheem Mitha

And programming isn't infinitely complex, either. Though some areas are more complex than others.

derobert

6:13 PM

@terdon wow, already upgraded to systemd 232?

(ok, not that surprising, its in Debian testing)

derobert

8:33 PM

BTW: unlike my NTP answer, I've actually started writing the network one. docs.google.com/document/d/… Would appreciate any feedback. I wouldn't worry so much about minor copyediting (it'll probably still get a lot of revision), but comments about things that aren't clear, etc. would be useful. Will see them after lunch.

Faheem Mitha

9:15 PM

@derobert It sounds like this should be a Wikipedia entry. Is it going to be?

No, doesn't look like it. But if it's for this site, what question is it answering?

derobert

9:33 PM

@FaheemMitha well, it's for this site. Need to write the question too... There is a very preliminary version of the question up top.

Faheem Mitha

@derobert Oh, so a canonical question, then? Ok.

derobert

(answering from phone, almost done with lunch)

Faheem Mitha

I wouldn't have guessed. Most people do horrible things to English when writing on a phone.

derobert

@FaheemMitha Yeah, so we can point people to it when they ask something such that it appears they have no idea how networking works.

SwiftKey makes typing sentences relatively easy.

Faheem Mitha

@derobert Sounds sensible. Except that a networking WP article would be even more sensible, and more people would see it.

Though of course, WP is more susceptible to edits from random morons.

@derobert I have that too. Never tried using it.

derobert

9:35 PM

Wiki books maybe, I don't think Wikipedia takes that type of article. Wikipedia isn't a tutorial.

Faheem Mitha

@derobert ok

derobert

Can certainly make it into a wiki book too, I can add whatever further licenses are needed.

But I've never used that site, especially to publish... So no idea what the process is.

I've done entire several paragraph things with SwiftKey. Nowhere near as fast as a keyboard of course, but so much better than any other phone input method I've seen, at least for two-thumb use.

Too bad it's not open source.

I wouldn't be surprised, though, if there is something better if you're willing to put hours into learning to use it.

SwiftKey is still fundamentally a qwerty keyboard

Faheem Mitha

I should take another look at Swiftkey.

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