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User: Linnerd

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  1. Allow for choice on Ask Slashdot: Are There Any Alternatives To Android Or iOS? · · Score: 1

    I tackle the problem by making it a two step process:
    1) Look for some phone hardware that is as open, flexible and as standard possible.
          Note that this immediately excludes Apple HW - no openness, no choices there.
    2) Select the OS that best satisfies your needs on that hardware.

    For (1) I've chosen a Fairphone 2 (5", Qualcomm Snapdragon, 2GB + 32 GB, 2 SIMs + MicroSD, USB-OTG, Headphone Jack, replacable battery), 10/10 on ifixit, built to last.
    For (2) you have the choice between Android/OASP 6.1 maintained by the company, regular updates; community supported Ubuntu and Sailfish ports; Lineage 14.1 (aka OASP 7.1) with incremental updates (that's what I'm currently using, but I've test-driven/used them all).

    Not cutting hardware & software, but well usable & I expect to get at least another 2-3 years of usage out of this combo.

  2. Re: No SCO/Linux? on OpenSource.com Test-Drives Linux Distros From 1993 To 2003 (opensource.com) · · Score: 1

    Here's a link to a port of 1970 v7 unix for the x86 architecture
    http://www.nordier.com/v7x86
    Boots in seconds, CLI only, no networking ('cept uucp). The ancestor of them all...

  3. Battery required... on Intel Wants To Eliminate The Headphone Jack And Replace It With USB-C (9to5mac.com) · · Score: 1

    Besides the 3.5mm analog output being *the* standard also for non-headphone equipment, why would I want yet another accessory that requires a battery and/or recharging equipment?

  4. Too much power already! on It's Time To Kill the $100 Bill, Says Larry Summers · · Score: 1

    We - the people - have given too much power to the state executives already, and their thirst for more is unquenchable!

    As so often it will be us - the people - who get hit by these new rules, while the groups they are pretending to target will barely be affected.

    Even if you believe in the integrity of your current government: history demonstrates that rules created with good intent and trust can AND WILL be abused.

    Best not to relinquish any more power - it may be too late already.

  5. Re:About that boot encryption... on Google Makes Full-Disk Encryption Mandatory For Some Android 6.0 Devices (itworld.com) · · Score: 1

    Mod parent up! This looks to me like Google is trying to lock out the competition under the guise of offering improved privacy for the customer.

  6. Re:NO! on Dealing with Google's 'Mobilegeddon' Algorithm Changes (Video) · · Score: 1

    Even though you've done all that work now, the mobile version of the page does not provide the transcription link!

    That's how you earn "google mobile-friendly points" and loose mobile users (not willing to spend bandwith on video).

    Is that what this is all about?

  7. Re:"could be worse than Heartbleed" on Flurry of Scans Hint That Bash Vulnerability Could Already Be In the Wild · · Score: 1

    To exemplify this:

    If your system supports the "#!" magic number any command implemented as a (ba)sh script any way it is called (no need for system!) will trigger the bug.

    Implementing functionality in shell scripts and wrapping commands in shell scripts is a *very* common thing in UNIX systems of any flavor and frequently you won't even realize that until a bug like this hits you.

    For size try: file /usr/bin/* | grep "shell script" | wc -l

  8. Provide a Ranking App? on Apple's App Store Needs a Radical Revamp; How Would You Go About It? · · Score: 1

    "One App to rule them all, One App to find them, One App to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them."

    Apologies to Tolkien.

    Aaah META - META - META

  9. Re:TinytinyRSS! on Slashdot Asks: How Will You Replace Google Reader? · · Score: 1

    I decided that I was not going to be burned by another provider turning sour on me so all the solutions that permanently required some third party support were out to start with.

    Switched to TinyTiny RSS, hosting it myself, imported all the feeds i had, reading on any machine I please, at work, on my N900 phone (you just can't get "Apps" for that - and what a goodness, too ;-), with all the stuff kept in sync, works perfectly.

    Can only recommend it.

  10. Re:Gratifying on IE Standardization Fading Fast · · Score: 1

    I had the opposite problem in my time: The CEO was refusing to shell out money to get the site working in any browser but IE - you know: "because everbody is running IE anyway and we can save money and time-to-market by ignoring the marginal rest of the world".

    To (mis-)cite the parent: "I would have given much more than a dollar to be there at the time he finally realized that his site needed to become cross-platform, and pronto."

    But then again: He's no longer CEO and I'm no longer in that line of business.

  11. Re:Boot from USB or CD-ROM? on Ask Slashdot: Ubuntu Lockdown Options? · · Score: 1

    Here's a link to the "lernstick" - this is what is actively being used in schools here (Switzerland) with an English description at: http://www.imedias.ch/lernstick/lernstick_en and downloadable at: http://www.imedias.ch/dateien/lernstick-testversion/

    It's based on Debian and meant to be used in schools and at home; There even is a boot-cd for those olden machines that cannot boot off USB.

    Additionally they have a stripped down version (lernstick pruefungsumgebung) designed to be used for exams (No Internet).

    [[ iMedias is not a company but the name of an institute of the "Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz". The institutes charter is to support schools in using IT for educational purposes. I'm not affiliated with them, but happen to now some people there;-) ]]

  12. Knots2 on the Maemo uses VLC on-the-fly on Encoding Video For Mobile Devices? · · Score: 1

    There is some software written for maemo called Knots2 (cf. http://wiki.maemo.org/Knots2) that does a pretty decent job of encoding a stream starting from any type of format to something that can be watched natively on the device or with a browser.

    It's what I use to access MythTV from my N900.

    No idea on how hard this would be to port to Android, though.

  13. Lernstick on Good, Portable "Virtual" Linux Distro? · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here's a link to the "lernstick" - this is what is actively being used in schools here (Switzerland) with an English description at: http://www.imedias.ch/lernstick/lernstick_en and downloadable at: http://www.imedias.ch/dateien/lernstick-testversion/

    It's based on Debian and meant to be used in schools and at home; There even is a boot-cd for those olden machines that cannot boot off USB.

    Additionally they have a stripped down version (lernstick pruefungsumgebung) designed to be used for exams (No Internet).

    [[ iMedias is not a company but the name of an institute of the "Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz". The institutes charter is to support schools in using IT for educational purposes. I'm not affiliated with them, but happen to now some people there;-) ]]

  14. It's all ONE net anyway. on What Is the Future of Firewalls? · · Score: 2

    I really agree with Firethorn:

    - Keep the firewall simple. Its job is to keep the rough bulk of attacks from an extranet outside.

    - Protect your data where it resides (always!), even against intranet abuse (strong(!) authentication, working access control).

    - Monitor use (intrusion detection, normal use / abuse patterns, traffic anomalities, logs)

    In todays environment there are plenty of attack vectors that circumvent elaborate firewall constructs (like: USB sticks being used for data exchange, laptops being connected to arbitrary networks while on the road and then brought back into the company network, Blackberrys or iPhones being used to create additional (non-firewalled) connections to the Net, ...) so the distinction between inside and outside has mostly become moot, except (as stated above) for a rough triage.

    Far too many company networks today follow the clam model: Strong (and inflexible) shell, mushy interior.

  15. What I use on Low-Power Home Linux Server? · · Score: 1

    As low power Linux Gateways/Websever I'm using the ASUS EeeBox (cf.
    http://usa.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=QUObl5lSRQQ3lSqJ -
    Atom 1.6GHz, 2GB RAM, 160G Disk, LAN, WLAN, USB)
    It uses about 20-30W and with an external DVD drive attached you can install any current Linux x86 distribution on it.
    Plus: you can get it without windows ;-)

  16. Not for me! on Kindle Finally Ready For Global Distribution · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I live in Switzerland and I will not buy such a device.

    The main reasons are:
    - copy protection in Kindle (I usually pass on books that
        I'm done with - if only to gain room for new books)
    - reader way too expensive
    - books way to expensive (paper still is a lot cheaper)
    - can't highlight phrases / earmark pages / collect citations
    - did I mention copy protection?

    The ebook business will have to go a long way until they
    get to the point where mp3 shops are today...

  17. twinkle twinkle little *? on Voice-Op Linux PDA · · Score: 1

    ARR-EMM SPACE DASH ARR-EFF SPACE STAR
    still won't work as it should translate to
    rm dashrf star
    which should cause no harm at all.
    How would Metacharacters be entered anyway? ESCAPE STAR? LITERAL STAR? And how would the ESCAPE or LITERAL be escaped?
    Seems to me that voice commanding some appliance is not so easy after all?!?