2,333 karma · joined March 29, 2019
I use the karma indicator as a cheap way to detect replies to comments and this mess up this simple heuristic.
Conversely, if we are talking and you would like to engage in a discussion, just upvote! (or downvote, whatever!) This will catch my attention and make me check what you wrote.
ABOUT ME: I'm a command line geek with an interest in Arch, Windows, Sixels, ZFS and KVM!
I like new things, even those you may believe are "against the natural of things":
“I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies: 1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works. 2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it. 3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.”
― Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt
hyprland is so much better than anything else I don't understand why it's not more popular on HN
That would use AWS and insulate you from the details.
The fun part is learning how to do that, which gives you a better idea of how it works and full control of the solution.
You can then think about anycast or getting your own IP blocks
Some of them are fundamentalists, and no amount of reason will reach them (read the comments on the Ghibli-style images to get a sample), others are opposed for very self-interested reasons: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his income depends on his not understanding it"
Yesterday, I vibe coded a DNS server in python from scratch in half a day (!) and it works extremely well after spending a few minutes on manually improving a specific edge case for reverse DNS using AAAA records: dig -x requests use the exploded form in the ip6.arpa, while I think it's better for the AAAA entries to keep using the compressed form, and I wanted to generate the reverse algorithmically from AAAA and A records.
Just ignore them, as your approach is sound: I have experience creating, curating and improving datasets with LLMs.
Like vibe coding, it works very well if you know what you are doing: here, you just have to use statistics to leverage the non deterministic aspects of AI in your favor.
Good luck with your app!
Finally, make each VPS check on the health of the other to stop its DNS pointing to the other VPS: you will already have to have them check on eachother for the load checks.
It's a fun and practical exercise (you may have to write your own DNS servers), after which you can then think on how to do that for more than 2 VPS and the algorithms it entails
Using Kubernetes is rarely justified because most companies are NOT at google scale :)
> I'm a bit pleasantly surprised that systemd-networkd does
There are many very pleasant surprises with it. I only wish it integrated better with intel iwctl
I'd also be happy if it duplicated iwctl functions so I could get rid of it, and it would be even better if it could also replace bluez: wireless is getting more integrated, with the new WIFI protocols giving a role to BLE (ex: Wifi-Aware 4.0 Instant Communication)
Read about Wifi Aware 4.0 and you will see why having systemd-network work with iwctl and bluez would be much harder than integrating them
> I'm also a strong believer that network configurations shouldn't be "chunked" out into multiple files
Oh no it's about chunking out your /56 prefix to multiple /64 subsets within that prefix. In that specific case, I agree with the article that systemd also made that simpler compared to what needs to be done when not using systemd
> Thanks, but I did solve most of the problems
Great! Should you run into problems during your 24.04 migration, my offer still stands: I think systemd is a nice tool, and I'll be happy to show you how to use it for advanced usecases
Don't hesitate to ping me on ycombinator if I don't reply to your email (the spam filter is not optimal)
I changed the original title, to express it's testing "new old stock" of DVD-R and CD-R 25 years later, as in "writing to these DVD-R and CD-R that were made a long time ago, and kept in their box".
Quoting from the article: "The Fuji did well even after all these years – it’s likely that disc is at least 25 years old. "
I think this is more informative than the original title, because there is not much interest in testing how to burn optical media (we have figured that out by how), while checking in great detail if OLD optical media can STILL be burned is very interesting!
I was captivated by the spectrometer test to check the UV protection, as I would expect that to be the #1 problem for data longevity testing.
If sntp is not sufficient for your needs, just disable systemd own sntp solution (systemctl disable...) and use chrony (systemctl start / systemctl enable to make it persistent): then `systemctl status systemd-timesyncd.service` will show you it has been disabled
> but I do know people doing on-prem kubernetes loads that have had to...
What did they have to do? `systemctl disable systemd-timesyncd` is not very complicated. If they want to create a service, they can have it disable timesyncd iff chrony has started successfully (in an ExecStartPost), or doing a logic chain.
It's extremely practical: you can create very precise logic chains with systemd (if this and that, then...)
> My initial fights with systemd's dependency management meant that disabling its internal DHCP had several cascading consequences with other things that expected networking to be "up". This is to say nothing of the tooling that expects a full-slate of systemd services.
Maybe I can help you with that - I used to run a non systemd DHCP when I needed a rapid DHCP to reduce the TTFB for a specific configuration (read https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2755461 if you are not familiar with rapid DHCP)
It did not require much effort, just "inserting" my own service in the dependency chain.
Create a /etc/systemd/system/my-dhcpcd@.service with : (put the right option for your dhcp in execstart)
```
[Unit]
Description=dhcpcd on %I
Wants=network.target
Before=network.target
BindsTo=sys-subsystem-net-devices-%i.device
After=sys-subsystem-net-devices-%i.device
[Service]
Type=forking
ExecStart=/usr/bin/dhcpcd -q -w %I
ExecStop=/usr/bin/dhcpcd -x %I
ExecStop=/usr/sbin/ip addr flush dev %I
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
```
Using the @ syntax, you can create a dhcp just for the one interface you care about: then use systemctl daemon-reload, and start your custom service as my-dhcpd@eth1 : the %i will be replaced by eth1
If you are interested in rapid dhcp, I give more details on https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/1392wrc/dhcpcd_1...
> I am only now starting to plan the upgrade of our ubuntu 20.04 fleet to 24.04, so maybe it is better now...
It shouldn't be very hard to fix, I had a similar setup working with a 18.04 and a 20.04
> My initial fights with systemd's dependency management meant that disabling its internal DHCP had several cascading consequences with other things that expected networking to be "up". This is to say nothing of the tooling that expects a full-slate of systemd services.
You need to insert yourself in the dependencies, but the example I gave above should be sufficient to do that
> This is now mostly deprecated by SLAAC, but DHCPv6 deployments will be needed for awhile as it's all that windows' IPv6 implementation supported until recently. You can't just say "RFC now supports SLAAC...don't whine to me that DHCPv6 doesn't work as it's not part of the RFC".
I have maintained such solutions and I had both SLAAC and DHCPv6: giving multiple IPv6 to an host is fine. On linux side, you can even use preferred_lft to change the priority (ex: use 0 to have an IPv6 address that will reply to connections, but that will not be used to initiate connections, for example if you don't want to expose "easy to remember" short addresses like yourprefix:subnet::1
In case you don't know, systemd-networkd IPv6AcceptRA is a separate option (and section) from DHCPv4 and DHCPv6 - you could decide to use either or both, and also do more advanced routing with RouteMetric to prefer one over the other if you have different gateways for redundancy
If what I've explained is not clear, try to read https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Systemd-networkd it's a good starting guide.
If you have more advanced IPv6 needs, it's usually to request a /56: use PrefixDelegationHint
You can then chunk it out with systemd: check https://major.io/p/dhcpv6-prefix-delegation-with-systemd-net... for a nice guide
> People have tried, but the response can be TL;DR'd to "works on my machine/setup" or to go harass AWS, Microsoft (via AD), etc to make things work the way the systemd mainainers think is right.
Everything we talked about doesn't seem very complicated.
If with all the pointers I've provided you still can't make it work, or if you run into more complicated problems, send an email (username at outlook), I will see what I can do.
This core will get to sleep less than the others.
You can also use the CPU "geometry" (which cores share cache) to set max frequency on its neighboring cores first, before recruiting the other cores
For time sync, what you do depends on what you need: there's a long list of option: rdate, sntp, ntp, ptp and I have used all of them.
Even if rdate is technically obsolete, for embedded systems it's sufficient that the time is not grossly wrong (and it's faster to write a rdate client and server)
However, when I'm doing high precision sampling data with multiple computers and I have to reorder the observations, sub microsecond accuracy is not enough: then I use PTP with a GPS and PPS (or chrony with special NICs if I can't get a GPS signal)
Both of these are very far from the normal needs of linux installs: there is no one size fits all, there are even interesting inbetween (chrony doing hardware timestamping with ntp is very clever) but when you design a system, you have to make choices.
> But now one is going to do it for dozens of services and not appreciate or handle the nuances that come with such a responsibility? It's literally pure arrogance - hence the hate.
I'm very happy systemd exists, because I like the well thought out design it has created: I can feel how it's lacking in the BSD.
I understand systemd success was not a given, and choices had to made. I just don't think it was arrogance, but compromises needed to achieve a vision.
> it's because they refuse to deal with more than one legit way of doing things. Either way, what is a service/process manager doing in this fight?
It's making choices.
Maybe systemd could have used ntp or better (maybe it will? or maybe there's a reason it's a bad idea?) but it does most things extremely well: if I have very specific needs (ex: ptp) far outside the norm, I can concentrate on that and let systemd do everything else far better than I would.
> these problems are because of long-established practices that technically violate an RFC
For DHCP, you should suggest an update, and if it gets adopted, a patch to make systemd follow the updated RFC.
That would show some love, and it might be better (and more productive) than the hate
But I know that once it's fixed, it will work well, so it's motivating me to give a hand
I like BSDs for the integration and the performance.
> So that ends up meaning that how-tos just don't work any more
Complexity (or change) doesn't come out of nowhere: sometimes, new tools must be learned.
> isn't good enough when clean, well thought out systems already exist.
I also love well thought out systems, but I think systemd is one of these "well thought out" systems.
Yes, even with stores like supraphonline.cz I often depend on yt-dl for new songs
I wish there was a more direct way to support the work artists I like without being forced to use streaming (which I don't like)
> Hah, not really an issue for me. My friends are always complaining that I go on holiday for 2 weeks and come back with 2 photos
That's GOOD: it means we live in the moment and we enjoy the experience instead of wasting time and storage to take pictures we'll never look at ever again!
> Just really wanted to emphasize whatever it cost Boox to add a camera was completely wasted.
I could see a usecase for QR codes or for translation, but if it can't even do that I'd rather have the slick and flush back like on my Mooan
Currently, I don't have any issue at all, and I'm not aware of any either.
I like how it's very reliable and integrated: the "kitchen sink mentality" can have positive effects
> It didn't help that the systemd head (Lennart Poettering) was extremely intransigent with any complaints, often outright refusing to deal with various historical edge cases for long-established norms.
In retrospect, given how well it all works, maybe he was right to refuse to compromise.
I do.
> "Modern" is rarely a good description
Then call it reliable and dependable.
Modern doesn't always win for me: I prefer vim to neovim, or bash to zsh. Having a solid set of features and a good integration does.
If you are curious, see https://marcelofern.com/posts/linux/goodbye_zsh/index.html which mirrors my reasons to prefer bash
It's funny: I now use my eink device (Moaan) almost exclusively for music, because there's no streaming so I have to curate my playlist.
For the light theme, try poweramp or the likes that support themes.
> I would never think of daily driving it as a phone if it had a modem
I would never had purchased it if it had a modem. I like to disconnect, I don't want to be tempted by apps.
> And of course, it's running an obsolete version of Android and is continuously phoning home to China, so you probably don't want any important data on it.
I prefer the Mooan because I do not want the google play store on my devices: I can still install apps from F-Droid.
e-ink phone sized devices are excellent for a minimalistic experience: without color or a modem, you are less tempted to use apps.
I also do not want a camera: I prefer the smoother back both to put a credit card holder there, and have no temptation to take a picture.
I got it to read books, but now I'm using it to listen to music and take notes: I like the minimalistic experience, with no temptations to go online.
Absolutely
> If containers are the reason, then again, they are not a requirement. But they are pretty similar to BSD's jails. I don't think they are particularly complex.
The only point I agree with the author is that many things are shipped to be used with docker when they don't need to be, which creates a needless dependency.
Because I can, and because I don't trust Windows application to be secure.
Thanks to that, I have no problem running 15 year old office software: even if I knew it was malicious, I also know there's nothing it can do without network access, without file access, and with resources constrains (so it can't even cause a denial of service, except to itself).
In the worst case, I guess it could try to erase its own files? (but it would then be restored from an image on the next run, and I would keep going)
In my experience, systemd is far better and more reliable than anything else, especially if you need complex logic (ex: when this and that happen, start doing this, except when such and such are present)
Most of the problems I've seen come from trying to duplicate systemd functions: in the author example, why bother with rsyslog or network-manager?
I have also seen many people refusing to learn modern tools, instead trying to make it work with the tools they know, by disabling what works better, often with poor results.
It's like trying to keep using ifconfig and route instead of ip: you can make it work, but for say managing multiple ip on the same interface forces you to go with eth0:0 eth0:1 etc (and let's not even talk about network namespaces).
I like the various BSD and distributions like postmarket OS, but I wish they had access to modern tools instead of having to "roll my own" with scripts or make do with what they depend on
That's a great point!
I'm aware, which is why recommend instead that wine apps should each be run under a different userid: I don't want any given app to have access to anything that it doesn't absolutely need
> This would help somewhat, assuming you don't run them all in one user's X session
When I start a given wine app, the script starting it allows this user id to render on my Xwayland
It is not as secure as running each on its own X session, but wayland compositors can offer more isolation as needed.
I use scripts to automate everything - including allowing wine to use Xwayland (because until I start the application I want, its userid is not allowed to show content on my display)
If you want to try using wine with different user ids, try to start with a directory in /tmp like /tmp/wine which is group writable, with your windows app and your user belonging to the same group.
I see you were given an answer for the slow animation. For most UI tweaks, regedit is a good starting point.
You may also like the powertoys, but I suggest you take the time to create AHK scripts, for example if you want to make your workflow keyboard centric
> So, I'm trying to bring my Windows usage experience as close as possible to so familiar and common on Linux.
I did the opposite with the help of hyprland on arch, but it took me years to get close to how efficient I was on Windows, where there are many very polished tools to do absolutely anything you can think of.
I moved from Windows 11 to Linux for the same reason: I was using an old version of Office because it was faster than the included apps: the full Word started faster than Wordpad (it was even on par with Notepad!) The Outlook from an old Office used less ram and was more responsive than the one included with Windows!
When I got a new laptop, I had problems with the installation of each the old versions of Office I had around, and there were rumors old versions Office would be blocked.
I didn't want to take the risk, so I started my migration.
> While Windows is often claimed to be backwards compatible, in practice your mileage may vary
It was perfectly backwards compatible: Windows was working fine with very old versions of everything until some versions of Windows 11 started playing tricks (even with a Pro license)
I really loved Windows (and AutoHotKey and many other things), but now I'm happy with Linux.
It's just you. I set up the DPI and high res option to run old Office apps, and they have very nice fonts both on my 2k laptop 4k screen.
Try `xprop -root -f _XWAYLAND_GLOBAL_OUTPUT_SCALE 32c -set _XWAYLAND_GLOBAL_OUTPUT_SCALE 2`
I will try Office 2013 (I'd like a version that works well in wine64!)
Maybe not much?
A few months ago, I ran out of power (my mistake, I use full screen apps to avoid the distraction, so I didn't realize I was unplugged)
After plugging in and restarting Linux then the ancient version of Word I was using, I got a pleasant surprise: the "autosaved" version of the document I was editing, with nothing lost!
As for llm, Excel 2010 may not have been made for AI, but wine copy/paste and a few scripts work surprisingly well!
It doesn't have to be. Old software is cheap, even shrink wrapped ("new old stock")
A few years ago I purchased a few shrink-wrapped Office on ebay for each of the versions Wine claimed to support best, tested then with wine32 and wine64, and concluded the "sweet spot" was Office 2010 in wine32 (it may have changed, as wine keep evolving)
Yes, it's 15 years old software, but it works flawlessly with Unicode xkb symbols! Since it doesn't have any network access, and each app is isolated in a different user id, I don't think it can cause any problem.
And Ii I can still use vim to do everything I need and take advantage of how it will not surprise me with any unwanted changes, I don't see why I couldn't use say an old version of Excel in the same way!
It's not just to prevent applications to read other applications files, but also to firewall each application individually
For example, if you don't want the application you've mapped to user id 1001 to have any networking, use iptables with '-m owner --uid-owner 1001 -j DROP'
I moved from Windows to Linux a few years ago, I have a few Windows apps I still love a lot (mostly Word and Excel) and thanks to wine I will always be able to use them.
They are also extremely fast: cold starting Word (or Excel) on my laptop takes less than a second, and use far less RAM
Personally, I'd rather purchase a few shrink wrapped old versions of Office from ebay than bother with LibreOffice, Abiword or the online version of Office.
EDIT: I can't find the old recording I made showing how fast it was, but here's what it looks like on my hypland desktop: you can see in btop it doesn't take much resources https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn/comments/11w3zzj/hyprland_...
Everything has limits - the only differences is where they are, and therefore how often you meet them.
If you are working with AI, using local models shows you where the problems can (and will) happen, which helps you write more robust code because you will be aware of these limits!
It's like how you write more efficient code if you have to use a resource constrained system.