vkc

Greetings! This week's "Word of the Week" is "Distro".

What is a distro? Why do Linux people keep talking about it? Is there a "best distro"? The answer to the last question is "no".

I had a discussion about this on my last livestream, which you can check out here: https://youtube.com/live/mt0MFQ_GUaM

You can also check it out in Podcast form (basically the same as the above link but as a Podcast) at https://vkc.sh.

Is Debian for you? Maybe!

In today's Sidtastic episode of Veronica Explains, I dive into Debian, the 30-year-old ancestor of Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, and so many other Linux distros. We'll also talk about why this Linux distribution so well loved after so long, and who could benefit from using it. Maybe even... you?

If you want to help me make more videos, please visit https://support.linux.mom. You can also buy my t-shirt at https://vkc.sh/merch. Either way helps support the channel! Thank you!

0:00 Is Debian old and boring? 0:41 Debian turns 30 this year... 1:25 How does Debian update? 3:21 Flathub is your friend! 4:09 Apt is power - pinning and backporting! 5:07 Sid, btw - Debian's unstable branch! 7:21 So... who is Debian for? 8:25 Ask Veronica - what distro do you use on web servers?

New on Veronica Explains - Word of the Week!

This week, we'll be defining "backporting".

Backporting is when an older software package receives an update from a newer version of the same software.

Software developers frequently backport important fixes from new to old versions of their work- it's vital to understand for any Linux sysadmin!

Oh, and if you want to help me make more videos, please check out https://support.linux.mom. Thank you!

#linux #sysadmin #homelab

My old Amiga 500 got a new case!

I re-cased (is that a word?) my Amiga 500 with the brand new, very slick, blacker-than-black case from A1200.net. It was pretty easy, and this is an overview of how I installed it, and what I think of it. It's an ...

Mastodon is all the rage among the cool kids, and is growing in popularity among folks who've left Twitter.

It's easily self-hostable, too, which is awesome! So, should you stand up your own server? I'm not recommending it to most folks, and this video explains why. TLDR- build communities and not silos.

Links to support Veronica Explains: 🅿️ Patreon/memberships: https://support.linux.mom 👚 Get the shirt: https://vkc.sh/merch

0:00 I say "greetings" and tell you what Mastodon is 3:11 Should you spin up your own Mastodon server? 5:40 Why you might want to spin one up anyway 6:27 Mastodon is exciting, and we should use it responsibly

#mastodon #twitter #selfhosted

Support the channel: support.linux.mom Buy the shirt: vkc.sh/merch

System76 has announced they're going to skip the 22.10 release of Pop!_OS. This is not the end of the world, and I'm planning on sticking with them on my main work machine.

In to...

They probably are. :)

We do this nasty thing in tech sometimes where we really rip into each other for our hardware and software choices. We "content creators" also have a bad habit of using very aggressive language to get attention. And I don't like it! Hrmph!

In today's "opinion-piece" episode of Veronica Explains, I share my take on this phenomenon, and why I think it's not a great thing. Maybe I'll change your mind, and maybe I won't. That's how it works!

And big shoutout to @Gardiner Bryant | TLG for the voiceover at the beginning! Go check out his channel!

Links referenced in today's video:

📱 An article on Android Authority which outlines the various manufacturers and their update policies: https://www.androidauthority.com/phone-update-policies-1658633/ 🐧 Jay's awesome video about "The Year of the Linux Desktop": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8btw60KFnpw

Links to support Veronica Explains: 🅿️ Patreon: https://patreon.com/veronicaexplains 👚 Merch: https://vkc.sh/merch 🔴 "Trackball Person" shirt from the video: https://vkc.sh/product-tag/trackball-person/

Chapters: 00:00 Rated YT-14 for Opinions 01:36 "You haven't convinced me" 03:10 Linux Mom uses an iPad 05:44 Tribalism is Ridiculous 07:36 Ask Veronica ("user" vs "you ess are")

#linux #opinions #software

That's right! Now your Commodore 64 can surf the web! Well, kinda.

In today's video, I go over two ways to get the venerable Commodore 64 online. The C64 is one of my favorite retro machines, and I hope you enjoy this trip down (a slightly modernized) memory lane.

Here's a few links to the tools I referenced in today's video, and other things which might be helpful! ⚡ C64 PSU I use: https://www.c64psu.com 📶 Wi-Fi modem: https://retrorewind.ca/c64-wifi-modem 🟧 64nic+: http://www.go4retro.com/products/64nic/ 🖥️ CCGMS Download: https://commodore.software/downloads/download/59-ccgms/15582-ccgms-2021 📌 Particles BBS website: http://particles.org ℹ️ Helpful blog post on troubleshooting the 64nic+: https://color64.com/dialing-out-two-options-for-getting-your-commodore-online/ 🐸 Frogfind and 📰 68k.news - heavily optimized sites with retro computers in mind: http://frogfind.com and http://68k.news (courtesy of the fantastic @Action Retro) ⏩ My favorite Fastloader - the "Epyx Fastload Reloaded" from The Future Was 8-Bit: https://www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/commodore/eflr.html 🎮 Evan Amos' book, "The Game Console" (he took many great photos of game systems and put them into the public domain): https://nostarch.com/game-console-20 🚧 Items I 3d printed for this episode:

• Pi1541 case: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4611954
• 64nic+ case: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2909991

Commodore BASIC commands used during the making of this video: LOAD"*",8 - load the first thing (or last opened file during current session) on the Commodore floppy drive RUN - runs the program it just loaded LOAD"$",8 - load the list of files from the Commodore floppy drive LIST - actually list out the list-of-files loaded with the previous command "Esoteric command" that renames the file: OPEN 1,8,15,"R:NETCONF.PRG= NETCONF.PRG":CLOSE 1 LOAD"SETMAC",8 - sets the mac address for your device in Contiki LOAD"CONTIKI",8 - loads the CONTIKI program itself

If you'd like to help support the channel, the best way is to join the Patreon! https://patreon.com/veronicaexplains. And thank you!

Chapters:

00:00 Intro 01:03 What is a Commodore 64? 03:55 "Online" in the 1980s 06:25 Modern modem options for retro computers 07:15 The C64 Wi-Fi Modem from Retro Rewind! 13:47 Contiki and the 64nic+ 18:42 Credit to those keeping retro alive 19:48 Ask Veronica

#retro #retrocomputing #commodore

If you've ever needed to control multiple computers from a single keyboard and mouse on the same desk, Barrier is software worth checking out!

Barrier is a software solution (a fork of Synergy) which replaces unsightly KVM switches, and is super neat! In this video, I'll install Barrier on four systems (running Pop!_OS, Windows 10, macOS, and GhostBSD), and run them all from the same keyboard and mouse!

Music is by me! Background audio was recorded on Linux using the Bitwig Studio DAW.

Let's go all retro and try out an old Wyse Terminal with a Linux install!

In this video, I'll walk through the basic concept of hardware terminals, what you'll need to connect to a Wyse Wy-55 terminal, and a few of the neat things you can do with one. It's surprisingly useful... if monochrome is your thing!

The commands you'll need: ls /dev/USB (finds USB devices, outputs the ttyUSB device number) sudo systemctl enable [email protected] (replace "0" with the device number from before, assuming you're systemd)

From there, a simple restart and hopefully, your terminal will be recognized!

And here are some helpful links I for things I reference in the video:

Debian Raspberry Pi page, including instructions: https://raspi.debian.net/ Rainbow Stream (terminal tweeting): https://github.com/orakaro/rainbowstream The tweet I sent out from my terminal during the video: https://twitter.com/VKCsh/status/1437254268050935814 In addition, everything I learned about getty, I learned from Arch Wiki: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Getty/ Lastly, I borrowed a picture of an old library terminal from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA): https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dynix-Main-Menu-via-Telnet.jpg

In today's episode, I talk about why I just quit my job as a system administrator and COBOL developer.

It's OK to be ready for change.

If you want to help me make that change, please join me on Patreon or Ko-Fi. Members get a weekly newsletter, occasional member-only livestreams, and other ways to connect with a positive community.

https://patreon.com/VeronicaExplains https://ko-fi.com/VeronicaExplains

Also, I used a picture of Miss Frizzle from Magic School Bus, which is owned by Scholastic. I also used a photo of Bill Nye that was posted on his website. Neither endorsed this video nor were consulted.

Chapters: 0:00 I quit 0:43 Career background 1:35 Realizations 3:53 Is COBOL OK? 4:46 What's next for the channel?

#career #technology #linux