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Re: Replacing discord...

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "eroc1990" == eroc1990 <eroc1990(a)protonmail.com> writes: Did you read the article i posted? Part of the issue is CSAM being pushed into matrix servers and the management was hard to make work. But maybe that's gotten better and if we ran our own server it wouldn't be a problem? Something to talk about for sure on thursday. I'm not up on these tools at all, but I do want to make sure that email chats and signal chats are shared widely as possible. And one of the choices I failed to list is: - instant messages (signal) - email threads. Those are two aspects. When I got home sunday and found 130+ messages in signal to catch up on, it was pretty funny. But did I really need to read them all? Maybe. Did I enjoy it? Enventually once I read them. But I like the mailing list and how I don't need to be watching it constantly, nor do I get dinged with notifications. Whcih is both good and bad. LOL! John > I feel like the obvious winner in this case would be Matrix. Synapse > can be a bit of a bear to set up, but you get E2EE in both 1:1 and > Rooms, things can be organized into Spaces and you're able to freely > join and leave any room or space that's irrelevant to > you. Administration isn't all that bad when you're running a Private > server, but it comes with costs in terms of the resources needed to > store and serve the various components of Matrix. Would be curious > if anyone has any proclivities toward another service with similar > offerings. > On Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 3:49 PM, John Stoffel via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: >> >> Hi all, >> A bunch of us are also chatting on signal (look in the email archives >> for a link to join!) and I feel like we're leaving the email forum >> users behind. >> >> And we need to keep the WLUG community working together and sharing >> together, no matter what their systems or resources are. >> >> I found this interesting article on replacing discord with something >> new. >> >> https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives/ >> >> And I thought we as a group show evaluate some of these options as >> well. In order of requirements I think: >> >> >> - needs to be open >> - WLUG needs to control the data >> - needs to have clients across a swath of systems. >> - web based >> - CLI / plain text based >> - Apple/Android clients. >> - searchable >> - able to organize a bit into channels. >> - announcements >> - regular chat >> - questions or howtos >> >> Right now I enjoy the signal chat and how free form it is, but since I >> can only read it on my phone because getting a CLI client working is a >> pain... and I don't want to install the signal app on my work >> laptop. >> >> So what do people think? >> >> John >> _______________________________________________ >> WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org >> To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org >> Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ >> Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ >> Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/XQDKN… >>

Feb. 10, 2026

Re: Replacing discord...

by eroc1990

I feel like the obvious winner in this case would be Matrix. Synapse can be a bit of a bear to set up, but you get E2EE in both 1:1 and Rooms, things can be organized into Spaces and you're able to freely join and leave any room or space that's irrelevant to you. Administration isn't all that bad when you're running a Private server, but it comes with costs in terms of the resources needed to store and serve the various components of Matrix. Would be curious if anyone has any proclivities toward another service with similar offerings. On Tuesday, February 10th, 2026 at 3:49 PM, John Stoffel via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: > > Hi all, > A bunch of us are also chatting on signal (look in the email archives > for a link to join!) and I feel like we're leaving the email forum > users behind. > > And we need to keep the WLUG community working together and sharing > together, no matter what their systems or resources are. > > I found this interesting article on replacing discord with something > new. > > https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives/ > > And I thought we as a group show evaluate some of these options as > well. In order of requirements I think: > > > - needs to be open > - WLUG needs to control the data > - needs to have clients across a swath of systems. > - web based > - CLI / plain text based > - Apple/Android clients. > - searchable > - able to organize a bit into channels. > - announcements > - regular chat > - questions or howtos > > Right now I enjoy the signal chat and how free form it is, but since I > can only read it on my phone because getting a CLI client working is a > pain... and I don't want to install the signal app on my work > laptop. > > So what do people think? > > John > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ > Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ > Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/XQDKN… >

Feb. 10, 2026

Replacing discord...

by John Stoffel

Hi all, A bunch of us are also chatting on signal (look in the email archives for a link to join!) and I feel like we're leaving the email forum users behind. And we need to keep the WLUG community working together and sharing together, no matter what their systems or resources are. I found this interesting article on replacing discord with something new. https://taggart-tech.com/discord-alternatives/ And I thought we as a group show evaluate some of these options as well. In order of requirements I think: - needs to be open - WLUG needs to control the data - needs to have clients across a swath of systems. - web based - CLI / plain text based - Apple/Android clients. - searchable - able to organize a bit into channels. - announcements - regular chat - questions or howtos Right now I enjoy the signal chat and how free form it is, but since I can only read it on my phone because getting a CLI client working is a pain... and I don't want to install the signal app on my work laptop. So what do people think? John

Feb. 10, 2026

Reminder: WLUG Meeting Feb 12th, 2026: Topic: DNS Interception.

by Tim Keller

Hey Everybody, We've got a meeting! Date/Time: February 12th, 2026 @ 7PM Location: Technocopia, 44 Portland St. Worcester MA Virtual Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Topic: DNS Interception. Speaker: Steve Thibault At every turn, companies are looking for ways to monetize data. It should be no surprise that DNS is one of these. Recently a fellow WLUG member Steve Thibault discovered that their upstream provider was intercepting his DNS queries and worked to fight against this. Steve is going to tell us his story of how he discovered what his provider was doing and what he did to foil their prying eyes. As usual, after the meeting we'll head out for dinner and keep the conversation going! Thanks, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Feb. 10, 2026

First WLUG meeting of the year!! January 8th 2026 @ 7PM Location: Technocopia!

by Tim Keller

Hey Everybody! This is our first WLUG meeting of the year! Date & Time: 1/8/26 @ 7PM Location: Technocopia, 44 Portland St. Worcester MA Virtual Location: https://meet.jit.si/WlugMA Topic: Still figuring that out! Got ideas let me know. At a minimum we'll talk about what we want to talk about this year. Looking at the signal chat we can have a more thorough talk about BcacheFS vs OpenZFS vs. Btrfs. I can give people an update with my wife and her fun with Bazzite. I'm hoping I can get my hands on a couple pieces of identical laptop hardware and do a head to head performance test of CachyOS vs. some other distro to show off the greatness or lack thereof of the BORE (Burst-Oriented Response Enhancer) scheduler. We can talk about the Helium browser vs. Chromium vs. Chrome.. Lots to talk about. As usual we'll head out for dinner afterwards and we'll keep the conversation going! Thanks, Tim. -- I am leery of the allegiances of any politician who refers to their constituents as "consumers".

Jan. 5, 2026

Re: WLUG MEETING TONIGHT!

by Evan White

> It all went too fast for me. I thought 'git' was for multi-programmer > group projects. Do you use it just to keep track of versions of > your own project? I have used git for solo projects or those in a group or organization. Jujutsu effectively extended the capabilities of Git to allow me to handcraft the recent version history, for the sake of better organization for myself, or making it easier for others to review. This is especially important now that algorithms (Claude, etc.) are writing a lot of my revisions. I need to be able to, e.g. combine a messy log of changes made in separate revisions during experimentation, and split it up into a clean and well-reviewed series of revisions. Once some revisions get pushed to the trunk, they become 'immutable' in Jujutsu, so nobody can go rewriting the history of the trunk. All of this was already possible in Git, and many Git power users suffered the roundabout way of doing these things. Jujutsu made it straightforward by removing the working tree and staging area of git, such that you are always editing a revision that is synchronized continuously with the filesystem, and allowing arbitrary revisions to be directly operated on with a rich set of tools. > Now I ask: Can I get a root shell? > Is Linux just hidden, or is it broken and forbidden? In Android, there are third-party facilities to give root access to apps, and one of those apps could be a terminal. Termux is one such app that is like a container without root which uses Debian packaging in it (Android is not natively capable of it). Termux can elevate to root access over all of Android if your installation allows it. The Android ecosystem, its graphical shell, and its application paradigm are generally much different from the free & open Linux ecosystem. Most vendors (smartphone manufacturers, etc.) default install of Android do not allow root access to apps, and you usually need third-party modifications to access root, or an unlocked bootloader to install an open version of Android for that platform if one even exists. > Would it be easier to install Debian on an Android machine than a Windows machine? > Are BIOS passwords a problem? That's a big issue, and it's even worse than a BIOS password; it's usually a fully locked bootloader. As far as I can tell, the smartphone ecosystem upon which Android is built was never really designed to be open and standardized like PCs were, and it was more profitable or "secure" for this to be the status quo. Since Windows machines are x86 PCs without locked bootloaders (at least for now), it will be much easier to install Debian with root on them. Android can permit you to use a Debian-like environment in a container app like Termux. Some manufacturers are making Linux-friendly smartphones, but if you're weighing the options between Android and Windows, I assume you are looking at small laptops. ________________________________ From: Keith Wright via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2025 10:32 PM To: Worcester Linux Users' Group General Discussion <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> Cc: Keith Wright <kwright(a)keithdiane.us> Subject: [WLUG] WLUG MEETING TONIGHT! >>Join the signal chat for more details. >> Thanks, Tim.A steve--- via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > how does one join the signal chat? I was about to ask the same question, but I thought I didn't need to, since somebody had already asked it. John Stoffel via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > Yeah, I don't know either for some reason. And is it private to WLUG > only or can we put details onto the web page? But now two people have asked and nobody answered. So: How is it done? Is this the same "signal" that the Secretary of Undeclared War got in trouble for using? ---------- Evan White via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > We had a great discussion mostly about Jujutsu, and the philosophy of > Git commit organization, ... , etc. It all went too fast for me. I thought 'git' was for multi-programmer group projects. Do you use it just to keep track of versions of your own project? ---------- Tim Keller via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > Topic: National Right to Repair day > Speaker: Jack Frimet from PIRG. > > Jack Frimet from PIRG reached out to me and asked that he speak at this meeting. PIRG > is an organization that among many other causes is advocating at the national level for > the right to repair. As we are all aware, with Win10 reaching EOL, this is causing a > tsunami of e-waste as people are forced to upgrade to run Win11. I was not clear if they are expecting people to bring old computers to have Linux installed, or if I can just give cash and get an old computer. Also I asked whether Android was Linux hidden behind a "user interface". People seemed to agree that that was about right. Now I ask: Can I get a root shell? Is Linux just hidden, or is it broken and forbidden? I am looking for a extra "back-up" laptop. Would it be easier to install Debian on an Android machine than a Windows machine? Are BIOS passwords a problem? -- Keith _______________________________________________ WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/QGC2Z…

Dec. 24, 2025

Re: cool hw probe/info command: inxi

by eroc1990

For other recentish Windows expats like me that miss hwinfo64, I recently discivered OCCT (https://www.ocbase.com/download) It's a good way to get similar information out of a GUI like hwinfo64 presented. -------- Original Message -------- On Monday, 12/15/25 at 08:25 Chuck Anderson via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> wrote: Another one I've seen going around on the forums: fastfetch It shows a cute color ASCII logo of your OS followed by system info. Here is the Fedora logo: .',;::::;,'. .';:cccccccccccc:;,. .;cccccccccccccccccccccc;. .:cccccccccccccccccccccccccc:. .;ccccccccccccc;.:dddl:.;ccccccc;. .:ccccccccccccc;OWMKOOXMWd;ccccccc:. .:ccccccccccccc;KMMc;cc;xMMc;ccccccc:. ,cccccccccccccc;MMM.;cc;;WW:;cccccccc, :cccccccccccccc;MMM.;cccccccccccccccc: :ccccccc;oxOOOo;MMM000k.;cccccccccccc: cccccc;0MMKxdd:;MMMkddc.;cccccccccccc; ccccc;XMO';cccc;MMM.;cccccccccccccccc' ccccc;MMo;ccccc;MMW.;ccccccccccccccc; ccccc;0MNc.ccc.xMMd;ccccccccccccccc; cccccc;dNMWXXXWM0:;cccccccccccccc:, cccccccc;.:odl:.;cccccccccccccc:,. ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc:'. :ccccccccccccccccccccccc:;,.. ':cccccccccccccccc::;,. On Sun, Dec 14, 2025 at 03:51:51PM -0500, John Stoffel via WLUG wrote: > >>>>> "Doug" == Doug Mildram via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > > > If this is already familiar to most/all of you pardon my excitement! > > Nope, very first time I've heard of this! I usually use just the > basics: > > lshw > lspci > blkid > lsscsi > lsusb > lscpu (new to me...) > uname -a > cat /etc/os-release (only on distros in past 10 years > usually?) > > But this is a great thing to share! > John _______________________________________________ WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/D2FCL…

Dec. 16, 2025

Re: cool hw probe/info command: inxi

by Chuck Anderson

Another one I've seen going around on the forums: fastfetch It shows a cute color ASCII logo of your OS followed by system info. Here is the Fedora logo: .',;::::;,'. .';:cccccccccccc:;,. .;cccccccccccccccccccccc;. .:cccccccccccccccccccccccccc:. .;ccccccccccccc;.:dddl:.;ccccccc;. .:ccccccccccccc;OWMKOOXMWd;ccccccc:. .:ccccccccccccc;KMMc;cc;xMMc;ccccccc:. ,cccccccccccccc;MMM.;cc;;WW:;cccccccc, :cccccccccccccc;MMM.;cccccccccccccccc: :ccccccc;oxOOOo;MMM000k.;cccccccccccc: cccccc;0MMKxdd:;MMMkddc.;cccccccccccc; ccccc;XMO';cccc;MMM.;cccccccccccccccc' ccccc;MMo;ccccc;MMW.;ccccccccccccccc; ccccc;0MNc.ccc.xMMd;ccccccccccccccc; cccccc;dNMWXXXWM0:;cccccccccccccc:, cccccccc;.:odl:.;cccccccccccccc:,. ccccccccccccccccccccccccccccc:'. :ccccccccccccccccccccccc:;,.. ':cccccccccccccccc::;,. On Sun, Dec 14, 2025 at 03:51:51PM -0500, John Stoffel via WLUG wrote: > >>>>> "Doug" == Doug Mildram via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > > > If this is already familiar to most/all of you pardon my excitement! > > Nope, very first time I've heard of this! I usually use just the > basics: > > lshw > lspci > blkid > lsscsi > lsusb > lscpu (new to me...) > uname -a > cat /etc/os-release (only on distros in past 10 years > usually?) > > But this is a great thing to share! > John

Dec. 15, 2025

Re: cool hw probe/info command: inxi

by John Stoffel

>>>>> "Doug" == Doug Mildram via WLUG <wlug(a)lists.wlug.org> writes: > If this is already familiar to most/all of you pardon my excitement! Nope, very first time I've heard of this! I usually use just the basics: lshw lspci blkid lsscsi lsusb lscpu (new to me...) uname -a cat /etc/os-release (only on distros in past 10 years usually?) But this is a great thing to share! John > I have always been interested in the ways to get info about PC > hardware. ( using "cat" on various bizarre files in /proc/.... ) > "dmesg" output ...so much more. > Today I finally ran into inxi. One interesting flag/arg is -x > ..extra level(s) of output for various options. > -xx : double extra info. -xxx : triple extra info. > Trivia: inxi --help outputs 549 lines on my Mint 22.2 > man inxi is almost 3000 lines long..w big thanks to > contributors at the end. > It's a perl script! /usr/bin/ixni is over 38,000 lines long. > One common choice of flags for a big picture is: inxi -Fs > Here's a few sample outputs on 2011 Lenovo Thinkpad with the original > SSD and original oversized battery: > doug0@X230:~$ inxi -Dxxx > Drives: > Local Storage: total: 119.24 GiB used: 37.2 GiB (31.2%) > ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: MZ7PC128HAFU-000L1 size: 119.24 GiB > speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: S0U8NSAC532113 fw-rev: 4L1Q scheme: MBR > doug0@X230:~$ inxi -Bxxx > Battery: > ID-1: BAT0 charge: 28.1 Wh (99.3%) condition: 28.3/86.6 Wh (32.7%) > volts: 12.1 min: 11.1 model: LGC 45N1029 type: Li-ion serial: 8428 > status: not charging > Above, i had charger plugged in but it was fully charged =="not charging". > Below, after I unplugged charger, interesting to see "power" on batt: > doug0@X230:~$ inxi -Bxxx > Battery: > ID-1: BAT0 charge: 28.1 Wh (99.3%) condition: 28.3/86.6 Wh (32.7%) > power: 6.9 W volts: 11.8 min: 11.1 model: LGC 45N1029 type: Li-ion > serial: 8428 status: discharging > _______________________________________________ > WLUG mailing list -- wlug(a)lists.wlug.org > To unsubscribe send an email to wlug-leave(a)lists.wlug.org > Create Account: https://wlug.mailman3.com/accounts/signup/ > Change Settings: https://wlug.mailman3.com/postorius/lists/wlug.lists.wlug.org/ > Web Forum/Archive: https://wlug.mailman3.com/hyperkitty/list/wlug@lists.wlug.org/message/QQKH4…

Dec. 14, 2025

cool hw probe/info command: inxi

by Doug Mildram

If this is already familiar to most/all of you pardon my excitement! I have always been interested in the ways to get info about PC hardware. ( using "cat" on various bizarre files in /proc/.... ) "dmesg" output ...so much more. Today I finally ran into inxi. One interesting flag/arg is -x ..extra level(s) of output for various options. -xx : double extra info. -xxx : triple extra info. Trivia: inxi --help outputs 549 lines on my Mint 22.2 man inxi is almost 3000 lines long..w big thanks to contributors at the end. It's a perl script! /usr/bin/ixni is over 38,000 lines long. One common choice of flags for a big picture is: inxi -Fs Here's a few sample outputs on 2011 Lenovo Thinkpad with the original SSD and original oversized battery: doug0@X230:~$ inxi -Dxxx Drives: Local Storage: total: 119.24 GiB used: 37.2 GiB (31.2%) ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Samsung model: MZ7PC128HAFU-000L1 size: 119.24 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: S0U8NSAC532113 fw-rev: 4L1Q scheme: MBR doug0@X230:~$ inxi -Bxxx Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 28.1 Wh (99.3%) condition: 28.3/86.6 Wh (32.7%) volts: 12.1 min: 11.1 model: LGC 45N1029 type: Li-ion serial: 8428 status: not charging Above, i had charger plugged in but it was fully charged =="not charging". Below, after I unplugged charger, interesting to see "power" on batt: doug0@X230:~$ inxi -Bxxx Battery: ID-1: BAT0 charge: 28.1 Wh (99.3%) condition: 28.3/86.6 Wh (32.7%) power: 6.9 W volts: 11.8 min: 11.1 model: LGC 45N1029 type: Li-ion serial: 8428 status: discharging

Dec. 13, 2025