Blogs
Migrating TuxMachines to a Bigger Server
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Thursday 31st of December 2020 08:21:46 AM Filed under
We are in the process of moving the TuxMachines Web site to a better server with more capacity and better hardware. There may be temporarily odd behaviour on the site (if data is accessed which is out of date). █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 1980 reads
PDF version
How can I Identify who SSH into my Linux System?
Submitted by trendoceangd on Saturday 28th of November 2020 09:08:44 AM Filed under
Identifying who has logged into your system in Linux is way easier than the Windows Operating System.
In Linux System whenever someone tries to log in using SSH is recorded by the log file, the log file is located in /var/log/auth.log. location can be different in other distribution.
If you not found the auth.log file in your system try to execute the below command to view the log from systemctl.
journalctl -u sshd |tail -100
- -u (Show the user journal for the current)
- sshd (SSH user created by system by default)
- tail -100 (Print top 100 result from log file)
- trendoceangd's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 4880 reads
PDF version
Monitoring Tux Machines With Apachetop, Nmon and Htop
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Monday 21st of September 2020 07:18:40 AM Filed under
Summary: A little glimpse at how we monitor this site for DDOS attacks and general performance, especially now that DDOS attacks have already become pervasive and routine (Apachetop helps identity attack patterns and visual, colourful alerts are triggered in Nmon and Htop)
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 15088 reads
PDF version
Malicious Bots
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Sunday 20th of September 2020 02:44:57 PM Filed under
TUX MACHINES may seem to have become rather slow if not unreachable at times. Over the past few months we've had issues with bots that request as many as 10,000 files per minute from the site's server, which is obviously unable to cope with the load/bandwidth and actually deliver what's requested. Sometimes it even resets Apache in order to regain order. At the moment we lack a permanent solution, but we have some mitigations in place.
More than 5 years ago we had to stop new account sign-ups due to spammers setting up loads of dummy accounts (hundreds per day), then directing these to vandalise the site. This inevitably led to tighter control from an editorial perspective and it reduced the number of comments.
Running a site is no picnic; it's a 24/7 responsibility. We do the best we can to maintain a reliable service whilst at the same time also pursuing the latest news stories of interest. This takes a huge amount of time and dedication.
If it is difficult to reach the site or if the site feels very slow, it's almost definitely due to those bots. The server's uptime is now 160 days. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 32553 reads
PDF version
Microsoft Loves Painting Apple (or "GAFA") as the Problem
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Monday 24th of August 2020 04:21:22 PM Filed under
Summary: The latest twist in Microsoft's PR strategy is, divert attention and blame to other companies [1,2], even if their alleged abuses are in fact a copy of Microsoft's own
-
Microsoft Backs Epic’s Apple Battle on Game Technology Access
The graphics technology, known as Unreal Engine, is a suite of software used by millions of developers to build 3-D games and other products. Cutting off Epic from Apple’s iOS and Mac developer tools would mean the gaming company can no longer distribute Unreal Engine to other developers, Epic said in its legal filing. Microsoft, which makes the Xbox, uses the technology for games developed for consoles, PCs and mobile devices.
-
Microsoft Supports Epic Games, Says Apple Blocking Access to Unreal Engine Would Harm Game Creators
In a declaration in support of Epic Games [PDF], Microsoft gaming executive Kevin Gammill wrote that "Apple's discontinuation of Epic's ability to develop and support Unreal Engine for iOS or macOS will harm game creators and gamers." Specifically, Gammill said that games utilizing Unreal Engine will be put at a "substantial disadvantage," citing Microsoft's own racing game Forza Street for iPhone and iPad as an example.
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 15188 reads
PDF version
Kangaroo on protest
Submitted by Rianne Schestowitz on Thursday 30th of July 2020 05:50:59 PM Filed under
- Rianne Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 20788 reads
PDF version
140,000 Reached
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Friday 17th of July 2020 04:16:36 PM Filed under
THIS may be hard to believe, but after more than 16 years we've managed to put together 140,000 Drupal nodes (this one is the 140,000th). Most of these are news clippings and clusters of links. The rest are pages, blog posts and forum threads.
The next meaningful milestone will be the 150,000th node and our 20th anniversary (some time in 2024). We're quite certain we'll get there, along with 200,000 nodes, as this past week we've been in the region of all-time record traffic.
Susan is still involved sometimes, albeit behind the scenes. We thank her enormously for all the work she did. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 19120 reads
PDF version
3 Months From Home
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Monday 29th of June 2020 08:56:19 PM Filed under
TUX MACHINES
The prolonged shut-down of businesses (they only reopened a fortnight ago) resulted in lack of access to some digital necessities, but that almost always meant more free time to rethink and reassess the workflow and the workspace with existing hardware (reshuffling what we already have, both new and old).
Last month I showed how the screens on my desk were split to handle multi-tasking. Last week I shuffled to portrait mode (as shown above). Rianne too uses 2 or 3 screens, but her setup is somewhat simpler. We basically both use a combination of RSS readers. I mostly use QuiteRSS and she uses Thunderbird and QuiteRSS in conjunction (best of both worlds). We're still hoping that an intern based in Africa will start participating soon. The pandemic has made access to the Internet a lot harder for him. He wants to cover programming and Web-related topics for us. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 19995 reads
PDF version
Message From the Editors
Submitted by Rianne Schestowitz on Saturday 27th of June 2020 08:48:19 PM Filed under
Summary: We're still running the site 24/7 every day/week of the year; we're managing to cope with slower news cycles
WE RECENTLY passed the sixteenth anniversary of this site, which is peaking in terms of traffic (record levels and all-time highs for several consecutive weeks). This weekend is very, very slow for news. Very.
We're typically managing to cope with the decline of journalism by digging deeper, finding lesser known sites such as blogs. We're hoping to reach the twentieth anniversary of the site. That's 2024.
For those who don't follow over RSS feeds (default and recommended as there are no middlemen; access is direct) there are also Twitter (proprietary) and the following accounts in Free software-based networks. Diaspora:
Mastodon:
Pleroma (Fediverse like Mastodon):
Thanks for choosing Tux Machines for news. █
- Rianne Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 20289 reads
PDF version
Sweet Sixteen
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Wednesday 10th of June 2020 05:47:44 PM Filed under
TUX MACHINES is turning 16 today. Yes, 16. Not many sites last this long.
The interesting thing is, this past week we had an all-time traffic record and the same is true for the week prior. So for two weeks in a row, despite relatively slow news, we broke a record.
We aren't celebrating the birthday this year (we're still restricted in what can be done here, due to the virus), but maybe next year we'll do something and even share some photos. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 21909 reads
PDF version
Variscite Rises to Platinum Member of NXP Partner Program
Submitted by Variscite on Thursday 4th of June 2020 09:21:14 AM Filed under
Variscite and NXP are taking their partnership to the next level with the promotion of Variscite to become a Platinum Member of NXP’s Partner Program.
- Variscite's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- Read more
- 22185 reads
PDF version
Official Launch of Variscite’s i.MX8X System on Module
Submitted by Variscite on Monday 25th of May 2020 08:33:17 AM Filed under
Variscite has re-launched its VAR-SOM-MX8X System on Module, based on the i.MX8X processor with the latest NXP’s qualified silicon for full production. The SoM expands Variscite’s VAR-SOM Pin2Pin product family and offers built-in safety features, highly integrated multimedia support, and efficient power/performance architecture.
- Variscite's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- Read more
- 24336 reads
PDF version
Peaking Again
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Sunday 10th of May 2020 12:02:36 PM Filed under
Summary: In terms of number of daily nodes, we're at the pinnacle still (despite slow news at times of lock-downs)
Tux Machines is turning 16 exactly one month from now. We've decided to plot activity over time, as measured by number of posts/nodes. It's not the most important measure (e.g. original articles), but it's something that's not too hard to plot.
Attached to this post is tux-posts.txt
, which can be converted into tux-numbers.txt
as follows:
sed 's/[\t ][\t ]*/ /g' < tux-posts.txt | cut -d' ' -f3,5 >tux-numbers.txt
We can then plot it:
gnuplot -p -e 'plot "./tux-numbers.txt" with linespoints linetype 1 pointtype 2 linecolor 10'
And voila!
In a month from now we might buy a cake. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 25611 reads
PDF version
Running Tux Machines
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Tuesday 5th of May 2020 09:43:55 AM Filed under
Running Tux Machines with my wife (the lead editor, I mostly sweep up and cluster related stories) is a hobby but it feels like a full-time job, a 24/7 job that involves picking and sorting news as quickly as possible, almost non-stop around the clock. My own workflow -- not speaking about Rianne's -- can be shown in this annotated photo, which I took a couple of hours ago. Readers might find it interesting, knowing roughly how the site is run from my side (not Rianne's). The office is at home of course, as we're both remote workers in the area of computing. We're like sysadmins for a living and maintaining Tux Machines helps keep us abreast of the latest technologies. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 26377 reads
PDF version
Turning 16 This Summer
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Friday 24th of April 2020 02:17:00 PM Filed under
No crisis for the "tuxmachiners"
AS keen observers may be aware, bearing in mind last year's anniversary party (when such parties were still permitted), we're soon turning 16. There won't be a party or anything; not even online (it's pointless).
This past year has been our strongest and for whatever reason since the pandemic began (epidemic escalated and declared "pandemic"), then soon thereafter lock-downs were enforced, we saw another uptick in traffic. We don't spy on visitors, but we merely observe the size of Apache logs, which are then wiped for privacy reasons.
When Rianne and I took over the site in 2013 it had already flourished, thanks to the love of care of Susan. We continue curating the news, clustering together related reports. The list of blogs we syndicate continues to grow because the mainstream media perishes, leaving a vacuum for people who are eager to find timely information, such as distro reviews and howtos.
If you run a GNU/Linux-oriented blog in the English language that we do not link to (most likely because we're not aware of its existence), let us know in the comments, in IRC, or other contact means. We soon turn 16 and we're quite confident that we'll make it to 20 as well. At the moment, as of this month, we also do server upgrades and we hope to add SSL soon. We've already moved one of this site's databases to a separate container in Alpine Linux. We make improvements while maintaining the site's spirit and long tradition.
Stay home. Save lives. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 24426 reads
PDF version
100,000 Tweets
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Wednesday 26th of February 2020 09:37:35 AM Filed under
The @tuxmachines account in Twitter as of this morning
We have been on Twitter for nearly a decade. It's proprietary and centralised, but some of our audience comes from there. In the start of March we'll have posted our 100,000th tweet in Twitter. A milestone? Maybe for Twitter. We try to focus on our presence in Free/libre networks, such as Mastodon, Pleroma and Diaspora. We joined Pleroma a year ago and have more followers there than we have in Twitter. Spring is fast approaching, which means we soon turn 16. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 25888 reads
PDF version
In the face of an Orangutan
Submitted by Rianne Schestowitz on Tuesday 14th of January 2020 06:14:54 PM Filed under
- Rianne Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- Read more
- 32680 reads
PDF version
The camels' outcry
Submitted by Rianne Schestowitz on Wednesday 8th of January 2020 09:37:47 AM Filed under
When a human doesn't know what to do and people don't know how to tackle the real issue, the animals are becoming the sacrifice. Billion of animals were lost to bushfires alone and millions are slaughtered every day, yet the audacity to kill the camels is astonishing. I wonder what would be the humans' reaction if the animals called for human culling. Think about it. █
- Rianne Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 32984 reads
PDF version
Why Tux Machines Occasionally Adds Editorial Comments
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Tuesday 31st of December 2019 04:07:17 AM Filed under
Summary: Editorial remarks (or Editor's comments, "Ed" for short) play a role in highlighting potential inaccuracies -- and manipulations of the mind -- when those aren't so shallow and aren't abundantly obvious
Recently, and as lately as a few hours ago, Richard Stallman exchanged some messages and we might meet again in a few months (he is traveling to the UK). Stallman and I share a concern about neglect of truth and history; for instance, many GNU programs are nowadays dubbed "LINUX COMMANDS" (I saw one example of that just 2 hours ago) and people sometimes lose sight of the important goals, focusing on brands instead of philosophy, political aspects and so on.
"Sometimes we link to something which isn't entirely accurate or can be misleading."
I would like to take this moment, on the last day of this year, to explain where we stand on issues pertaining to software freedom. A few times in the past one reader bemoaned my editorial comments (marked "Ed"), which typically bemoan something about the cited article/s. Sometimes we link to something which isn't entirely accurate or can be misleading. One example of that is openwashing. Another rather common and increasingly ubiquitous example concerns Microsoft "loving" Linux (it actually loves Windows).
We live in a world with Public Relations and marketing agencies. They exist to mislead; they shape perceptions -- that's their business model! To blindly link to just anything online without commentary or curation would likely lead us astray. Truth does matter. Facts need to be checked. This is what Tux Machines strives to achieve; throwing the word "LINUX" into something like Google News would expose one to loads of cruft, irrelevant stuff, plagiarism, pure spam and sometimes intentional lies. With no human operator or editor just about anything can be dunked into search results, owing to SEO manipulation and mishandling of indexes. I've seen that for well over a decade. Automation just doesn't work; someone who understands the problem domain needs to assess things for quality and accuracy.
"To be fair, comments are open, so readers can respond."
My adult life (since age 18 or so when I became a GNU/Linux user) involved very hard work and lifelong activism for software freedom. Not everyone agrees with me and if sometimes I may say something readers disagree with (e.g. in editorial comments), then it's likely because I try to be realistic, not jingoistic. Moreover, no two individuals will agree on everything 100% of the time. That's inevitable. So some readers might dislike these editorial comments. To be fair, comments are open, so readers can respond.
At the moment, the way I personally see it, Free software is under a number of attacks. There are different types of attacks. I think Free software will endure regardless. On a more positive note, Free software is nowadays used everywhere, it's just not being called that ("Open Source" is the term corporate media prefers) and it has been leveraged as a low-cost 'cushion' for DRM, surveillance, militarism etc. Think of companies like Facebook and Netflix (GNU and Linux at their back ends). Is this what we strive for? Closed systems that are merely built upon Freedom-respecting stacks?
"At the moment, the way I personally see it, Free software is under a number of attacks."
Software freedom is a huge objective in a world where almost everything becomes digital (only more so over time). I think it's up to us to somehow guide the world's software towards ethical uses, without necessarily imposing how it's used, and that is perhaps a future challenge for the Free Software Movement. It's a monumental challenge because politics can be a massive terrain to navigate. Over at Techrights I mostly focus on issues such as patents (laws), with emphasis on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO) granting software patents in Europe and so on. Patents on algorithms are one kind of barrier (among many) impeding Free software adoption. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 32504 reads
PDF version
The End of Tux Machines' Strongest Year
Submitted by Roy Schestowitz on Tuesday 31st of December 2019 03:23:47 AM Filed under
TODAY is the last day of the last month of this year if not decade. We're pleased to close this year with record traffic levels. In 2019 we increased our coverage of programming-centric matters, especially when the underlying frameworks/languages were Free/libre software.
Earlier this year we also celebrated our 15th anniversary. There are three of us working behind the scenes to make the site up to date and keep it up (online). We're all passionate users of GNU/Linux who want to spread the word and encourage more people to use the platform.
In 2019 not only did we see record traffic levels; we also saw an unprecedented level of success for GNU/Linux in the adoption sense. Rianne is responsible for "Android leftovers" and remember that each Android device has Linux (or "Tux") in it. Google explored alternatives, but we haven't heard of these for months. It's nowadays very difficult to run a company or start a company without Linux -- no matter if in the server or device space. Let's hope Tux Machines will be around -- and online -- for many years to come. Happy new year. █
- Roy Schestowitz's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Printer-friendly version
- 31891 reads
PDF version

More in Tux Machines
- Highlights
- Front Page
- Latest Headlines
- Archive
- Recent comments
- All-Time Popular Stories
- Hot Topics
- New Members
Xfce’s Thunar File Manager Gets Split View, File Creation Times, and More
Thunar 4.17 is here as the first milestone towards the next major release that will be part of the upcoming Xfce 4.18 desktop environment, which is now in early development. I know many of you love and use Thunar, so here’s a look at the major new features coming to your Xfce desktop environment.
The big news is that Thunar now finally features a split view, allowing you to use the file manager as a dual-pane file explorer/commander. I bet many of you were hoping for this feature, so here it is and you’ll be able to use soon on your Xfce desktop, hopefully later this year.
| 9to5Linux Weekly Roundup: January 24th, 2021 (1st Anniversary)
Believe it or not, today is 9to5Linux’s first anniversary! It is on this day (January 24th) that I’ve launched 9to5Linux.com a year ago and it wouldn’t be possible without your support, so THANK YOU for all your feedback and donations (they were put to good use) so far. Here’s to us and to many more happy years together!
This has been another amazing week of Linux news and releases as TUXEDO Computers and System76 announced new Linux laptops, Oracle announced Linux 5.10 LTS support for VirtualBox, Raspberry Pi Foundation announced their own silicon, and the KDE Plasma 5.21 desktop environment entered public beta testing. Check them all out in the weekly roundup below, along with all the latest Linux distro and app releases!
|
today's howtos
| KDE: Kate and Konsole
|
Recent comments
2 hours 56 min ago
3 hours 5 min ago
5 hours 31 min ago
15 hours 21 min ago
15 hours 23 min ago
16 hours 45 min ago
16 hours 58 min ago
17 hours 33 min ago
18 hours 24 min ago
18 hours 26 min ago