For users of screen readers, depending on the screen
resolution, the two checkboxes are for opening and closing the side menus that
appear to the left and right side of the screen. This is designed both for large screens
and for mobile devices with a touch screen. Checking either the main menu or sidebar checkboxes causes
the menu to open from the left or right side of the screen, respectively. Clearing
the checkox in either the main menu or sidebar closes the menu. The checkboxes are
visible to screen readers such as JAWS and NVDA for Windows, Voiceover for Mac,
and Orca screen reader for Linux. When a screen reader says "clickable" for both
main menu and sidebar, that is for the respective checkboxes. End of explaination.
This article is for experienced Linux users who are familar with environment variables such as
$HOME and $USER. These are the Linux users who are familiar with the
command line.
Problem and Solution
Here is an example not to use /home/$USER:
[gpeddie-games@epcotcenter ~]$ su - gpadmin
Password:
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/gpadmin’: Permission denied
touch: cannot touch '/home/gpadmin/Templates/Text file': No such file or directory
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/gpadmin’: Permission denied
-bash: /home/gpadmin/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/.version: No such file or directory
Welcome. All activities monitored at all times.
Unauthorized access is strictly prohibited.
gpadmin@epcotcenter
~
$
And here's the script (/etc/profile) that illustrates an example:
# fix gnome missing 'New file' option
if [ ! -f /home/$USER/Templates/"Text file" ]
then
mkdir -p /home/$USER/Templates
touch /home/$USER/Templates/"Text file"
fi
# ...
# this is a hack to bypass the Davinci Resolve new install Welcome/Onboarding screen since it does not render properly and is not required.
if [ ! -f /home/$USER/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/.version ];then
mkdir -p /home/$USER/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/
echo "Onboarding.Version=10" > /home/$USER/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/.version
fi
To fix this issue, simply replace all instances of /home/$USER with $HOME.
I am familiar with a text editor called Vim. It's a program that runs inside a terminal, similar to the
Command Prompt or PowerShell in Windows.
Before we proceed any further, let's create a backup copy of /etc/profile:
sudo cp /etc/profile /etc/profile.bak
If anything goes wrong, you now have a backup. You can simply use the cp (copy) command to
restore from the backup. Now let's begin.
First, open the Terminal (Konsole in KDE).
As root (or with sudo privileges), type the following command:
sudo vim /etc/profile
Type in the following command, starting with a colon:
:%s/\/home\/$USER/$HOME/g
The syntax for search and replace in Vim is as follows:
:%s/search/replace/g
Let's not concern ourselves with g at the end for now. Basically this command replaces
"search" with the next text "replace." In other words, we want to replace /home/$USER with
$HOME.
Let's have a look at the script again:
# fix gnome missing 'New file' option
if [ ! -f $HOME/Templates/"Text file" ]
then
mkdir -p $HOME/Templates
touch $HOME/Templates/"Text file"
fi
# ...
# this is a hack to bypass the Davinci Resolve new install Welcome/Onboarding screen since it does not render properly and is not required.
if [ ! -f $HOME/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/.version ];then
mkdir -p $HOME/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/
echo "Onboarding.Version=10" > $HOME/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/.version
fi
So why would we want to replace /home/$USER with $HOME? That
/home/$USER should still work!
Let's look at the output again after we save the changes.
Save the changes to the /etc/profile file.
:wq
A : begins a command. w writes changes to the file and q
quits Vim
If you don't want to make changes to the file, then all you have to do is type :q! to
exit without saving any changes.
As I mentioned, let's look at the output again when I log into my administrator account from a user
account.
[gpeddie-games@epcotcenter ~]$ su - gpadmin
Password:
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/gpadmin’: Permission denied
touch: cannot touch '/home/gpadmin/Templates/Text file': No such file or directory
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘/home/gpadmin’: Permission denied
-bash: /home/gpadmin/.local/share/DaVinciResolve/configs/.version: No such file or directory
Welcome. All activities monitored at all times.
Unauthorized access is strictly prohibited.
gpadmin@epcotcenter
~
$
Now, let's see the new output when I log back in as an administrator.
[gpeddie-games@epcotcenter ~]$ su - gpadmin
Password:
Last login: Sat Mar 18 11:13:52 EDT 2023 on pts/0
Welcome. All activities monitored at all times.
Unauthorized access is strictly prohibited.
gpadmin@epcotcenter
~
$
This short article is intended for Linux users who are both familiar with the command line and a terminal-based text editor called vim.
For blind users, I don't believe the ranger program is accessible for screen readers. Probably not even in VoiceOver for Mac. For file management tasks, if only the
Mac's Finder could support SSH's Secure Copy Protocol (scp for short) or SSHFS (Secure Sheel File System). Third-party applications will have to be installed.
I do have brew installed for installing homebrew applications tAhat run Linux-like applications in a Mac, but Brew does not support Mac OS 13 (pre-release). I think
the problem with ranger is that VoiceOver for Mac does not read the currently highlighted directory or file that I currently select.
Keyboard Commands for ranger:
Key: h, j, k, l
Left, down, up, and right. Basic commands similar to Vim and Vi. You can also use arrow keys if you want to! Arrow keys work in Vim as well.
Key: yy and pp
Copy and paste a file or directory.
Key: gg
Go to the beginning of the list of files or directories (typing g once instead of twice opens the list of available commands; type g again and it
should move the selector to the top of the list).
Key: G
Go to the end of the list of files or directories.
Key: Enter
Depending on the file associations, opening an HTML file opens w3m and opening a JSON file opens a text editor such as Vim.
Key: F4 (function key)
Opens a text editor for a selected file.
Key: r
Open with: (Type the name of the program you want to open with.)
Key: spacebar
Select multiple files or directories. This is useful when copying files or directories in bulk.
Key: q
Quit ranger.
Command: :search <filename>
Searches for a file. Replace <filename< with the name of the file you are looking for.
Additional details for ranger can be found by visiting the ArchWiki page.
Install ranger:
For Fedora/Red Hat-based Linux distributions:
sudo dnf install ranger
Replace dnf with yum if you are running an older version of Red Hat-based Linux distribution.
For Debian/Ubuntu-based Linux distributions:
sudo apt install ranger
For those who use Arch Linux (if you use Arch Linux, I'm going to assume you know the commands for installing and updating packages. Explaining flags for pacman is beyond
the scope of my article.):
sudo pacman -Syu ranger
Why choose ranger as a terminal-based file manager?
I need a way to copy and paste files into multiple directories. I can do it via the command line, but I can be very lazy with typing the names of directories. With a new flat-file CMS
(Content Management System), I had a new blog setup and I needed to import all of my posts from ClassicPress to my new CMS. For creating new posts, I follow the convention where the
date comes first before the permalink (yyyymmdd-hhmm-permalink). The following list shows how I break it down.
yyyy
Year: 2023
mm
Month: 02 (February)
hhmm
Hour/Minute: 11:00 (Eastern Time)
permalink
Permalink: need-filemanager-linux
The more I use ranger, the more I begin to fall in love with the program. But if I'm going to be using a screen reader with the screen turned off, this can be a problem
for me and even a problem for blind users as well. However, at least ranger saved me from having to type a lot, especially when performing file management tasks. If you
are looking for a file management program while working over a secure shell (SSH), give ranger a try. Oh, and the more I discover keyboard commands, the more I add to the
list of commands. And of course, the more I enjoy using ranger.
When creating Linux containers for the purpos of joining them to an Active Directory Domain Controller, make sure the checkbox after the "Unprivileged Container" is unchecked. The "unprivileged container" checkbox is after the "Hostname" edit box. Unprivileged Linux containers won't be able to join to an Active Directory. Essentially, I forgot to uncheck the "Unprivileged Container" and wasted hours of my time, but I consider time well spent when learning the hard way.
Bear in mind that privileged containers are not safe for businesses when it comes to attackers exploiting privileged Linux containers. And yes, it's all about vulnerabilities and exploits when it comes to escaping Linux containers and causing damage to the host; however, for homelab purposes, a privileged Linux container is fine for my needs. If you are concerned about the security of Linux containers, spin up virtual machines instead of Linux containers in Proxmox. Of course, depending on your security hygiene, virtual machines can be as unsafe as privileged and unprivileged Linux containers if you do not have security precautions in place. For more details, learn more about privileged and unprivileged containers.
Article published: 2022-09-22 06:27
Categories: The World of Computers, Computers, Information Technology
(For my blog post, I want to focus on the audience regarding people who use Internet every single day and knows a lot about cybersecurity. Myself included.)
Imagine a scenario: you went to get your haircut and the place you went to requires you to enter an email address before you get your haircut. Why? Even if I do have a
smartphone and I use Internet every single day, why must I put in my email address? For what purpose? To send spam? For businesses, they might say "we respect your privacy
and take security seriously," but in my mind, I would say that if an email gets compromised in a data breach, it's more likely that those who are not tech-savvy are more
likely to receive spam and phishing emails. Not thinking about security when using the Internet can lead to ransomware and identity theft. They might stop using the
computer altogether because of fear of feeling unsafe online.
What is an operating system? Windows? Mac? Linux? What is an email address? What is a "file?" See where I'm going with? What is Android? iPhone? iOS? How do I manage
files and folders in my computer? How do I check my email? I hope you get my point.
Okay, so you say that your 90-year-old family member knows how to use the Internet, takes care of security themselves, and I should not overly-generalize myself. Well,
that's great, but we should not force everyone to have a smartphone just so they can face dangers lingering in the Internet. I have more details in the full article.
Article published: 2021-10-06 12:00
Categories: The World of Computers, Computers, Security
This is a rendering of my home theater made in Blender. It has a 200" projection screen, 7.2.4-channel speaker system, and comfy seats with cupholders in between.
I have been watching a couple of YouTube videos of people who want a computer in one room (such as a wiring closet) and a keyboard, video, and mouse (KVM) in a home office. To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I want to post links to YouTube videos.
Embedding YouTube or Odysee videos will insert a tracking cookie in users' personal computers. As a citizen of the US, I need to follow GDPR if European visitors visit my website. I don't like and want to talk to lawyers to be honest. 🤣😀
As for the video from Linus Tech Tips, I would much rather have a couple of computers rather than single computer that can house a couple of virtual machines running desktop OSes such as Linux and Windows just to make it easier for me. So yeah, a virtual machine is a computer within a computer that can serve different purposes such as running Ubuntu within Windows using VirtualBox or by running Windows OS in a Linux host using KVM or Xen.
Article published: 2021-08-14 17:42
Categories: Dreams and Imagination, Homes and Buildings, Home Theater, The World of Computers, Computers, Networking
