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Windows made easy: Windows Subystem for Linux
How can you make Windows easy? Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux, or WSL in short. Well, probably this is not true for everyone. However, as a Linux user, I definitely love WSL. When not using a browser or text editor, I spend my time on the command line. With WSL, you can have the familiar Linux command line environment from openSUSE also under Windows.
Why Windows? Die hard Linux users might ask: why do I use Windows?
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Phishing and spear phishing: report everything!
After 30 years of using the Internet and trying many communication formats, e-mail is still my favorite. However, e-mail has many problems. Spam is just annoying, but phishing and especially, spear phishing attacks can also be dangerous. A recent security training, and a Twitter thread I started about it, changed my mind completely about how I treat these harmful e-mails.
phishing (fishing :-) ) The old way While most spam and some phishing can easily be filtered, spear phishing messages are unique by their nature.
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The cult of Amiga and SGI, or why workstations matter
I’m considered to be a server guy. I had access to some really awesome server machines. Still, when computers come up in discussions, we are almost exclusively talk about workstations. Even if servers are an important part of my life, that’s “just” work. I loved the SGI workstations I had access to during my university years. Many of my friends still occasionally boot their 30 years old Amiga boxes.
The cult of Amiga One would say that the Amiga was popular in the eighties and early nineties.
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Using the openSUSE Build Service to build software for POWER
My favorite and most used service for developers is the openSUSE Build Service (OBS). This is where I build syslog-ng packages first, before anywhere else. OBS is open source, highly flexible software to build software packages, and the instance at https://build.opensuse.org/ is free to use for anyone to build open source software. Best of all, it supports multiple architectures, including POWER.
Open Build Service Actually the OBS acronym stands for two things.
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Dealing With Anxiety
Quite a few people asked me recently how I deal with anxiety. I seem to be less anxious than people around me. First of all: I also have anxiety, just like anybody else. The recent company acquisition & reorganization, the COVID-19 pandemic, the upcoming general elections, or the Russian attack all make sure that once a problem is over, there is a new problem already to worry about. However, sport, music and spending less time reading the news all help to keep my anxiety at bay.
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I'm an IBM Power Champion for 2022
I’m happy to announce that I became an IBM Power Champion for the year 2022. This blog is long overdue, however with the conflict raging in our neighbor country, Ukraine, I just did not feel the strength to write about anything. In this blog I try to introduce myself and share my plans for this year. But before doing so, let me share my new badge with you:
IBM Champion 2022 badge My background My title at work is “Open Source Evangelist” and Power does not appear anywhere in my job description.
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12 years of syslog-ng (and sudo)
Those who follow me on LinkedIn might have seen an automatic post about my work anniversary. Well, almost nothing of that post is true, but I still consider it to be my real starting date. However, the official date is also impressive: 11.5 years, almost three times the industry average spent at the same workplace.
So, why do I say that the LinkedIn post is not true? Well, because all its major facts are wrong.
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FOSDEM 2022: my experiences, sudo talk answers
I spent my last weekend in Brussels at FOSDEM. Well, not really: while I had a couple of Belgian beers, the conference itself was a virtual event and I was at home in Budapest. It’s the second year that FOSDEM is virtual, and yet again I can state that it’s the best virtual event of the year. I had two talks this year. After my second talk, I got some questions during the Q & A session which I could not answer, so I will try to answer them.
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Keeping POWER relevant in the open source world
I’m not a POWER (or recently: Power) expert, only an enthusiastic user and advocate. Still, in the past couple of weeks a number of people from around the world asked my opinion how the POWER architecture could be kept relevant. This blog is really just an opinion, as I do not have the financial means to go ahead. It is full of compromises some people are not willing to make. However, I think this is the safest and fastest way forward.
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My polyamorous relationship with operating systems: FreeBSD, openSUSE, Fedora & Co.
Recently, I have posted blogs and articles about three operating systems (or rather OS families) I use, and now people ask which one is my “true” love. It’s not easy, but I guess, the best way to describe it is that both FreeBSD and openSUSE are true ones, and Fedora & Co. is a workplace affair :-) This is why I’m writing that it is a polyamorous relationship. Let me explain!