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#26 Re: Off-topic » [SOLVED] Virgin Money Refuses Help to Provide Desktop App » 2026-09-14 12:45:10
Hello:
Apropos of the original post:
---
UK.gov begins killing off passwords for 23 million users
Passkeys promise fewer phishing headaches – and £600 a day off Whitehall's SMS bill
by Carly Page @The Register - Mon 14 Sept 2026 // 09:16 UTC
https://www.theregister.com/security/20 … rs/5296088
---
There is also a less glamorous incentive for Whitehall: text messages cost money. The switch is already saving taxpayers nearly £600 a day in SMS costs, according to the government.
In the end, in 90% of cases it is all about money, be it the government (in this case the UK), banking or [fill in] institutions needing to use authentication.
Where I live, most banks, both public and private, have been closing branches all over.
Eventually, there will be none and banking will be a *smartphone thing*, where you have ended up being the banks' employee.
But worry not, you will still be paying through the nose for their 'services'.
The requirement of facial recognition to set up a bank/[fill in] provided application on a phone is a huge red flag for me: it is nothing but a metadata farming hustle in disguise and hidden behind a security measure, many times for a service which by any measure does not need that level of security. ie: looking up how much your bonds are worth once or twice a year.
More so if your PW expires in six months if you do not log in during that period.
The state owned bank (highly coveted by the usual privatising suspects) where I had chosen to have my salary deposited for over 25 years and where my pension was also deposited for 6 or so, one day decided that I could no longer do any sort of remote banking if not via a phone and their centralised application.
Being to all intent and purposes locked out of my account and not able to find a reasonable answer to the problem their actions generated for me and countless thousands of other pensioners, I told them in no uncertain terms to fuck-off and shove it.
The private bank I have used for the last 34 years or so is slowly heading that way.
For the time being, I can still choose to use a five digit F2A that is sent (after logging in) either to my cell phone or to the email address I have registered with them, which works just fine. The credit card account I have with that bank uses the same system, albeit with a six digit number.
Another account I have with a broker provided me with an application (Aegis) that runs on my phone.
It is set up with a unique QR code provided by them to set it up with and gives me a six digit F2A to enter after logging in to their secure web page.
That said, I have an absolute level of distrust for any and all banking applications wanting to run in a 'smartphone' as I consider the combination to be a recipe for disaster.
Best,
A.
#27 Re: Documentation » Changes in sudo (upstream) » 2026-09-14 10:41:54
Hello:
... to run a command in /usr/local/(s)bin, you must now give the full path ...
Right, thanks for that.
... have the full path to the command already in my /etc/sudoers.d/ ...
... sudo NOPASSWD set for a few commands.
That is how I have it set up.
Best,
A.
#28 Re: Documentation » Changes in sudo (upstream) » 2026-09-13 23:04:45
Hello:
... as a "run everything you want as root" tool on a single user desktop ...
Not the way I use it, mostly thanks to my learning about it when on PCLinuxOS.
One of the main admins was quite adamant about it.
See: https://pclosmag.com/html/Issues/201205/page11.html
But yes, I agree that a great many people use it in the wrong way.
Mainly thanks to the Ubuntu distribution.
I am, of course, also interested in the implications of the announced change.
Best,
A.
#29 Re: Intergalactic Communities » Spaced Linux » 2026-09-12 17:36:52
#30 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » xorg and wall (usr/bin/wall) » 2026-09-09 17:21:08
Hello:
Very good find ...
With a very mislaid reply.
> Egmont, do I understand correctly that you have no plans on restoring utmp support in vte?
Yup.
> What about using libutempter which you've mentioned?
Not planning this one either.
And that was that.
Why am I not surprised?
Best,
A.
#31 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » Update of nvidia drivers failed in Daedalus » 2026-08-25 23:50:25
Hello:
... manually editing resolv.conf to use something else, like Google's 8.8.8.8 ...
TL;DR
Edit [resolv.conf] to what you need.
eg: the same [resolv.conf] used by the properly working systems.
That done, save the file and then make it immutable.
ie:
as root
# chattr +i /etc/resolv.conf
#This because [/sbin/dhclient-script] has instructions to change the contents of the [/etc/resolv.conf] file.
It is part of the [DHCP] protocol.
See here: https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=52247#p52247
You will find it between lines [38] and [42]
--- snip ---
# update /etc/resolv.conf based on received values <---- ####### this
make_resolv_conf() {
local new_resolv_conf
--- snip --- Now, check if it is working as intended (the package [ifupdown] must be installed):
1. log out and back in.
2. open a terminal and (as root or with privileges) do:
$ sudo ifdown eth0
Killed old client process
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client 4.4.3-P1
Copyright 2004-2022 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp
$$ sudo ifup eth0
Internet Systems Consortium DHCP Client 4.4.3-P1
Copyright 2004-2022 Internet Systems Consortium.
All rights reserved.
For info, please visit https://www.isc.org/software/dhcp/
Listening on LPF/eth0/00:14:4f:4a:a2:81
Sending on LPF/eth0/00:14:4f:4a:a2:81
Sending on Socket/fallback
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 4
DHCPDISCOVER on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67 interval 10
DHCPOFFER of 192.168.1.10 from 192.168.1.1
DHCPREQUEST for 192.168.1.10 on eth0 to 255.255.255.255 port 67
DHCPACK of 192.168.1.10 from 192.168.1.1
/sbin/dhclient-script: 88: cannot create /etc/resolv.conf: Operation not permitted #### < you should see this string.
bound to 192.168.1.10 -- renewal in 11808 seconds. < your IP address
$ Edit:
Correction in above printout and added additional information.
Now find what DNS server your system is using:
$ dig dev1galaxy.org
; <<>> DiG 9.18.49-1~deb12u2-Debian <<>> dev1galaxy.org
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 16884
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;dev1galaxy.org. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
dev1galaxy.org. 3156 IN A 136.243.229.210
;; Query time: 4 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.11#53(192.168.1.11) (UDP) #### < this should be the DNS server you edited into [/etc/resolv.conf]
;; WHEN: Wed Aug 26 06:00:06 -03 2026
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 59
$ Now check if the system works as you expect it to work.
Just a shot in the dark.
Best,
A.
#32 Re: Freedom Hacks » grafana » 2026-08-24 11:36:35
Hello:
... aptitude reported that it was broken because of a missing dependency from systemd.
Well ...
I think the [aptitude] printout says it all.
ie: missing dependency from [systemd].
If my memory serves me right, three or four years ago I read that the devs at Debian decided that packages containing [sysvinit] scripts would no longer be accepted in their repositories.*
That decision eventually bore fruit:
Since sysvinit is not enabled by default in Debian, I do not consider this bug as release-critical.
Downgrading the bug severity to "normal".
See:
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … ug=1034328
https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?pid=44938#p44938
But it could well be (?) that the package you need is still in the process of being sanitised by the Devuan packagers.
Give it time.
Best,
A.
* sorry, cannot find the link to that.
#33 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » xhost error » 2026-08-22 12:31:40
Hello:
... on Devuan Ceres with sysvinit.
Right ...
You don't mention having previously attempted doing the same with Excalibur (stable) or Freia (testing).
Asking because Ceres (unstable) does not seem a good first choice to figure out how/if [Hyprland] works with Devuan and [x11] applications.
That said, these links may help:
https://github.com/hyprwm/Hyprland/wiki
https://wiki.hypr.land/
Best,
A.
#34 Re: Other Issues » yt-dlp in Debian 13 / Devuan 6 affected by serious CVE (Score: High) » 2026-08-20 20:28:58
Hello:
... how many other long known CVEs are there in other Debian packages that have not been fixed yet?
Cannot but agree that you do have a point.
That said, I have not noticed that CVEs get slept on.
From memory (make what you will of that), the CVEs I have read about have usually been solved/worked out in three or four days.
This from using Devuan since ~2017.
Best,
A.
#35 Re: Other Issues » Xsane bad scan image quality » 2026-08-18 19:30:52
Hello:
How do I install Document Scanner?
* listed as [simple-scan] in the repositories.
Like any other package from the devuan repositories.
As [root], you open a terminal and do:
apt install simple-scan That should do it.
Best,
A.
#36 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] Kernel command line not saved by [update-initramfs] » 2026-08-17 17:49:13
Hello:
When you use grub, edit /etc/default/grub to ...
Right ... 8^°
Just why did I get tangled up in/with [update-initramfs] when I should have been doing [update-grub]?
What a DH ...
Thank you so much.
Best,
A.
#37 Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] Kernel command line not saved by [update-initramfs] » 2026-08-17 13:39:46
- Altoid
- Replies: 2
Hello:
Up until today, my kernel command line was this one:
acpi_osi=Linux intel_pstate=disable pci=noaer reboot=pci,force numa=off security=0 apparmor=0 nmi_watchdog=0 tsc=nowatchdog agp=off ipv6.disable=1 enable_mtrr_cleanup=1As I am still searching for a solution for a bad shutdown I have with my Sun Ultra 24 WS, I added [igb.EEE=0] to the kernel command line ...
acpi_osi=Linux intel_pstate=disable igb.EEE=0 pci=noaer reboot=pci,force numa=off security=0 apparmor=0 nmi_watchdog=0 tsc=nowatchdog agp=off ipv6.disable=1 enable_mtrr_cleanup=1... and then did the usual [update-initramfs -u], shut down and then rebooted the box.
But for whatever reason (no idea, never seen this before) the kernel command line in the [dmesg] printout does not include the addition:
[ 0.000000] Command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-52-amd64 root=UUID=d6841f29-e39b-4c87-9c52-3a9c3bafe2d3 ro acpi_osi=Linux intel_pstate=disable pci=noaer reboot=pci,force numa=off security=0 apparmor=0 nmi_watchdog=0 tsc=nowatchdog agp=off ipv6.disable=1 enable_mtrr_cleanup=1Can anyone tell me what is happening?
The only difference I have noticed is that [update-initramfs -u] takes a bit longer than usual.
Do not think it is the character count -> there are 258 characters and IIRC the limit is 1MB (?)
What is tampering with my [igb.EEE=0] stanza?
Best,
A.
#38 Re: Off-topic » AI and programming. » 2026-08-17 11:05:36
Hello:
... many of you fail to realise is that it's all for profit.
... exists to make money for shareholders.
... while the billionaires laugh at the real "tools" who bought into it all.
+1
Have a read:
https://www.theregister.com/columnists/ … ay/5288275
Best,
A.
#39 Re: Off-topic » AI and programming. » 2026-08-17 01:20:10
Hello:
... a tool. It's a really useful one too if you control it.
Yes, it is indeed a tool.
A badly thought out / designed one.
And yours is also a huge "if".
I'd say it is already running amok.
And as no one bothers to control anything, soon there will be no control possible.
So it will get worse.
... deep wisdom not a roller coaster of titillation with shiny new s**t to survive the future ...
+1
Best,
A.
#40 Re: Other Issues » Xsane bad scan image quality » 2026-08-15 12:19:07
Hello:
... Document Scanner, version 46.0
Xsane should do the same ...
I have never been able to get [Sane] to work.
Maybe something related to the [sane-backends] file?
A complicated configuration process?
No idea.
The latest version can be downloaded from the [fossies.org] website.
See: https://fossies.org/linux/sane-backends … -scanner.c
Be aware that it is not a [*.deb] file, you have to compile it (?).
In any case, [sane] has proven to be too complex for me and [Document Scanner] served my simple needs:
- scan documents/objects to max definition with my Umax S-6E SCSI scanner.
- save as [*pdf] or graphic formats.
It worked out-of-the-box when I first installed it on [ascii] years ago, no issues ever.
[sane] needs to be installed for [Document Scanner]* to work.
* listed as [simple-scan] in the repositories.
This app works by using the SANE API to capture images.
It chooses the settings it thinks are appropriate for what you are trying to do.
Drivers have many options and are of differing quality - it is useful to work out if any issues are caused by the app or the drivers.
To confirm it is a driver issue you can use the graphical tool (XSane) or the command line scanimage provided by the SANE project - these allow to to easily see and control all the settings your driver provides.
Best,
A.
#41 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] Errors and warnings during booting » 2026-08-08 09:33:53
Hello:
... thank you all for your suggestions and your kindly help.
You're welcome.
If there are no more questions/issues, you can mark your post as solved.
Best,
A.
#42 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] Errors and warnings during booting » 2026-08-07 21:59:12
Hello:
... Macbook Pro 9.1 Mid 2012 2.3GHz.
Right ...
I repeat: if the box runs as expected, there may be nothing wrong.
Linux works around most all of the 'quirks' the BIOS 'cut&paste' brigades produce.
The [dmesg] printout just informs the user of what the system is doing.
That is exactly what it is there for, along with all the other log files available in Linux.
But I am not a fan of suppressing boot time printout.
You may be choosing to ignore some new glitch that could (eventually) come up.
The thing is to get used to the stuff that will never go away because ACPI / BIOS is not precisely top notch.
ie: it was not written to work with (most) OSs that your Intel box could run.
Once the version of the Apple OS intended for that hardware booted with no errors, the task was finished.
That said, do have a look at this video*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhNg-dSIA9k
It is quite recent and comments seem to be quite favourable.
* I have only skimmed across it, may have valuable information, hardware wise.
Best,
A.
#43 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] Errors and warnings during booting » 2026-08-07 11:40:15
Hello:
... new (old) computer ...
... everything seems to be working.
The system booting and working as expected (?) is a good sign.
Most times [ACPI] warnings are the result of Linux having worked around a badly written BIOS and just informative.
The same can be said by many other 'errors' or 'warnings' present in the [dmesg] output.
Q: Is your BIOS up to date?
ie: last available version.
That said, for anyone to be able to help with your questions, you would have to supply more information.
eg:
- Devuan version installed (please post result of [uname -a])
- full [dmesg] and a short description of the hardware you are installing it on.
- output of [lspci]
- output of [lsusb]
It would seem that your hardware is 'Apple' fare, notorious for not being precisely Linux friendly.
Particularly with respect to motherboard components.
Have you checked on-line as to the degree of compatibility of your specific box with Linux?
eg: T1/T2 chip, touchpads, keyboards, Wi-Fi, sound, webcams and other hardware such as PM sensors/fans.
Best,
A.
#44 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » xorg and wall (usr/bin/wall) » 2026-08-05 12:46:50
Hello:
Just to confirm:
... tried it with xterm and it works.
Does not work with [xfce-terminal], [lxterminal] or [tilix].
Best,
A.
#45 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » xorg and wall (usr/bin/wall) » 2026-08-04 00:13:36
Hello:
... stop immediately to post AI slop ...
... you can't curate ...
... posted it because it looks convincing.
Note taken.
Will not happen again.
That said, please do read the whole bit, especially these caveats*:
Never used [wall] or [lightdm].
... and only to see if an [AI] answer can be (?) useful ...
... this is just a test), out of curiosity I searched ...
* my fault, I should I have posted [CAVEAT] in capital letters somewhere.
Having made clear that I did not use [wall] or [lightdm], how could it possibly look convincing to me?
I did not look like anything but AI generated stuff, something I disclosed from the start of my post.
As such, my intention was for someone else (ie: who actually knew about the subject) to opine so that a check against what this AI thing actually spewed could be made.
Actually thought it was a good idea. 8^°
Best,
A.
#46 Re: Desktop and Multimedia » xorg and wall (usr/bin/wall) » 2026-08-03 15:41:27
Hello:
Never used [wall] or [lightdm].
I am a [SLiM] enthusiast on a single-user WS.
That said and only to see if an [AI] answer can be (?) useful (I do not like it nor do I use it, this is just a test), out of curiosity I searched with Google and it came up with this without giving me an option to avoid it:
Terms used: [lightdm traps wall message]
Reply:
If your system hangs, delays, or traps a wall broadcast message when LightDM is active, it is typically because LightDM's greeter session listens to standard system log channels or terminal broadcasts, but lacks a standard terminal emulator to output the text cleanly.
Why the Trap Happens
Greeter Isolation:
LightDM's greeter runs under its own isolated unprivileged account (lightdm). If a system event (like a scheduled shutdown) fires a wall message, the system tries to inject it into all open pseudo-terminals (/dev/pts/*).TTY/STDOUT Redirection:
The lightdm user owns a sub-process session that grabs TTY streams. Because it lacks a proper graphical notification daemon to catch terminal broadcasts, the text stream can buffer natively or loop inside systemd's logs (journalctl -u lightdm)
There's more, but this may get you on your way.
I am not sure about getting it done while using [lightdm].
Best,
A.
#47 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] LibreOffice Calc 7.4.7.2 - Slow / laggy scrolling » 2026-08-01 17:16:37
Hello:
... download a suitable version from the repo, all files required, and install it with apt/apt-get or dpkg -i ...
Right.
... a look at the Devuan Package View ...
... two packages in the repo, both 7.4.7-1 plus a Debian patch.
... 7.4.7-1+deb12u13 and 7.4.7-1+deb12u14.
... so you should be able to get back to deb12u13
Thank you for taking the time to look that up.
Much obliged.
In the few hours I have been working with it, I have seen that [OpenOffice] starts up, open and saves the same spreadsheet noticeably faster, does not have any (obvious) UI bugs and is working as well as expected.
Just a couple of things to get used to because "muscle memory" (eg: [BackSpace] to delete content from a cell instead of [Delete] which generates a pop-up with options) but nothing important enough to consider going back to [LibreOffice].
On top of that, I do think it has more 'nice-looking' appeal. 8^P
Best,
A.
#48 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] LibreOffice Calc 7.4.7.2 - Slow / laggy scrolling » 2026-08-01 10:25:51
Hello:
... that version from LO directly and install it ...
Yes, I was asking about using the version from the repository and not the one from LO.
I am usually reluctant to install from outside the repository, but I have done it a few times without issues.
That said, it is my impression (YMMV) that the devs at LO are not on the right path.
The "nice-looking graphics over speed" bit from the [readme] file sealed the deal for [OpenOffice], at least for the foreseable future on my Daedalus system.
I don't need "nice looking" software, I need "reliable and properly working" software.
Who knows what other compromises these chaps are willing to accept to achieve their goal.
What's next?
"By default, LibreOffice favours nice-looking graphics over accurate, repeatable calculations with reproducible results"?
Once again, thanks for your input.
Best,
A.
#49 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] LibreOffice Calc 7.4.7.2 - Slow / laggy scrolling » 2026-08-01 00:57:52
Hello:
...now we know what the priorities are for the [LibreOffice] development team.
I am hard pressed to get some documents/spreadsheets finished by Monday so decided cut my losses and purge all of [LibreOffice] from my system and install [OpenOffice].
Installation was a breeze, seems to work properly out of the box, did not bitch about anything and opened my spreadsheets without failing in any, both [*.xls] and [*.ods]. I expect that it will be the same with [*.doc] and [*.odt], have not tried yet.
And most gratifying: the problem with [LibreOffice] is not present in [OpenOffice]. 8^D
So, unless something tragic happens, it will be [OpenOffice] from now on.
I really do not need the grief and waste of time this last issue brought me.
Much less if the cause was [LibreOffice] favouring "nice-looking graphics" over a properly working UI.
So I will mark this one as solved.
Thanks to all those who pitched in.
Best,
A.
#50 Re: Hardware & System Configuration » [SOLVED] LibreOffice Calc 7.4.7.2 - Slow / laggy scrolling » 2026-07-31 23:22:57
Hello:
Will report back once the deed is done.
Much to my chagrin, the problem I reported in the OP remains.
And my search for a solution only found that it comes from as far as five/six years ago.
I managed to use [synaptic] to remove the installation without much problem.
Settings are still there as I did not purge.
Now, while I was looking into the different uncompressed directories still present in [/tmp], inside the main one I came across a file labelled [README_en-US] which (rather unsurprisingly) had this neat little tidbit:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphic Performance
----------------------------------------------------------------------By default, LibreOffice favours nice-looking graphics over speed. If you experience slow graphics, switching off 'Tools - Options - LibreOffice - View - Use Anti-Aliasing' may help.
So, now we know what the priorities are for the [LibreOffice] development team. 8^°
TL;DR: slow and quirky but nice-looking.
No, switching off 'Tools - Options - LibreOffice - View - Use Anti-Aliasing' did not help.
Q: how can I tell [apt] to install one of the previous versions?
ie: one or two versions before the current one in the Daedalus repository.
Best,
A.
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