LinuxWebLog.com

CentOS, RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux), Fedora and other clones of RHEL, such as Oracle, Alma, and Rocky, offer support for version pinning. This feature allows developers and system administrators to lock a particular package to a specific version, preventing it from being automatically updated by yum or dnf commands. Sometimes, it is necessary to protect packages from being updated to newer versions to avoid incompatibility issues with your applications. For example, you can lock down PHP version 8.3.6 and avoid using updated PHP version 8.4. Let us see how to lock a package to a specific version, only exclude a package from yum update or dnf update on a CentOS, RHEL, Fedora, and friends. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to Pin Versions in Yum or Dnf for RHEL or CentOS Linux appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-05-07T09:01:47Z 2024-05-07T09:01:47Z Vivek Gite

Here's a quick tip for vim users. You can perform find and replace operations within a visual selection in Vim for text or code block. Visual selection for finding and replacing text in Vim allows developers and Linux/Unix users precise and efficient text editing. It's handy when you want to change specific portions of text or code blocks within a larger file without affecting other occurrences. This method required to minimizing manual search and reducing the risk of unintended code or text modifications. Let us see how to find and replace in Vim visual mode selection. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to perform find and replace operations within a visual selection in Vim appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-05-07T06:14:33Z 2024-05-07T06:14:33Z Vivek Gite

Unhide is a little handy forensic tool to find hidden processes and TCP/UDP ports by rootkits / LKMs or by another hidden technique. This tool works under Linux, Unix-like system, and MS-Windows operating systems. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to find hidden processes and ports on Linux/Unix/Windows appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-05-07T05:05:51Z 2024-05-07T05:05:51Z Vivek Gite

Bash is a command language interpreter compatible with sh. It can execute commands read from a file or keyboard. On Debian Linux, bash-completion is a set of shell functions that uses Bash's programmable completion feature. This page provides instructions on installing and enabling Bash auto-completion on Debian Linux versions 10, 11, and 12 to increase productivity by writing custom bash code. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to add bash auto completion in Debian Linux appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-05-06T15:51:25Z 2024-05-06T15:51:25Z Vivek Gite

Recently, I had a learning experience with cron jobs and acme.sh. acme.sh is an excellent tool that simplifies the management of Let's Encrypt TLS (SSL) certificates. It makes obtaining and renewing these essential security certificates for your web server easier. Recently, I moved my server from Linode to AWS, which was a new environment for me. Initially, everything appeared to be working correctly, and I assumed everything was running smoothly. However, I forgot to migrate the cron job that acme.sh uses to renew the certificate automatically. This oversight caused my Let's Encrypt certificates to expire, resulting in security warnings and potential disruptions for visitors to my website. Opps! Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to add cron job entry for acme.sh appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-05-03T06:43:12Z 2024-05-03T06:43:12Z Vivek Gite

{nixCraft Patreon supporters content}Below is a sneak peek of this content! Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) was launched on April 25th, 2024. This new version will be supported for five years until June 2029. The armhf architecture now provides support for the Year 2038 problem. The upgrades include significant updates to core packages like Linux kernel, systemd, Netplan, […]The post How to Upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 to 24.04 LTS: A Complete Guide appeared first on Opensource Flare✨. 2024-04-26T18:25:08Z 2024-04-26T18:25:08Z Vivek Gite

Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) was launched on April 25th, 2024. This new version will be supported for five years until June 2029. The armhf architecture now provides support for the Year 2038 problem. The upgrades include significant updates to core packages like Linux kernel, systemd, Netplan, toolchain upgrades for better development support, enhanced security measures, and performance optimizations. It also has an updated GNOME desktop environment and other default applications. Let us see how to upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 LTS to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS using the CLI over ssh-based session. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to Upgrade Ubuntu 22.04 to 24.04 LTS: A Complete Guide appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-04-26T08:33:21Z 2024-04-26T08:33:21Z Vivek Gite

AWS SES (Amazon Simple Email Service) is a cloud-based email-sending service that is both reliable and cost-effective. This service is offered by Amazon Web Services. Postfix is a popular email server for Debian and Unix-like systems. It is an open-source Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) responsible for routing and delivering emails. Debian Linux is a widely used Linux distribution known for its stability and user-friendliness for server usage. Let us see how to integrate AWS SES with the Postfix MTA on Debian Linux version 11/12. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How to configure AWS SES with Postfix MTA on Debian Linux appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-04-19T07:04:06Z 2024-04-19T07:04:06Z Vivek Gite

When you run the sudo apt update, you may see the following message or error on a Debian Linux: Err:5 http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports Release 404 Not Found [IP: 146.75.34.132 80] Reading package lists... Done E: The repository 'http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports Release' no longer has a Release file. N: Updating from such a repository can't be done securely, and is therefore disabled by default. N: See apt-secure(8) manpage for repository creation and user configuration details. Here is how to fix this issue. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post The repository ‘http://deb.debian.org/debian buster-backports Release’ no longer has a Release file. appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-04-14T20:42:01Z 2024-04-14T20:42:01Z Vivek Gite

You can find the timezone in Linux using the command line. The easiest way to do this is to type the "timedatectl" command and look for the "timezone" line when using modern Linux distros with systemd. There are other commands and ways to temporarily switch to a new timezone for date calculations. Love this? sudo share_on: Twitter - Facebook - LinkedIn - Whatsapp - Reddit The post How do I find out my timezone in Linux? appeared first on nixCraft. 2024-04-06T01:06:44Z 2024-04-06T01:06:44Z Vivek Gite

alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: New findings from NASA's Perseverance rover have revealed evidence of wave-formed beaches and rocks altered by subsurface water in a Martian crater that once held a vast lake -- considerably expanding the timeline for potential habitability at this ancient site. In an international study led by Imperial College London, researchers uncovered that the so-called 'Margin unit' in Mars's Jezero crater preserves evidence of extensive underground interactions between rock and water, as well as the first definitive traces of an ancient shoreline. These are compelling indicators that habitable, surface water conditions persisted in the crater (home to a large lake around 3.5 billion years ago) further back in time than previously thought. "Shorelines are habitable environments on Earth, and the carbonate minerals that form here can naturally seal in and preserve information about the ancient environment," said lead author Alex Jones, a Ph.D. researcher in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering (ESE) at Imperial. The findings have been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

I haven’t paid “full price” for a cellular phone plan for decades, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any trade-offs. Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) buy network capacity in bulk from major carriers (MNOs like T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T) and resell them to individual customers. For a while, the main trade-off for going with an MVNO (which buys bulk minutes and data from the major carriers) was slightly worse cellular coverage due to a lack of roaming agreements with other carriers. If you were on a AT&T MVNO, you could only use AT&T cell towers.

These days, the primary catch is data de-prioritization. To manage the demand, there are different Quality of Service Class Identifiers (QCI levels) that have different priorities on the network. In areas where there are a lot of people, especially things like concerts and sporting events, there is a lot of demand and those not at the front of the line will notice slow or no data.

This r/NoContract Reddit post provides an excellent collection of the data prioritization policies of the major carriers. It’s still a lot, so I have attempted to summarize everything below as much as possible.

For Verizon, QCI 8 is the highest priority level for consumers. Includes:

• All Verizon Postpaid “Traditional” plans (except “Welcome”).
• Visible+ and Visible+ Pro (owned by Verizon).
• Total Wireless’ Total 5G Unlimited and Total 5G+ Unlimited (owned by Verizon).
• Xfinity Mobile and Spectrum Mobile (owned by cable companies).
• US Mobile Unlimited Premium “Warp” (*for 5G w/ Premium Only)

QCI 9 is a step lower, the base tier. Includes:

• Verizon’s Unlimited Welcome plan (their most basic plan)
• Visible Base plan
• US Mobile Unlimited Starter “Warp” and other Warp plans.
• All other Verizon prepaid MVNOs.

For AT&T, QCI 7 is the highest priority level for consumers. Includes:

• Select AT&T Plans with special “Turbo” data.

QCI 8 is a step lower, but still considered higher priority. Includes:

• Select AT&T Plans with “Extra/Premium/Max” data.
• Cricket Supreme Unlimited, Cricket Sensible 10GB plans (*owned by AT&T)
• H2o, Consumer Cellular, and PureTalk MVNOs.
• US Mobile Unlimited Premium “Dark Star” (*Premium Only)

QCI 6 is another step lower, the base tier. Includes:

• AT&T base Unlimited plans for both AT&T postpaid and AT&T Prepaid.
• All other AT&T plans once the “Turbo/Premium” data is used up.
• Cricket Select Unlimited, Cricket Smart Unlimited plans (*owned by AT&T)
• US Mobile Unlimited Starter “Dark Star” and other Dark Star plans.
• All other AT&T prepaid MVNOs.

For T-Mobile, QCI 6 is the highest priority level for consumers. Includes:

• All T-Mobile Postpaid and Prepaid plans (except “Essentials”)
• Google Fi

QCI 7 is a step lower, the base tier. Includes:

• T-Mobile Essentials plans (their most basic plan)
• All other T-Mobile prepaid MVNOs, including Metro and Mint Mobile (both owned by T-Mobile).

Long-time readers will know that I was with Mint Mobile for a long time. I didn’t need much data back then. But each year, I felt the low priority of Mint Mobile data became more and more noticeable. Anywhere crowded, even an airport, and things would slow down significantly. Oftentimes, I basically had no data at all, which was very frustrating when just trying to call up an Uber. T-Mobile sells a lot of data to MVNOs, so perhaps that’s another reason. I first tried to jump ship to Visible, but they messed up my number port so badly that I couldn’t get 2FA verification codes for days so I quickly switched back to Mint Mobile.

Late last year, after a positive experience with US Mobile’s customer service involving their Apple Watch plans, I decided to switch to US Mobile’s Unlimited Premium plan which offers “Priority Data” on their Warp (Verizon) and Dark Star (AT&T) plans. They run a lot of promotions (often extending them over and over) but I jumped on the Warp plan with Unlimited Premium because it also included a free Apple Watch cellular plan. I’m paying a bit more than I used to with Mint Mobile, but I’ve definitely noticed the improvement in data quality. My number port was nearly instant. With their Unlimited Premium plan, I can even switch between networks for free if one place has better coverage, allowing me access to AT&T and T-Mobile towers.

I am happy with US Mobile as I now have high data speeds, multi-network coverage, reasonable cost, and decent customer service.

The current US Winter Phone Deal is on Dark Star (AT&T). Unlimited Starter for $119/year prepaid upfront ($9.92/mo) for the first year (regular data priority) with promo code WINTER119 and Unlimited Premium for $149/year prepaid upfront ($12.42/mo) for the first year (which offers higher data priority and other perks) with promo code WINTER149. Port-in required.

You can stack the current promo with my referral link to get an additional $25 off:

To qualify for the $25 referral bonus, you must maintain active paid service in good standing for 6 months, port in a new line, and spend a total of $100 on Unlimited, By the Gig, or Smartwatch plans — Other plans, top-ups, devices, add-ons, roaming, and certain promotions (listed at usmobile.com/promo-archive) are excluded. Annual plans will be prorated monthly (e.g. $228 equals $114 after 6 months).

If you want a deal on Verizon (Warp), I’d just wait around for a bit. However, it probably won’t ever be as cheap as this Dark Star (AT&T) deal. I paid $299 for a year of Unlimited Premium (includes Priority Data and Apple Watch cellular plan) during a previous sale. Full price at renewal will be $390/year ($32.50/month), which is still much cheaper than any traditional major carrier plan after you add taxes/fees and $10/month for the Apple Watch add-on.

Amazon appears to have prematurely acknowledged layoffs inside AWS after an internal email referencing "organizational changes" and "impacted colleagues" was mistakenly sent to cloud employees. CNBC reports: "Changes like this are hard on everyone," Colleen Aubrey, senior vice president of applied AI solutions at Amazon Web Services, wrote in an email viewed by CNBC. "These decisions are difficult and are made thoughtfully as we position our organization and AWS for future success." The note also references a post from Amazon's HR boss Beth Galetti and said the company notified "impacted colleagues in our organization." The subject of the email mentions "Project Dawn," and the email says it was "canceled," possibly indicating it was recalled by the sender after the fact. It's unclear what Project Dawn refers to. The job cuts come after Amazon announced in October that it would lay off 14,000 corporate employees. At the time, the company indicated the cuts would continue in 2026 as it found "additional places we can remove layers." Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said the layoffs were meant to reduce management layers and bureaucracy inside the company. He also predicted last June that efficiency gains from AI would shrink Amazon's corporate staff in the coming years.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Science.org: Some 10,109 doctoral-trained experts in science and related fields left their jobs last year as President Donald Trump dramatically shrank the overall federal workforce. That exodus was only 3% of the 335,192 federal workers who exited last year but represents 14% of the total number of Ph.D.s in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) or health fields employed at the end of 2024 as then-President Joe Biden prepared to leave office. The numbers come from employment data posted earlier this month by the White House Office of Personnel Management (OPM). At 14 research agencies Science examined in detail, departures outnumbered new hires last year by a ratio of 11 to one, resulting in a net loss of 4224 STEM Ph.D.s. The graphs that follow show the impact is particularly striking at such scientist-rich agencies as the National Science Foundation (NSF). But across the government, these departing Ph.D.s took with them a wealth of subject matter expertise and knowledge about how the agencies operate. [...] Science's analysis found that reductions in force, or RIFs, accounted for relatively few departures in 2025. Only at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, where 16% of the 519 STEM Ph.D.s who left last year got pink RIF slips, did the percentage exceed 6%, and some agencies reported no STEM Ph.D. RIFs in 2025. At most agencies, the most common reasons for departures were retirements and quitting. Although OPM classifies many of these as voluntary, outside forces including the fear of being fired, the lure of buyout offers, or a profound disagreement with Trump policies, likely influenced many decisions to leave. Many Ph.D.s departed because their position was terminated.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apple quietly released its first update to iOS 12 since 2023 to keep iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation working on older hardware through January 2027. The update applies to legacy devices like the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6/6 Plus, and 2013-era iPads. Macworld reports: The update appears to be related to a specific issue. According to Apple's "About iOS 12 Updates" page, iOS 12.5.78 "extends the certificate required by features such as iMessage, FaceTime, and device activation to continue working after January 2027." Meanwhile, the iOS 16 update says it "provides important bug fixes and is recommended for all users." When iOS 13 arrived, it dropped compatibility for the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus, as well as the 2013 iPad Air and iPad Mini 3, so users of those phones should specifically take note. To update to the latest version, head over to the Settings app, then General and Software Update, and follow the instructions. Further reading: Apple Launches AirTag 2 With Improved Range, Louder Speaker

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

New AppImage Offers an Easier Way to Run Affinity on Ubuntu  OMG! Ubuntu

Apple M3 Progress On Linux: Asahi Can Boot To KDE Desktop - But No GPU Acceleration Yet  Phoronix

Scientists have released DinoTracker, a free AI-powered app that identifies dinosaur footprints by analyzing shape patterns rather than relying on potentially flawed historical labels. "When we find a dinosaur footprint, we try to do the Cinderella thing and find the foot that matches the slipper," said Prof Steve Brusatte, a co-author of the work. "But it's not so simple, because the shape of a dinosaur footprint depends not only on the shape of the dinosaur's foot but also the type of sand or mud it was walking through, and the motion of its foot." The Guardian reports: [...] Brusatte, [Dr Gregor Hartmann, the first author of the new research from Helmholtz-Zentrum in Germany] and colleagues fed their AI system with 2,000 unlabelled footprint silhouettes. The system then determined how similar or different the imprints were from each other by analysing a range of features it identified as meaningful. The researchers discovered these eight features reflected variations in the imprints' shapes, such as the spread of the toes, amount of ground contact and heel position. The team have turned the system into a free app called DinoTracker that allows users to upload the silhouette of a footprint, explore the seven other footprints most similar to it and manipulate the footprint to see how varying the eight features can affect which other footprints are deemed most similar. Hartmann said that at present experts had to double check if factors such as the material the footprints were made in, and their age, matched the scientific hypothesis, but the system clustered prints with those expected from classifications made by human experts about 90% of the time. The findings have been published in the journal PNAS.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A data breach at SoundCloud exposed information tied to 29.8 million user accounts, according to Have I Been Pwned. While SoundCloud says no passwords or financial data were accessed, attackers mapped email addresses to public profile data and later attempted extortion. BleepingComputer reports: The company confirmed the breach on December 15, following widespread reports from users who were unable to access SoundCloud and saw 403 "Forbidden" errors when connecting via VPN. SoundCloud told BleepingComputer at the time that it had activated its incident response procedures after detecting unauthorized activity involving an ancillary service dashboard. "We understand that a purported threat actor group accessed certain limited data that we hold," SoundCloud said. "We have completed an investigation into the data that was impacted, and no sensitive data (such as financial or password data) has been accessed. The data involved consisted only of email addresses and information already visible on public SoundCloud profiles." While SoundCloud didn't provide further details regarding the incident, BleepingComputer learned that the breach affected 20% of all SoundCloud users, roughly 28 million accounts based on publicly reported user figures (SoundCloud later published a security notice confirming the information provided by BleepingComputer's sources). After the breach, BleepingComputer also learned that the ShinyHunters extortion gang was responsible for the attack, with sources saying that the threat group was also attempting to extort SoundCloud. This was confirmed by SoundCloud in a January 15 update, which said the threat actors had "made demands and deployed email flooding tactics to harass users, employees, and partners."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Supreme Court is taking up a case on whether Paramount violated the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) by disclosing a user's viewing history to Facebook. The case, Michael Salazar v. Paramount Global, hinges on the law's definition of the word "consumer." Salazar filed a class action against Paramount in 2022, alleging that it "violated the VPPA by disclosing his personally identifiable information to Facebook without consent," Salazar's petition to the Supreme Court said. Salazar had signed up for an online newsletter through 247Sports.com, a site owned by Paramount, and had to provide his email address in the process. Salazar then used 247Sports.com to view videos while logged in to his Facebook account. "As a result, Paramount disclosed his personally identifiable information -- including his Facebook ID and which videos he watched—to Facebook," the petition (PDF) said. "The disclosures occurred automatically because of the Facebook Pixel Paramount installed on its website. Facebook and Paramount then used this information to create and display targeted advertising, which increased their revenues." The 1988 law (PDF) defines consumer as "any renter, purchaser, or subscriber of goods or services from a video tape service provider." The phrase "video tape service provider" is defined to include providers of "prerecorded video cassette tapes or similar audio visual materials," and thus arguably applies to more than just sellers of tapes. The legal question for the Supreme Court "is whether the phrase 'goods or services from a video tape service provider,' as used in the VPPA's definition of 'consumer,' refers to all of a video tape service provider's goods or services or only to its audiovisual goods or services," Salazar's petition said. The Supreme Court granted his petition (PDF) to hear the case in a list of orders released yesterday. [...] SCOTUSblog says that "the case will likely be scheduled for oral argument in the court's 2026-27 term," which begins in October 2026.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.