Dirty Pipe Crack

Linux kernel 5.8 introduced a new vulnerability that allows privilege escalation. If you've upgraded to a new Samsung Galaxy S22 or a Google Pixel 6 you're vulnerable. This affects Linux servers as well and according to Red Hat, as of March 7th: "Currently there is no mitigation available for this flaw."

 https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2022/03/07/1

Pine64 PinePower

 I recently bought one of these and it has absolutely taken over my desk:

I plug my DeX dock that needs 9V into the first USB port. My S20FE charges "super fast" plugged into the 65 watt USB-C port. And the wireless charger on top (not pictured) is just the right size for my new Samsung Zflip 3 phone when it's folded in half. It's like they were made for each other.

Official Product Page 

Ameridroid Order Page (currently sold out!)

June 1st 2021 Purge

Google will be purging content from inactive accounts on that date. There's a good chance PELinux will be on their hit list. Apparently the 32-bit R3 version is still actively used in Mexico because of the offline (no Internet required) Spanish/English translation engine (Apertium). The front-end app no longer compiles so I may re-upload that one. The rest will likely fade into bit oblivion. Get 'em while you still can!

The New H2+

The Sabrent 512 GB M.2 SSD makes this little computer stoopid fast. CrystalDiskMark says 1750 MB/sec read and 1500 MB/sec write.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/fh6VSFSSXHkzM1RS7

My Odroid H2+

I liked the first one so much I just ordered a second Odroid H2+. Here are a few YouBoob videos I made in various states of consciousness. I like to call it Insomniac Theater:

ZFS in Ubuntu 20.10

Changes coming to ZFS in Ubuntu 20.10 include enabling autotrim by default and the ability to encrypt root during install. Of course, those of you who read my blog already know how to do both those things, so no need to wait. ;)

FYI though, I found that autotrim hadn't actually done a trim on my SSD yet by running:
 zpool status -t
So I started it manually with:
 sudo zpool trim rpool
 It took about 2 minutes to complete.

ZFS Encrypted Root

ZFS in Ubuntu 20.04 is stable and enterprise ready. It's really Canonical's customizations for the desktop that are experimental. The installer in particular is, at the moment, fairly limited in how you can setup your system. Despair not though, there's always a l33t h@X0r on the case:

Encrypting ZFS on Ubuntu 20.04 by Linsomniac

The Z File System in Ubuntu 20.04

ZFS has actually been around for quite some time. It was originally invented by Sun for use in Solaris. It has many advanced features like an improved RAID5 called RAIDZ. And though there's a bit of a learning curve it eliminates some complexity, like the need for a separate logical volume manager.

With the release of Ubuntu 20.04 it'll be possible to use it for your entire desktop system. But why would you want to use a "server" filesystem on your desktop PC? Well, in short, it makes upgrading your system bulletproof. Now every time you upgrade packages with apt it'll create a snapshot automagically. If something goes wrong there'll be a boot menu option that'll let you rollback your entire system to before the upgrade. It's fast, easy and you won't even know it happened, until you need it.

While technically it's still an experimental feature, I expect it'll become the default install option at some point in the future. If you haven't familiarized yourself with ZFS yet, now would be a good time to do so.

Firejail

One of the programs I tried really hard to get working in the beta versions of PELinux64 was Firejail. Unfortunately I didn't have much luck:

I'd rather not be forced into a sandbox with snaps and flatpacks. If the apps are trusted (by me not Microsoft) I'd rather have the freedom to use many of them together in new and unique ways (the original/real definition of hacking) that the author probably didn't predict and may not even like.

BleachBit

Another program included in every version of PELinux and PELinux64 is BleachBit. I use it after every web surfing session. It even deletes annoying registry keys under Windoze.

Collabora Office

The first three versions of PELinux (32-bit R1, Murdock Edition and R2) used kernel 3.18 from Collabora. And all versions of PELinux and PELinux64 come with LibreOffice pre-installed, including all database drivers.

Well now there's a free version of the LibreOffice-based Collabora Office for Android. It's fully compatible with all Open Document Format files. You can get it on your phone from Google's Play Store, so you know it's safe.

I think there's an IOS version too but since I no longer own any Apple devices can't say for sure.

Happy 20th Birthday Padman

If the Green Sun sample album included with all version of Privacy Enhanced Linux sounds vaguely familiar, it's probably because you've played World of Padman sometime this last decade. I miss the good old days when it was a little less politically correct, but it's still a blast from the past to play even today. Cheers blue noses!

Pine64 PinePhone

It's a little behind the times hardware-spec-wise but I personally feel this is the most promising Linux phone project currently going: Pine64 PinePhone

Sailfish and UBPorts suck quite frankly. Try and write an app for either and you'll quickly see why. I'll likely install KDE's Plasma Mobile on mine.

Was looking forward to buying Pine64's ARM64 tablet too. Sadly, seems like that one is on the back burner for now. 😞

The End is Nigh for Windows 7

I'm not really sure what Microsoft is trying to tell me. Whatever it is the message seems to be changing every month.

November 2019

December 2019

I think they're trying to tell me to switch to Linux, fast!

MARCH 2020 UPDATE

Windows Defender seems to be updating through its GUI again. And to my surprise, the Windows Update service even gave me a new Malicious Software Removal Tool.

Raspberry Pi Pictures

I recently found a stash of Pi pics on my 3 TB backup drive and thought I'd share a few. Of all the little PCs I built, I think the Palm Pi-lot is probably my favorite. Even though the Pi 3 and 4 are 64-bit and much more powerful, I think I'll always remember that initial excitement when the Pi 2 came out most of all. It's really what motivated me to start compiling my own kernels.

https://www.critophilippatos.com/pictures

I'm also trying to attract the Google bot which still hasn't indexed my main site. Blogger seems to know the trick.

Samsung DeX for Windows 10

All the articles online still say you need a Note 10 but I can say for sure that it now works with the lowly "economy" (US$750) version I own, the S10e. You'll need Android security patch level November 1, 2019 or later.

https://www.samsung.com/global/download/SamsungDeXWin

Works much better than my Android emulator for video streaming like with PlutoTV.  MEmu lets you have multiple accounts though.

https://www.memuplay.com/

Welcome to Crito Philippatos' Blog

I'm a technology consultant and enthusiast with over 30 years of experience.

My first PC was a TRS-80 Color Computer with CompuServe cartridge (ID 70314,47) and 300/150 baud full/half duplex modem with acoustic coupler. I moved on to the Zilog-80 based Model III a year later. My first IBM compatible computer was a Gateway 2000 386 running Windows/386 2.11. I ran a Wildcat! BBS on that computer with a (at the time) monstrous 650 MB Maxtor ESDI drive. When Windows for Workgroups 3.11 came out I became a full blown Windows developer and shareware author with a wildly popular program called MemPro that appeared in the book "Maximizing Windows" by Jim Boyce. By the time Windows NT was released in the early 90's I had become a database administrator and would later become a certified DBA on SQL Server 2000. I worked on several multi-million dollar projects as a SQL developer/DBA, most notably the Southern Star Pipeline gas trading platform. For the last 10 years my focus has been on Linux and in 2017 I created my own Ubuntu-based distribution for the Raspberry Pi 3 called PELinux64. It was the first 64-bit Ubuntu-based OS for the Pi.

I'm constantly annoying my friends with technology news. I can't help it. Cross-compiling an ARM64 kernel on my Gentoo laptop excites me. Now instead of spamming them at work with emails they can just come here to catch up on what's new with me. 😉

CRITO PHILIPPATOS DOT COM