Isn't It Supposed To Be Easier Than This?

[soundchaser59]

When I was programming for the Nebraska Dept of Revenue I introduced them to Linux and KDE4 and used them to write their homestead and gaming apps. I had tried to convince them to choose PostgreSQL as their database but the suits excuse for going with Oracle was that it had paid support.

I was using VisualStudio 6.0 with C++ and a TrollTech Qt plugin to write my apps.

However, Linux is still susceptible to various kinds of attacks. Social engineering is a big one.

I've used MS's Jet Engine for Access......


The CLI is pretty much the same for all distros. Wikipedia reports that the bash shell's name is an acronym for Bourne-again shell, punning on the name of the Bourne shell that it replaces and on the term "born again" that denotes spiritual rebirth in contemporary American Christianity. The bash shell has a LOT of built in capabilities, leading to entire books on shell scripts. In most repositories is a package called "abs_guide", i.e., Advanced Bash Shell Guide. It will teach you as much as you want to know about shell scripting.



My laptop, an Acer 7739, is six years old - two computer generations!

So, I hope you see why some hardware works with Linux and some doesn't. What is surprising is that one can buy a new laptop with Win10 (or 8 or 7) installed and find out that some hardware still doesn't work!

My first computer was an Atari 1040 STE with 4MB of ram and no hard drive, that I used exclusively as a MIDI sequencer, slaved to a 1/2 inch reel to reel using SMPTE time code controlled by Hybrid Arts SMPTETrack. My first home music studio. circa 1987 / 88.

I wondered if you recognized my jab at the "helpful smile in every aisle" cliche lifted from the local Hy-Vee tv commercials. Only reason I know about that is I also am in Lincoln NE. Started my real computer trek after a car wreck in 1995. Went back to school instead of back to work, and bought an Acer 486 computer to help with my Electronics curriculum. I believe that machine came with the newly astounding Windows 95, or I acquired it soon after. I remember Win 95 being released late in the year. At school I soon discovered that the programming electives allowed for Electronics would lead to better paying jobs than the Electronic Servicing angle ever would. Best thing I got from Electronics was (1) learning how to build my own computer, and (2) the basic ability to understand all residential house wiring and how to repair my own guitar amps. They also made us learn Assembler, and that really helped me get a grip on how computers function at the most basal level.

While I went to school every night for 4 years I worked days at the State Health Dept, 3rd flooor SOB. We actually had a few contacts with Revenue on 2nd floor I think, some with Education on 6th, and some with DAS on 1st floor. Did you know Rod Cummings? Stan Schmidt? Steve Sherill? Ken Mitchell? Rania Schlein? Later I switched to the big help desk in the basement, Level 2. We did a lot of support work with NFOCUS and CHARTS, as well as a ton of stuff for HHS. Even got to drive out to DCS a few times on Van Dorn, with the occasional trip to Omaha.

When I finished school I got a job a month later doing VB6 and MSSQL for an insurance company. They went belly up (I'm sure you would recognize the name, as the former Dept of Insurance Director - also a former Husker QB - started the company) and I went to a research firm, got laid off, and ended up at an academic environment teaching myself C# and ASP. Also got to learn ASP on the side doing free lance for Rod Cummings and NAPT. Pretty cool stuff. Now we are busy converting all the old disjointed apps from Cold Fusion and PHP and Access to C# / SQL / ASP.

Thank you for the in depth description of some of the ins and outs of Linux World. I'm sure it will grow on me now that I've found a friendly door into it. I feel learning how to do some of the insider stuff in Linux will help in some small way to make me a better overall programmer. In fact, I have a pic of my screen so that I could ask you guys about the error I got when I tried to Start Mint Cinnamon. I'll post that up soon.

Do you ever attend any of the local code slinger events here in Lincoln? I haven't yet, but probably should....

[Qqmike]

Thank You for the link, that is awesome that you put that together. Just glancing at it initially I can tell it will be very helpful.

Hope it helps to get you started in the right direction. When you encounter some complex issue or subtle thing, just post at the forum, as we have several active "programmer" types around here who DO know the "theory." ;-)

BTW, I read all of the Castaneda books when I was in high school. The teachings are deceptively useful.

Yeah, ain't that the truth. His teachings do, more or less, constitute a system (of whatever--beliefs), and thus is as good as many myths one can use for general daily use. Many such "systems" are actually somewhat equivalent at a fundamental level, having many things in common, or saying the same things using different vocabularies.

Glad you appear to be on-board here with [some] Linux!

[soundchaser59]

Yeah, ain't that the truth. His teachings do, more or less, constitute a system (of whatever--beliefs), and thus is as good as many myths one can use for general daily use. Many such "systems" are actually somewhat equivalent at a fundamental level, having many things in common, or saying the same things using different vocabularies.

Glad you appear to be on-board here with [some] Linux!

Well stated, and overall very accurate. I like to think my mind is pliable and somewhat open to the ways of others, in parallel with what I think works best for myself.

I'm 99.999% certain (aka "five nines") that I will stick with Linux in some form to replace the old Windows OS in my home office. The music studio is more specialized and will require a lot more "learnin me" but I am definitely heading in that direction. One foot in front of the other.....

Thanks for the tips and info.

[wizard10000]

My first computer was an Atari 1040 STE with 4MB of ram and no hard drive, that I used exclusively as a MIDI sequencer, slaved to a 1/2 inch reel to reel using SMPTE time code controlled by Hybrid Arts SMPTETrack. My first home music studio. circa 1987 / 88.

My second computer was an Atari 800XL; those were a blast. My first was a Mattel Aquarius with 4KB of RAM.

I loved that old Atari - if I had a dollar for every hour I spent typing in pages of machine code I found in Compute! magazine I could probably buy another computer.

Well, a cheap one anyway

[oldgeek]

I also had an Atari 800XL running SpartaDos with 256kb memory--most of it as a ramdisk. But my first computer was a Sinclair ZX81, and that was an experience! I love Linux and got into it because I like to experiment with different operating systems. Soundchaser--have you tried Ubuntu Studio? I did, but my skills are below those required for the programs. You might find something useful there, though--there are a lot of audio programs available.

[GreyGeek]

My first computer was an Atari 1040 STE with 4MB of ram and no hard drive, that I used exclusively as a MIDI sequencer, slaved to a 1/2 inch reel to reel using SMPTE time code controlled by Hybrid Arts SMPTETrack. My first home music studio. circa 1987 / 88.

My first was an analog computer built from a HeathKit. I used it in my HS science classes in the 1970s. My first PC was purchased in the summer of 1978, an Apple ][+ with 64K RAM, two DISK]['s, an rf converter to drive a 12" Panasonic color TV used as a monitor. (I did have a Panasonic tape recorder first, as storage, but it took a full five minutes to save one class grade set and load another, almost all of the break in between classes). I later sold it for more than I paid for it and bought an IBM PC with a 10MB HD. I thought that HD was a barn and I'd never fill it up.

I wondered if you recognized my jab at the "helpful smile in every aisle" cliche lifted from the local Hy-Vee tv commercials. Only reason I know about that is I also am in Lincoln NE. Started my real computer trek after a car wreck in 1995. Went back to school instead of back to work, and bought an Acer 486 computer to help with my Electronics curriculum. I believe that machine came with the newly astounding Windows 95, or I acquired it soon after. I remember Win 95 being released late in the year. At school I soon discovered that the programming electives allowed for Electronics would lead to better paying jobs than the Electronic Servicing angle ever would. Best thing I got from Electronics was (1) learning how to build my own computer, and (2) the basic ability to understand all residential house wiring and how to repair my own guitar amps. They also made us learn Assembler, and that really helped me get a grip on how computers function at the most basal level.

While I went to school every night for 4 years I worked days at the State Health Dept, 3rd flooor SOB. We actually had a few contacts with Revenue on 2nd floor I think, some with Education on 6th, and some with DAS on 1st floor. Did you know Rod Cummings? Stan Schmidt? Steve Sherill? Ken Mitchell? Rania Schlein? Later I switched to the big help desk in the basement, Level 2. We did a lot of support work with NFOCUS and CHARTS, as well as a ton of stuff for HHS. Even got to drive out to DCS a few times on Van Dorn, with the occasional trip to Omaha.

I caught that reference!
I live 1/2 mile south of the HyVEE in Williamsburg, or, across the street south of the Bryan Campus at 40th and Pine Lake road.

I retired from the DOR in June of 2008. I had been writing code since I learned Fortran IV in grad school in 1968. I LOVED to write code and I told myself that after I retired I'd write the programs I wanted to write. Never did. Grandsons, Minecraft, Fishing, etc... took up and takes up all my time, when I am not out with the better half. Aside from a couple of bash scripts I haven't written a line of code (C++) since 2008. Between 1968 and 2008 I spent 18 years teaching (10 in HS and 8 in College), 11 yrs coding for the DOR and overlapping the teaching I had my own consulting business where I wrote custom programs that off the shelf commercial code couldn't be applied to. That's how I connected up with the DOR. I was hired for a three month gig to write a FoxPro program to test income tax submissions created by commercial tax preparers and people who used apps like TurboTax. About half way through that contract they gave me an offer that my wife wouldn't let me refuse. I had been flying all around the midwest servicing clients (I had a private pilot license) and would be gone two to six weeks at a time. At the DOR I'd be home on evenings and weekends. I enjoyed working at the DOR and never dreaded going to work there a single day. The guys and gals I worked with were great. Several had college degrees, a couple had masters, and one had a PhD in Math. Jim. Know him? Brilliant. Ho Phu Tran was another an I worked with. An absolute genius. His cousin is just as smart and has taken over the Homestead program. But, I hear, they are finally going to move it to Oracle's APEX. UGGG! Of ALL the GUI interfaces to databases that I've ever seen or used, APEX is the most Klutzy, constricting, limited piece of junk I had the misfortune to use. My #1 complaint was that the source code could not be version controlled, making rollbacks or experimental side jaunts difficult to impossible. It is nearly impossible to debug. A locked in, gated environment with plenty of tollbooths along the way. The suits (who generally know NOTHING about programming, never consult coders, but listen with bobble heads to slick salesmen) end up buying junk tools, then force everyone to stick with them to save face.

IF it is the Rod Cummings I remember he is one sharp fellow. When i first arrived at the DOR they were running a Novell network of about 15-20 servers for 400 workstations. I could count on a 4 hour vacation once or twice a week when one or more servers went down. Usually Monday morning, because a server crashed during the previous weekend. The guy who was admining the servers had no formal training, IIRC, and was in over his head. Rod was with us for only six months but during that time he taught our admin how to do it right and he reconfigured the entire second floor of the Novell network. It was an entirely different network when he was finished. After Rod left, Chris, the network admin continued doing a fine job and was eventually moved to the state CIO office. Never knew what Rod did after that.

Early on at Revenue I had demonstrated how using Linux made me more productive and I also had a Linux server set up in my office. Their Unix imaging system crashed (because they didn't have anyone who knew anything about Unix so never fsck'd the system when clerks crashed it. They brought the 1GB HD into my office and asked if I could pull the images and index off of it because it would no longer boot on the Kodak Unix system. I was able to mount the drive using my SuSE 6.3 server OS and pulled over 14,000 images and their indexes off of it. Less than two dozen were unrecoverable.

Later, they had a problem with a Win98 machine running a WildCat BBS system. It was attached to two phones and as tax preparers called in to check on their client's state tax returns it was supposed to roll back an forth between the two phones. Like any Win9X machine it was prone to crash. During working hours it was quickly rebooted but on weekends someone had to come into work and reboot it. Chris got tired of doing it and he and the boss, Dick Gettemy, came into my office and asked if Linux could do better, since they had heard that it never crashes. I said yes. They gave me a box with two 1GB baracuda HDs. I put on SuSE 6.3 and I wrote a one page bash script and a two page python script that caused it to become a turnkey which automatically set up a rolling answering machine using the spawn command in inittab. A simple bash loop presented the allowed options. If the power interrupted it would fire up the bash script automatically when power was restored. It ran for 18 months and never crashed once and always came back up when interrupted power was restored. Then they outsourced it.

Do you remember Mary Jane Egar, the tax commissioner at the time? She was awesome! Wouldn't tell anyone to do anything she wouldn't do. During her tenure we had a $700M tax shortfall. Rather than lay off people she allocated time for everyone, including herself, to spend on the mail line, and doing other menial chores. A candidate for Governor at the time claimed that the DOR was being run inefficiently. After his election his solution was to replace Mary Jane with TWO people. The newly appointed assistant tax commissioner decided that since she didn't know how to run Lotus Notes the state would have to abandon 10,000 Lotus Notes ACL's and replace them with ACLs for three different MS apps, and also replace the Linux and Novell servers Linux was phasing out with Windows servers, making DOR a Microsoft shop. Besides being costly, the result was a reduction in efficiency by at least half. The new Tax commissioner's first request from human resources was a list of all employees by age and pay. If you were old or made too much money you were gone. Lot's of business knowledge walked out the doorl It was like having several of your key employees killed in a plane crash. Really hampered a lot of work flow. But, that was then. I don't keep up with it now and have no idea how Pete's boys are running the show.

When I finished school I got a job a month later doing VB6 and MSSQL for an insurance company. They went belly up (I'm sure you would recognize the name, as the former Dept of Insurance Director - also a former Husker QB - started the company) and I went to a research firm, got laid off, and ended up at an academic environment teaching myself C# and ASP. Also got to learn ASP on the side doing free lance for Rod Cummings and NAPT. Pretty cool stuff. Now we are busy converting all the old disjointed apps from Cold Fusion and PHP and Access to C# / SQL / ASP.

NAPT? Network Address and Port Translation?

Thank you for the in depth description of some of the ins and outs of Linux World. I'm sure it will grow on me now that I've found a friendly door into it. I feel learning how to do some of the insider stuff in Linux will help in some small way to make me a better overall programmer. In fact, I have a pic of my screen so that I could ask you guys about the error I got when I tried to Start Mint Cinnamon. I'll post that up soon.

Do you ever attend any of the local code slinger events here in Lincoln? I haven't yet, but probably should....

I guarantee that you'll love Linux, regardless of which distro you settle on. So much power, flexibility and security at so little cost.

Fifteen years ago there were not many programming groups here in Lincoln, but I did attend the startup of the Linux User's Group at the UNL campus, which is where I got my tag, GreyGeek. After a round of introductions the chair pro tem asked my a question but couldn't remember my name and referred to me as "GreyGeek". That's been my handle every since. Dr. Carl L. Lundstedt helped found the Husker Linux Users Group (HLUG) at UNL and served as faculty advisor. HLUG consists of students, professionals and enthusiasts. He did summer work at CERN and learned about Linux there and brought his enthusiasm back to campus and gave presentations showing how Linux was the primary OS at CERN, and how he used it. It was active in HLUG for several years while he was a physics professor at UNL (2002-2005) and then HLUG just faded away when he became grid system administrator.
I heard that there was a LUG formed here in Lincoln (Lincolnix) but it was only active for a few meetings around 2013 and 2014. The more popular Linux became the more ubiquitous the knowledge about it became, and LUG's became superfluous.

Right now, most Linux distros have switched from Upstart / sysVInit (the app called by the kernel and responsible for bringing up the rest of the system) to systemd. Not all distros have implemented it to the same extent but there are several YouTube videos made in the last six months that are very informative and RH has a nice intro.

[soundchaser59]

Soundchaser--have you tried Ubuntu Studio?--there are a lot of audio programs available.

Not yet, but I am going in that direction. There seem to be 2 or 3 variations on the "Studio" breed of Linux. The worst part of it is trying to figure out how to buy a new audio interface. My old Creative EMU 1616PCI will never work with Linux (as far as I know) but I have been itching to save up for a new interface anyway. I don't need much, but my minimum requirements are non-negotiable..... at least 2 phantom powered mic inputs and MIDI in/out. Some interfaces come with a software mixer (the EMU has PatchMix and a separate card for processing fx) but that is not a requirement for me, since Reaper will already do what I want. I am curious to see how elaborate the other Linux based multi track recording apps might be.

[soundchaser59]

I later sold it for more than I paid for it and bought an IBM PC with a 10MB HD. I thought that HD was a barn and I'd never fill it up.

Yup, my ACER came with a 40GB and I was boasting over my brother's meager 20GB drive.

south of the Bryan Campus at 40th and Pine Lake road.

Pass it every time I go to Trader Joe's! I'm on the wrong side of the tracks, just north of 70th & Holdrege. They just finished burying fiber under 70th st, but we probably won't be able to afford the step up to it.

But, I hear, they are finally going to move it to Oracle's APEX. UGGG! Of ALL the GUI interfaces to databases that I've ever seen or used, APEX is the most Klutzy, constricting, limited piece of junk I had the misfortune to use.......The suits (who generally know NOTHING about programming, never consult coders, but listen with bobble heads to slick salesmen) end up buying junk tools, then force everyone to stick with them to save face.

I recognize some of the names, heard of them but never worked with them. They may have had dealings with Doug Roach or Stan Schmidt. I did a few things for Bob Beecham up on 6th floor Dept of Educ, whom I knew from years earlier because he was my landlord during the 3 years before I went back to school.

Everything you describe sounds like several other depts in state gummint. My brother temp'd for Revenue briefly, them moved over to a different dept I can't remember the name of to be an Adjudicator. Now he's with DED and likes it a lot. HHS would buy a contract with developers from India, then wait 7 years for the software to work on mainframes, but it never worked correctly and the project was scrapped. They dropped several milllion on one project, switched to something Windows based and contracted with the same group to do that, and a few years later that one never worked correctly either. A few heads rolled at one point, but none of the "suits" ever came and talked with developers or support staff. Working at State Gummint is where I learned to hate meetings. But that stuff got me thru school.

IF it is the Rod Cummings I remember he is one sharp fellow........Never knew what Rod did after that.

It ran for 18 months and never crashed once and always came back up when interrupted power was restored. Then they outsourced it.

.....making DOR a Microsoft shop. Besides being costly, the result was a reduction in efficiency by at least half. The new Tax commissioner's first request from human resources was a list of all employees by age and pay. If you were old or made too much money you were gone. Lot's of business knowledge walked out the doorl

NAPT? Network Address and Port Translation?

NAPT -- Native American Public Television. Rod started a bulk mailing business called All Needs, turned over management to his wife, and he started hiring free lance programmers on the side. He had worked at NAPT and knew they were converting to Windows so he got a contract to develop the software to manage their documentary programs and program production funding. (lots of great videos and dvd's out there that never made it to the tv screen!) I got to write that program, VB + SQL Server. I got it working even though I realized later that it was actually a bit too much for one guy to do alone. Then a new Director came in and 6 months later it was scrapped and replaced with some 5 figure vendor solution. All of the managers walked out within a year. Sound familiar? It is now known as Vision Maker Media.

I guarantee that you'll love Linux, regardless of which distro you settle on. So much power, flexibility and security at so little cost.

Well, I'll be posting some new threads somewhere. My first task is to figure out how to make it so that Linux makes me log in after it boots. Heck, maybe I'll conjure up a need for a small server!

[GreyGeek]

Y ...

NAPT -- Native American Public Television. Rod started a bulk mailing business called All Needs, turned over management to his wife, and he started hiring free lance programmers on the side. ....

Ah, Rod's the man! I remember him telling about his wife's email business.

My college roommate for two years, until we both got married, was a full blooded Souix Indian. He was the best man at my wedding and took the photos as well! He was a straight A student and could sell snow to Eskimos. I was an average HS student (i.e., didn't care) but he taught me how to budget my time and how to study. I owe my graduation and graduate 3.57 GPA to him. At the end of our freshman year we exchanged blood in an Indian ritual to make us blood brothers, the first and only time I ever did that. He introduced me to my bride of 54 years! I've kept in touch with his wife and share memories I had of him before she met and married him.

On one occasion he wanted to go on a date with his future wife but didn't have the money. He asked if he could borrow my tie and that he'd bring it back. About 30 minutes later he came back with my tie and five dollars (1962 money) he hadn't had before. He had traded my tie for some article of clothing, then traded that for something ---> something else (an angora sweater is in here somewhere) --> the sweater for some money and he bought my tie back and had 5 bucks left over. That's $30-40 in today's money. One of the most amazing people I've ever known. He became superintendent of the largest school district in the USA. Unfortunately, he caught a viral infection of his heart and it eventually killed him at the age of 62. His is missed.

[dequire]

My old Creative EMU 1616PCI will never work with Linux (as far as I know) but I have been itching to save up for a new interface anyway.

Unfortunately creative has never been known to be friendly to Linux. You might ask the Jupiter Broadcasting guys over on their forums or on Reddit what they and / or their audience would recommend. Lots of audio / video knowledge there regarding Linux and multi-media. There is also an official Ubuntu Studio forum that would likely prove insightful. Good luck!

[soundchaser59]

Unfortunately creative has never been known to be friendly to Linux. You might ask the Jupiter Broadcasting guys over on their forums or on Reddit what they and / or their audience would recommend. Lots of audio / video knowledge there regarding Linux and multi-media. There is also an official Ubuntu Studio forum that would likely prove insightful. Good luck!

A real studio forum for Linux! CooooooL! I will start lurking and reading over there. Not too set in my ways when it comes to interfaces, as long as I can have 3 or 4 inputs and midi access with above average quality and solid reliability. They've gottena lot better the last few years. Reaper should be able to do the rest. Thanks for the tip!

[woodsmoke]

Yes
By NOW...it "is supposed to be easier than this".

woodjujstsayinsmoke