I never post anything here anymore. Wow. I had a bunch of ideas and I should just jot them down so I do not forget.

Hey, I made a Slackware cameo. Well what do you know...

http://slackware.mirrors.tds.net/pub/slackware/slackware64-13.37/extra/google-chrome/google-chrome.SlackBuild

Cruel and Unusual Desktops

This is going to sound very mean, but I think it needs to be said. I've had a long career as a poweruser, not just from a casual computer user point of view, but as an engineer. Everything I've focused on has been to learn how the internals of technology work. You can say I'm a geek, that would be extremely accurate.

But most people aren't, and just need a simple tool. And Microsoft has done a pretty good job of bringing that to the masses. But we're getting to the point where we're moving beyond that, and we want more. Even the casual, normal Joe everyday user is expecting more. Even the user who only requires a simple tool is asking for more.

I think this is where Windows as a desktop environment fails us. Yes, I'm a big Linux user, and yes, I've worked in places where a nicely, fined-tuned group of Windows admins have made it a pleasure to work with. But not everyone has those resources.

So I think it's time we leave Microsoft behind, desktop-wise. I'm impressed by Apple's products. I'm in no form an Apple fanboy, but it seems they've been doing things right, and it's showing. I think there's a special place for Microsoft software, and that's virtualized in a sandbox environment, on Linux servers or Mac desktops.

I'm not a fan of the iPad, but I know a few people who own one. I've managed Mac Minis and administrated Mac OSX server. I would recommend a normal user get a Mac or iPad over any type of Windows desktop machine. I think many of the problems with security, as a society, stem from poor desktop management. Some of that is the end user, some of that is the operating system. It's just a bad habit that's easy to get into and difficult to get out of.

I stay secure by practicing good habits. "Good" is relative, and as I define it, just means avoiding the bad technology loopholes. And you see people making the same mistakes everyday.

So I honestly think next time someone asks me what computer to buy, I will ask them, "Well, are you an engineer?". If the answer is yes, they probably wouldn't have asked in the first place, but when the answer is most likely "No", I'll point them in the direction of an iPad or at least a Mac Mini, probably the only Apple product I would ever consider buying.

What's Important?

So what's really important to me? At the corner of society and technology, there's an open store. I'm trying to keep it open. That's how things work.

That's why I'm reading this, just started following this, and have been following this, (note my comment at the end).

I don't like to think that I never blog. I like to think that I blog every 10 years or so.

Therefore, if I actually write something sooner than 10 years, I'm kinda breaking the convention.

Ok, although these days I'm using KVM more and more exclusively, as I'm convinced it's the "one VM tool to rule them all" I have upgraded my rc.hvm script.

Here 'tis.

#!/bin/sh
# Start/stop/restart kernel hardware virtualization support (hvm)
# This loads modules for VMWare/VirtualBox/KVM one at a time
# current default is KVM
#
# Written for Slackware Linux by Fred Richards (fredr/at/geexology.org)
# TODO: - sanity checking on functions
#

CPU_VENDOR="amd" # or intel

chk_mods() {
if grep -q kvm_amd /proc/modules || grep -q kvm_intel /proc/modules || grep -q kvm /proc/modules ; then
 MOD="kvm"
elif grep -q vmmon /proc/modules || grep -q vmnet /proc/modules ; then
 MOD="vmware"
elif grep -q vboxdrv /proc/modules || grep -q vboxnetflt /proc/modules ; then
 MOD="vbox"
else MOD="none"
fi
}

kvm_unload() {
if  grep -q kvm_amd /proc/modules || grep -q kvm_intel /proc/modules || grep -q kvm /proc/modules ; then
 /sbin/rmmod kvm-$CPU_VENDOR
 /sbin/rmmod kvm
 echo "Removed $CPU_VENDOR KVM modules."
fi
}

vmware_unload() {
if  grep -q vmmon /proc/modules || grep -q vmnet /proc/modules ; then
 /etc/rc.d/hvm/vmware stop
fi
}

vbox_unload() {
if  grep -q vboxdrv /proc/modules || grep -q vboxnetflt /proc/modules ; then
 /etc/rc.d/hvm/rc.vboxdrv stop
fi
}

kvm_load() {
vbox_unload
vmware_unload
/sbin/modprobe kvm-$CPU_VENDOR
echo "Loaded $CPU_VENDOR KVM modules."
}

vmware_load() {
kvm_unload
vbox_unload
/etc/rc.d/hvm/vmware start
}

vbox_load() {
kvm_unload
vmware_unload
/etc/rc.d/hvm/rc.vboxdrv start
}

stop_all() {
vmware_unload
vbox_unload
kvm_unload

}

status() {
chk_mods
echo "Currently loaded modules: $MOD"
}

case "$1" in
'start')
 kvm_load
 ;;
'kvm')
 kvm_load
 ;;
'vmware')
 vmware_load
 ;;
'vbox')
 vbox_load
 ;;
'stop')
 stop_all
 ;;
'none')
 stop_all
 ;;
'restart')
 stop_all
 kvm_load
 ;;
'status')
 status
 ;;
'check')
 status
 ;;
*)
 echo "usage $0 start|kvm|vmware|vbox|stop|none|restart|status|check"
esac

KVM, VMWare and VirtualBox

I like having all three options available to me. Unfortunately, some of the virtualization vendors don't like my having these options. I want to have all three "big names" available to me whenever I want. Because VMWare Player 2.5 (and in turn, Workstation 6.5) absolutely refuses to install with KVM loaded, one must unload kernel modules for your favorite HVM utility before loading another.

This is where my rc.hvm script comes in. It loads the appropriate kernel modules for the HVM solution you wish to use at the time. This is pretty convenient on a desktop system where you may have all three installed at once.

Check it out. It requires you to make an /etc/rc.d/hvm dir, put the init scripts from VirtualBox and VMware (/etc/rc.d/rc.vboxdrv, /etc/rc.d/rc.vboxnet and /etc/init.d/vmware, respectively) into this new dir. Also, you may want to comment out the VBox portions of /etc/rc.d/rc.local so it isn't run automatically at boot time.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

#!/bin/sh
# Start/stop/restart kernel hardware virtualization support (hvm)
# This loads modules for VMWare/VirtualBox/KVM one at a time
# current default is KVM
#
# Written for Slackware Linux by Fred Richards (fredr/at/geexology.org)
# TODO: - sanity checking on functions
#

CPU_VENDOR="amd" # or intel

kvm_unload() {
  if  grep -q kvm /proc/modules ; then
      /sbin/rmmod kvm-$CPU_VENDOR
      /sbin/rmmod kvm
      echo "Removed $CPU_VENDOR KVM modules."
  fi
}

vmware_unload() {
  if  grep -q vmmon /proc/modules || grep -q vmnet /proc/modules ; then
      /etc/rc.d/hvm/vmware stop
  fi
}

vbox_unload() {
  if  grep -q vboxdrv /proc/modules ; then
      /etc/rc.d/hvm/rc.vboxdrv stop
      /etc/rc.d/hvm/rc.vboxnet stop
  fi
}

kvm_load() {
  rm /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  echo "kvm" > /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  vbox_unload
  vmware_unload
  /sbin/modprobe kvm-$CPU_VENDOR
  echo "Loaded $CPU_VENDOR KVM modules."
}

vmware_load() {
  rm /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  echo "vmware" > /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  kvm_unload
  vbox_unload
  /etc/rc.d/hvm/vmware start
}

vbox_load() {
  rm /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  echo "vbox" > /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  kvm_unload
  vmware_unload
  /etc/rc.d/hvm/rc.vboxdrv start
  /etc/rc.d/hvm/rc.vboxnet start
}

stop_all() {
  rm /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  echo "none" > /var/run/hvminfo.txt
  vmware_unload
  vbox_unload
  kvm_unload

}

status() {
  echo "Currently loaded modules: `cat /var/run/hvminfo.txt`"
}

case "$1" in
'start')
kvm_load
;;
'kvm')
kvm_load
;;
'vmware')
vmware_load
;;
'vbox')
vbox_load
;;
'stop')
stop_all
;;
'none')
stop_all
;;
'restart')
stop_all
kvm_load
;;
'status')
status
;;
*)
echo "usage $0 start|kvm|vmware|vbox|stop|none|restart|status"
esac

Fauxputers and Killing Time

Today heralded the release of VirtualBox 2.0.0 so I went and grabbed it, and promptly installed it on my Slamd64 workstation/host machine. It works pretty well, and trying out several Linux distros is a good way to kill time.

Speaking of killing time, this month marks the start of the new season of one of my favorite shows on television, Dexter on Showtime.

Is This Thing On?

Seeing as I've had this account, and the coordinating domain, for a while, now is as good a time as any to begin using it.

I'm currently sitting here watching There Will Be Blood, but it might as well be called there may be boredom emanating from this movie.