I kid, but @CentOS Stream 8 is SOLID AS A MF ROCK

Gthumb is my go-to photo-editing (yes, I said EDITING) app. I use it ALL THE TIME. It's available on most Linux systems. Thanks to @carlwgeorge for creating the EPEL package. https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Gthumb

I don't think using Vim is like playing a musical instrument, but it is like operating a complex machine, or maybe playing an instrument at a lower level.

Tonight's CentOS Stream 8 updates for my system

• kernel 4.18.0-331.el8
• ModemManager
• NetworkManager
• bpftool
• curl
• device-mapper
• kmod-kvdo
• lvm2
• selinux-policy
• shadow-utils
• sos

I just saw Fedora Hyperkitty — where the project archives its mailing lists — for the first time. It's a VERY impressive interface. https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/

.@AlmaLinux offers live media for GNOME, Xfce and KDE. It's a stunning (and needed) achievement for RHEL-based distros. https://www.reddit.com/r/AlmaLinux/comments/p3um25/almalinux_8_live_media_beta_now_with_kde_and_xfce/

So far, @debian Bullseye is strong on my mid-2011 iMac. In-place upgrade went off without a hitch.

And I thought CentOS 8 Stream confusion wasn't discussed on the CentOS Forum https://forums.centos.org/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=77952

In some ways, @CentOS Stream 8 is ahead of RHEL when it comes to security updates. Notable in this bunch from 8/12/21 are exiv2 and firefox-esr, which were just announced today -- 8/16 -- for RHEL. http://updates.passthejoe.net/2021_0812_061005_today_s_centos_stream_8_updates_on_my_system

Tweeting with blogPoster from Debian 11 running Ruby 2.7.4

I am upgrading the 2011 iMac 27-inch from @debian Buster to Bullseye. So far, so good.

The official @Debian 11 Bullseye release announcement https://www.debian.org/News/2021/20210814

There's something very exciting about a new @debian release, even though I tested it months ago. The two-ish-year cadence seems to really work. https://micronews.debian.org/2021/1628980288.html

I got a bunch of very timely updates today in @CentOS Stream 8, including Firefox, so that's a plus. The murkiness of kernel updates is annoying, but I have to trust the @RedHat/CentOS developers to keep these systems secure.

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

• NetworkManager
• anaconda
• blivet-data
• cockpit
• device-mapper
• dnf
• dnsmasq
• dracut
• dyninst
• exiv2
• firefox
• firewalld
• gdb
• gnome-session
• gnome-shell
• iproute
• iscsi-initiator-utils
• A lot of iwl firmware
• kexec-tools
• lvm2
• lz4
• mcelog
• mdadm
• mobile-broadband-provider-info
• openldap
• poppler
• rsyslog
• sssd
• subscription-manager
• systemtap
• tpm2-tools
• yum

I did some significant work on the blogPoster microblog/Twitter/Mastodon posting app today. And all of that work is now in the Main branch. https://github.com/passthejoe/blogPoster

Atwater Village amp repairer and maker Colleen Fazio https://www.fazioelectric.com/about

Testing new code for Mastodon posting with the http Ruby gem

How L.A.'s indie bookstores survived the COVID pandemic - Dorany Pineda/Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-06-16/indie-bookstores-in-la-say-theyre-out-of-the-red

How A Good Used Book's L.A. pop-ups survived COVID-19 - Max Bell/Los Angeles Times https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-08-05/how-l-a-s-most-innovative-pop-up-bookstore-barely-survived-the-pandemic

The firefox-esr package is in MUCH better shape than chromium on Debian systems. It is up to date. https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/firefox-esr

There hasn't been a new Chromium package in any Debian version (stable, testing or unstable) since May 21. Not great. It's a security mess. https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/chromium

I will be returning Mastodon support to blogPoster. I will not be using the mastodon-api Ruby gem. Instead I will do the posting to Mastodon via the http gem. https://github.com/passthejoe/blogPoster/

git rm - How can I delete a file from a Git repository? - Stack Overflow https://stackoverflow.com/a/2047477

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

• alsa-sof-firmware
• flatpak
• kmod-kvdo
• nfs-utils
• nvme-cli
• policycoreutils
• selinux-policy

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

• alsa-sof-firmware
• flatpak
• kmod-kvdo
• nfs-utils
• nvme-cli
• policycoreutils
• selinux-policy

Universities often omit any mention of the private companies that help run their online degrees, but these companies typically take a 60 percent cut of tuition, sometimes more. - HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/highline/article/capitalist-takeover-college/

I tried Fedora's Toolbox utility today in CentOS Stream 8. I wasn't impressed, and it also isn't what I'm looking for. Maybe GNOME Boxes will be better.

While Revue is owned by Twitter, there's no integration of comments (even a Twitter feed) in their newsletters. Substack has comments baked in, and I've seen writers use them to solicit discussion.

The mastodon-api Ruby gem has had trouble for some time. It hasn't worked since Ruby 2.7.1 — at least a year. https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon-api/issues/49

I'm now developing blogPoster in Ruby 3.0.2 via rbenv. I upgraded the Twitter gem from 6.2.0 to 7.0.0, which means no Mastodon support. If the mastodon-api gem is ever updated, or I find another solution, I'll bring it back. https://github.com/passthejoe/blogPoster

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

• kernel 4.18.0-326.el8
• NetworkManager
• anaconda
• bpftool
• chkconfig
• device-mapper-multipath
• firefox
• gnome-calculator
• gtk3
• sos
• vdo

I am experimenting with rbenv. Right now I'm using Ruby 3.0.2 https://github.com/rbenv/rbenv

Could I use my iMac running Debian to get video off of a digital-tape camcorder? https://www.arsouyes.org/en/blog/2021/2021-07-05_Numerisation_DV

Updates to my CentOS Stream 8 system today (that notably don't include a new kernel EIGHT days after a major vulnerability was patched in RHEL):

• NetworkManager
• bash
• cockpit
• cups-filters
• dhcp-client
• glibc
• gnome-shell
• gsettings-desktop-schemas
• kexec-tools
• mdadm
• microcode_ctl
• sssd
• systemd
• tuned
• webkit2gtk3

Planning the CentOS 8 endgame - Jake Edge/LWN.net https://lwn.net/Articles/862832/

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

• anaconda
• authselect
• gcc
• gnome-shell
• java-11
• man-pages-overrides
• mutter
• openssl
• ostree
• rpm
• samba
• selinux-policy
• subscription-manager
• tigervnc
• util-linux
• xfsprogs

Chromium hasn't been updated for Debian Stable since May https://tracker.debian.org/pkg/chromium

I'm not sure exactly what @vivaldibrowser has done in the past couple of months or so, but I can tell you that it is DEFINITELY ready for prime-time on Linux.

Wanted: More scientists of color for better science - Axios https://www.axios.com/hard-truths-deep-dive-science-race-underrepresentation-scientists-083e0441-a58c-4c47-bf9b-4045aa7589d7.html

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

• NetworkManager
• autoconf
• binutils
• blivet-data
• cockpit
• coreutils
• device-mapper-multipath
• firefox
• glib2
• gnome-shell
• gnome-software
• ibus
• java 1.8.0
• java 11
• kpartx
• man-pages-overrides
• nettle
• nss
• openjpeg2
• parted
• rsyslog
• tuned
• valgrind
• vulcan-loader
• webkit2gtk3

My current setup remains CentOS Stream 8 on the HP Envy laptop. My work browser is Vivaldi, my not-work browser is Firefox. http://centos.org

blogPoster now has a Twitter-only branch in GitHub. Unfortunately that seems to be the direction in which things are heading. https://github.com/passthejoe/blogPoster

blogPoster update: Ruby 3.0 is working for Twitter in Windows, but in Linux it'sno-go for the entire app in Ruby 3.0. I thought I could disable Mastodon posting and have it work, but no. Another problem: My Fedora laptop's keyboard is dying again, making testing difficult. https://github.com/passthejoe/blogPoster

USA Today is getting a paywall. Who’s the audience for it? - Joshua Benton/Nieman Journalism Lab https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/07/usa-today-is-getting-a-paywall-whos-the-audience-for-it/

How does the twitter 7.0.0 Ruby gem play with Ruby 3.0? I'm about to find out.

This is my blogPoster app with an updated Twitter gem and NO mastodon-api gem. Let's see how it works.

Twitter sends me a LOT of ads for video games. Do they know I have zero interest?

I need to set up my blogPoster app with the newer version of the Twitter gem and no mastodon-api gem. If that solves the issues with Ruby >= 2.7, I might leave the unmaintained mastodon-api on the side of the road and make the app Twitter only. https://github.com/passthejoe/blogPoster

I read a book. It was "The Big Sleep," by Raymond Chandler. I had never read it before, though I have seen the movie.

Today's CentOS Stream 8 updates on my system

NetworkManager anaconda centos-backgrounds centos-logos glib2 glibc java 1.8.0 nettle nss selinux-policy sssd vino xorg-x11-server-Xwayland

This site has an archive page. Every post appears via one giant HTML file that I generate on the server. There's a little Javascript that tells you it's the archive page in the right rail. http://updates.passthejoe.net/archive.html

I wasn't in CentOS Stream 8 for a week, and I had quite a few updates waiting for me. RHEL/CentOS is a LOT more dynamic that you'd think. I've seen little bugs get fixed here and there. It's a lot more active than Debian Stable.

I need to run curl with NO output, and I used the --silent switch to do it. You can also use -s, but I like --silent because it tells me what it does.

The mastodon-api Ruby gem has had issues since Ruby 2.7.1 https://github.com/tootsuite/mastodon-api/issues/49

Now that I'm running Windows 10 without performance-crushing updates looming, it's a fairly pleasant experience. Solve the update problems, @microsoft.

Leo Garcia's Six String Journal is a very strong and informative classical guitar site https://sixstringjournal.com

I read two interviews in one day with musicians who said learning a piece by playing it 100 times all the way through isn't as good as perfecting one section, then another.

You can learn by doing and do by learning

Once you get past the updates and let things "settle" for a day or so, Windows 10 can be a pleasant, productive environment.