[sf-lug] Precis of Linux Pro Magazine issue #245 April 2021

[Bobbie Sellers]

Linux Pro Issue #245 - April 2021

Distributions of the Month on a double sided DVD.
Both are 64 bit.
MX Linux MX-19.3 - in our library
Arch Linux 2021.02.01 - in our library

Cover leads with IOBroker Home Automation with a Rasp Pi

Choose a Shell - Compares Bash, Zsj, and fish

Elk Stack - Keep watch over your logs.

Rendering Images as Text

Boop Keep it local with this scriptable notepad°

Xubuntu on a Dell Refurbish your old laptop

detLFS - Learn about Linux by building a mini OS

Go Tricks - Create a Maze

LINUXVOICE
o The rise of the small internet
o Font Manager: Keep your type straight.
o maddog:The benefits of POS/ERP system

FOSSPicks
• LibreSprite Pixel Editor
• NeoChat Chat Client
• Drumstick MIDI Monitor

Tutorial
• Efficient Searches with ugrep

Welcome to Linux Pro Editorial - NEWS FIX
Talks about the problems of loss of newspapers due to net connection.

Contents

WHAT'S INSIDE
You’re never stuck with the same old command shell – unless you
want to be. This month we review some of the leading alternatives.

Also inside:
•     Boop – this scriptable digital notepad lets you keep your
conversions local (page 26).

•     Converting Images to Text – tricky tools for text as a medium
for your art (page 30).

Check out MakerSpace for a look at building a minimal Raspberry Pi OS
from source, and turn to Linux Voice for a story on the new (and old)
protocols that just might save the Internet.

08 News
• Elementary OS Offers Multi-Touch Gesture Support

• Sudo Patch for Decade-Old Flaw

• Slimbook Titan: Another New Linux Laptop

• Golang Worm Targeting Linux Servers

•  Fileless Malware Attacks Linux Systems

11Kernel News

• No More Worlds to Conquer?

• Saving the World, One Graphics Card at a Time

• How to Train Your Kernel Developer

14 Shell Shopping

Don’t let your familiarity with the Bash shell stop you from exploring other
options. We take a look at a pair of alternatives that are easy to 
install and
easy to use: Zsh and fish.

REVIEWS

22  Distro Walk – Manjaro Linux
Standing on the shoulders of Arch Linux, Manjaro offers simplicity and
stability.

IN-DEPTH  26 Boop
This digital scratchpad lets you convert data from your desktop
instead of exposing it to sketchy online tools.

29 Charly – gping and Nextinspace Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, Charly
has time to devote to gadgets like graphical ping tools, flashing space
stations, and space walks.

30 Converting Images to Text If you need to display an image in the
terminal or as plain HTML, a variety of smart tools can help with the 
conversion.

34 Command Line – Mutt
Mutt, a command-line email client, can do anything a desktop client can with
less overhead and a smaller attack surface.

38 ELK Stack Workshop
ELK Stack is a powerful monitoring system known for efficient log
management and versatile visualization. This hands-on workshop will help you
take your first steps.

46 Xubuntu Dell Notebook Combining a Dell notebook with Xubuntu and an
M.2 SSD makes for a reasonably priced, high-performance system for all your
3D printing projects.

50    Programming Snapshot – Go Mazes
Mike Schilli uses his Go programming skills to create a maze and then
efficiently travel through it.

56  Keyboardio Atreus A first for laptops, Keyboardio Atreus
offers an ergonomic, portable keyboard with customizable key programming.

LINUXVoice

69 Welcome This month in Linux Voice.

70 Doghouse – Economics An affordable open source POS/​ERP
system has many potential benefits for small businesses.

72 The Rise of the Small Internet The danger and irritations of the
modern web have unleashed a movement dedicated to creating a
safer and simpler alternative.

80 Font Manager -Find the font you’re looking for and
compare font options side by side.

84 FOSSPicks -This month Graham reviews PeaZip,
LibreSprite, NeoChat, Beaker, Giada, Thrive, Kurve, and much more!

90 Tutorial – ugrep
Searching for text in files or data streams is a common and important
function. Ugrep tackles this task quickly, efficiently, and even
interactively if needed.


THIS MONTH’S NEWS
08  •  Multi-Touch Elementary OS Gesture  Offers Support

09  •  Old Sudo Flaw  Patch for Decade-flaw
       • Slimbook Titan: Another New Linux Laptop
       • More Online
10  • Golang Linux Servers Worm Targeting
       •  Fileless Malware Attacks Linux Systems

Zack’s Kernel News
relates some interesting matters recently explored by Linus T. and his
close collaborators.

COVER STORY - Bash Alternatives
I think the title sums this up as being not about choosing a shell but 
choosing
an alternative shell to Bash depending on your names.

Manjaro review tell us little new but Manjaro will be on Pine Phone Beta 
with
the KDE phone desktop.

Boop sounds very useful.  It converts data and checks lots of stuff that you
might be working on without resort to the online programs that might be
exposing your information/data/program to malicious influences.

Charly’s Column – gping and Nextinspace
gping provide graphical output in a console.
Nextinspace provides a signal to a model to flash a LED when the Space
Station passes overhead.

IN-DEPTH
Converting Images to Text  - in case you hadn't noticed or have not not 
around
long enough to notice, converting images to text has been around quite a 
while
and used to be done on platforms like the Commodore C=64,  We used to see
a lot of it on Usenet where ASCII images or alternatively images 
converted to
Uuencode were popular but the uuencode were quite unwieldy sometimes
spread over multiple posts which had to be saved our then uudecoded to
see the image.  The ASCII images were much handier.  Anyhow this article
covers modern ways to convert that image to text.

IN-DEPTH Command Line – Mutt An efficient command-line email client

Mutt for Beginners - is comprehensive for Mutt and beginners but
I used to use Mutt and Pine with only the online help.  Maybe that
is the reason I use Thunderbird these days.


IN-DEPTH - ELK Stack Workshop

Getting started with the ELK Stack monitoring solution Elk Hunting
ELK Stack is a powerful monitoring system known for efficient log 
management and versatile
visualization. This hands-on workshop will help you take your first 
steps with setting up your
own ELK Stack monitoring solution. By Tomasz Szandała

And this is a stack not a single program but a bunch of programs that 
provide functions
useful to the task of Log Monitoring.   It is a long article due to that.

IN-DEPTH - Xubuntu Dell Notebook
Installing Xubuntu on a Dell notebook
Upgrade
Combining a Dell notebook with Xubuntu and an M.2 SSD makes for a 
reasonably priced,
high-performance system for all your 3D printing projects. By Rob 
“drtorq” Reilly
     Well I found that a standard SATA SSD really makes my work on this 
old Dell 7450
zing along and am sure that the M.2.SSD might be faster.  He used 
Xubuntu because
he had experience with it.  Other GNU/Linux systems might work just as 
well.  Now
he is doing 3D printing and discusses the printer and the programs he uses.

IN-DEPTH - Programming Snapshot – Go MazesAn ergonomic laptop keyboard
CustomComfort

Creating and solving mazes with Go
                 Amazed
Mazes fascinated even the ancient Greeks. Mike Schilli uses his Go 
programming skills to
create a maze and then efficiently travel through it. By Mike Schilli

IN-DEPTH  - KeyboardioAtreus
     An ergonomic laptop keyboard CustomComfort
A first for laptops, Keyboardio Atreuskey programming. By Bruce Byfield
  Almost Generally smaller many not designed always, laptops, than 
speaking,

Ergonomic keyboards for laptops simply do not exist. Or rather they did 
not until
recently, when Keyboardio teamed up with keyboard designer Phil Hagelberg
of Technomancy to produce the Keyboar-dio Atreus (Figure 1) [1]. 
Although not
integrated into a laptop frame, this portable USB keyboard is the length 
of a ba-
nana, making it easy to carry. It fulfills the long-ignored need for an 
ergonomic
laptop keyboard – although you might want to change the factory layout 
to suit
your needs.
Keyboardio first gained attention in 2017 with its Model 01 [2], a split 
keyboard
with ergonomic, programmable mechanical keys and backlights...


MakerSpace - Build a minimal Raspberry Pi OS from source
Raspberry Pi DIY
The detLFS project provides an ideal foundation for compiling Linux from 
source
code, either to experience the fundamentals of how Linux works or to 
prepare an
operating system for a project with very specific requirements. By 
Bernhard Bablok

MakerSpace - Home automation with a Raspberry Pi Home Director
Control devices from different manufacturers of home
automation devices from a single interface by combining
free software and a Raspberry Pi. By Erik Bärwaldt

LINUXVOICE
Starts by reminding us of the Pre-Web Internet and the fact that it
was mostly text but no intrusive ads or banners.

Maddog in Economics, is talking about Point of Sale/Enterprise Resource 
Planning systems.
If a shop of any sort might be in your future then you should check out 
his short article.

LINUX VOICE THE RISE OF THE SMALL INTERNET

Gopher, Gemini, and the rise of the small Internet, Beyond the Web 
discusses the old Gopher and the new Gemini protocols.  If you feel the 
intrusive nature of the WWW then you might want
to follow this article and see if you can use the tools suggested.

LINUX VOICE FONT MANAGER
Simplify font selection with Font Manager
Font Roundup

Font Manager makes it simpler to find the specific font you’re looking 
for and to
compare font options side by side. BY CHRISTOPH LANGNER

LINUXVOICE-FOSSPicks

  Sparkling releases gems and new release from world of Free and Open 
Source Software
  Not content with reliving his youth through retro gaming, Graham recently
used OpenSCAD to design and build a bike ramp to practice bike jumps in
his garden! BY GRAHAM MORRISON

Pixel editor - LibreSprite
Chat client - NeoChat
RSS reader -QuiteRSS
MIDI monitor - Drumstick MIDI Monitor
Archiver - PeaZip
Peer-to-peer web browser - Beaker
Python IDE - Thonny
Sample player - Giada
Evolution simulator - Thrive
Multiplayer game - Kurve

TUTORIAL – UGREP
Search more efficiently with ugrep Tracked Down

Searching for text in files or data streams is a common and important 
function.
Ugrep tackles this task quickly, efficiently, and even interactively if 
needed.
BY KARSTEN GÜNTHER and he tell us everything we need to know to use
ugrep.

SERVICE - Events - FEATURED EVENTS
Users, developers, and vendors meet at Linux events around the world.
We at Linux Magazine are proud to sponsor the Featured Events shown here.
For other events near you, check our extensive events calendar online at
<https://www.linux-magazine.com/events>.
If you know of another Linux event you would like us to add to our calendar,
please send a message with all the details to events at linux-magazine.com.
NOTICE -Be sure to check the event website before booking any
travel, as many events are being canceled or converted
to virtual events due to the effects of COVID-19.

DrupalCon North America 2021
Date: April 12-16, 2021
Location: Virtual  Event
Website:
https://events.drupal.org/drupalcon2021
DrupalCon North America is where the
people who make digital experiences
possible come together to innovate. This
week-long event is all virtual and all
inclusive, with opportunities to learn,
connect, and build with Drupal.
Participate wherever you are, whether
you're experienced or new to Drupal.

DevOpsCon Hybrid Edition
Date: April 21-23, 2021
Location: Virtual Event
Website: https://devopscon.io/london/
DevOps is fundamentally changing the
IT world and sets the path for successful
business transformation. Join DevOp-
sCon to learn about the latest tools,
technologies, and methodologies for
building and maintaining secure, scal-
able, and resilient software systems.

A lot more event are scheduled so check that URL
<https://www.linux-magazine.com/events>.


  APRIL 2021  ISSUE 245 LINUX-MAGAZINE.COM | LINUXPROMAGAZINE.COM