Paul Sutton

Note: This is related to a previous article on booting to the console published on 3/1/2020

With a standard Linux install the fonts on the console (this is the login you get with CTRL-ALT-Fn) are usually small, this is fine in some cases as most people don’t work from the console. However there may be times when you want to work directly at the console and not bother with a Graphical user interface.

I have worked out how to do this and there are some screen shots below to illustrate the process.

This applies to Debian 10 and others, you should consult assistance if you are not sure what you are doing

As root you need to enter dpkg-reconfigure console-setup

Once you have done this you need to type

setupcon

to activate the changes

You need to type this at the console. Typing in a terminal gives the following message.

setupcon: We are not on the console, the console is left unconfigured.

#Linux, #console, #fonts

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With most Linux systems, you boot in to a Graphical desktop. There are situations where you want to perhaps use a pure console.

While you can switch to a console with CTRL-ALT-Fn keys. If you want to set your system so that it boots directly in to a console you can do so via the instructions at the site below.

I have a spare netbook set up to boot in to the console.

Please see this link for instructions

• Set your system to boot in to the console

A similar post was on my original blog. I am reposting here to keep the information available.

#Linux, #boot, #console

You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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Mastodon

Over the past few months, the social network Mastodon, has seen a big increase in the number of new users joining.

Mostly people from networks Twitter, unhappy, mostly with censorship. In late 2019 there was a big migration from users in India.

Unlike with current mainstream (or should we just say old fashioned) social media. Mastodon is decentralised, so what does this mean?

In essence, there is no central control, just a development model. Mastodon is a network made up on independently owned server instances. These can all communicate with each other, thanks to a protocol called Activity Pub.

Mastodon, forms part of what is called the Fediverse. This numerous other social media instances such as Friendica ( which I am on), that also communicate with each other. The clever part is that the different social networks can communicate with each other.

With the Fediverse, privacy is important, you won't find:

• User tracking
• Tracking of Likes and shares
• Data collection
• Data sale, abuse and misuse of personal information
• Suggestions of friends based on interest
• Advertising

The fediverse, is what the community make it. Users post content, others, who find it interesting will comment, and contribute to the conversation.

During the UK general election campaign, the mainstream news media was taken over by election news. Social media played a big part in campaigning as politicians tried to convince the electorate they were the people to vote for.

Politics has not caught up yet. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing.

You can find topics of interest by searching for tags, which accompany posts.

If you think it is time to #DeleteFacebook or #DeleteTwitter then feel free to come over to a better way of doing things. There are alternatives to other services too, such as Google, Youtube, Instagram. All these alternatives federated so content can be shared on the Fediverse too.

References

• Join Mastodon
• Fediverse Party

#mastodon, #social, #network, #migration, #exodus, #decentralised, #privacy,

You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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Chelston Action Group flyer

I am sharing a flyer to help promote the local Chelston Action group Youth Club in Torquay.

• Flyer download

• Chelston Acton Group

#torquay, #chelstonactiongroup, #youthgroup, #flyer, #download

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Code Club 04/01/2020

The first Code Club of 2020 will be on Saturday 4th January at

• Paignton Library and information Centre
• Scratch Website
• w3 Schools website
• 31 day Scratch Challenge

This may be a little advanced for Code Club but as we are working on creating a website then this may be useful.

• Website –> Mobile App using JSON

#coding, #codeclub, #programming, #scratch, #python, #html, #css, #javascript,#coding

You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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Advocacy – The barriers to effective promotion

I have just tried to follow some links at the following site

https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/

If I click 2020 and follow the link to https://www.documentfreedom.org/ then I get a page that gives me the date for 2018 (so kinda out of date)

The link for hardware freedom day goes to

https://www.softwarefreedomday.org/ so it seems some of the links just go back on themselves. Not really helpful.

On the tab for 2020 there is no direct link to software freedom day.

I am happy to promote all this, but unless people can find what they expect they will just stick to what they are using now and go away with a really negative idea of what this is about.

Stickers like this and another one are great for advocacy, but useless if they link to outdated information.

I just find it very frustrating, and people will point out to us that they don't get this with Microsoft.

This is what we are up against. I feel that we just need to be far more effective, update information and ensure it is kept up to date.

References

• Software Freedom Day (SFD)
• Document Freedom

#freedom, #softeware, #hardware, #documents, #promotion, #advocacy, #barriers,

You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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I found this on Twitter and decided to share here.

Septor Linux is a operating system that provides users with a perfect computing environment for surfing the Internet anonymously.

• Septor Linux

#debian, #kde, #linux, #tor, #privacy, #anonymously, #Onion, #septorLinux

You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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STUDENT PROJECT FOR LIBRE VE TOOLBOX

This was posted to the Fediverse. I am sharing here as this seems a really good opportunity for students to learn and gain valuable experience within free software and software development. Please download flyer for information.

• Project Home page
• Information flyer

#freesoftware, #development, #student, #opportunity, #eu

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Wishing a happy new year to all readers and followers of this blog.

#2020, #newyear You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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I am currently working through another short OpenLearn course. This time I am exploring the constellation of Orion.

Having previously studied other Space science courses, some of the concepts are easier to understand, such as the lifecycle of stars.

Despite understanding the maths behind huge numbers. Distances such as 1 light year are massive : (ly) $$9.5 \times 10^{12} km. $$

The subsequent distance to the Orion Nebula which is 1600 light years. Therefore $$1600 \times 9.5 \times 10^{12} km $$.

I think, that this should be expressed as $$1.6 \times 9.5 \times 10^{15} km $$

Understandably it is difficult to imagine the sort of distances involved.

If you intend to study this course. I would recommend other courses first. Courses such as 'The Sun' may be a good starting point.

I am about ½ way through the second week of the course. Currently looking at the life cycle of a star beyond the main sequence phase, so this includes Red Giants, Brown / White dwarf, Supernova and black holes, or at least how and under what conditions these are formed.

You do need an astronomy package, to help with the course. This comes in more useful, if you don't have clear skies to observe Orion. I have discussed how to use the kstars package to find Orion in post yesterday (30/12/2019).

What I can take from this course, is some inspiration to write some posts about other constellations of the night sky.

References :

• Open Learn
• kstars
• Torbay Astronomical Society

It may be beneficial to have a look at these courses before embarking on this longer course:

• The Sun Openlearn course that ties in with this course.
• Galaxies, stars and planets

The Galaxies stars and planets course has a section on the scale of the universe, which is helpful to help you understand very large numbers.

#astronony, #study, #openuniversity, #openlearn, #free, #shortcourse, #orion

You can find me on Friendica at zleap@social.isurf.ca

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