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If you’re one of those people who only now discover GNU/Linux for gaming (with Steam and all), you might find this useful: http://www.ryochan7.com/projects/antimicro/ I’ve tried several tools that map controller input to keyboard keys, but AntiMicro is the most reliable and easiest to use in my opinion. Many GNU/Linux developers forget to implement native Linux joystick device support into their games, but often this is crucial for games like Stealth Bastard Deluxe or Super Meat Boy. If you encounter such a game, AntiMicro will let you play it just fine with any USB controller, ranging from cheap-ass $2 Chinese crap up to expensive Logitech controllers. ...

I was very surprised to see that Bumblebee (a way to use Nvidia’s Optimus technology on GNU/Linux) now works flawlessly on GNU/Linux. The Debian guys somehow managed to get all the fiddly components talking to each other, and this shit works flawlessly. You’ll need jessie (the current testing release). It’s as easy as: apt-get install bumblebee nvidia-kernel-dkms glx-alternative-nvidia nvidia-glx After that, I just had to do: update-alternatives --config glx To select my old Mesa GLX so that by default, it would use the built-in Intel graphics card even for 3D stuff. Finally there’s this handy hint from the GNU/Linux devs at Valve. ...

I’ve written about getting rid of Google before, and that was before the whole NSA/PRISM shitstorm. I’m sure people today find even more reasons to get Google out of their lives. I wasn’t just doing nothing all this time either. Since the last post, the following has happened: My contacts are synced with my own CardDAV server instead of to Google, so Google won’t get their hands on my friends’, colleagues’ and family’s personal data through me anymore. My calendar goes to my own CalDAV server, so Google no longer knows what I’m doing when, where and with whom. DuckDuckGo has improved so much as a search engine that I don’t feel like I’m missing something by not searching on Google anymore. One problem still remains: I use an Android device, so you never know what else Google might be collecting through there. I’m watching Jolla and Sailfish as well as Firefox OS to see if and when there is some way to get a truly independent mobile device. That is the only piece of the puzzle still missing, and Google Play is the only way Google still gets at my stuff. ...

I recently bought a book through Amazon because their price was ridiculously cheaper than the competition’s. Of course their crazy DRM prevented me from using the book on my open and friendly Boox reader, but then I found Alf the Apprentice’s tools on his blog. I used Calibre, Wine and the Windows version of Kindle’s reader software, and ten minutes of fiddling later I could actually read the book I bought. ...

Update: Just like XMPP is slowly dying, Swissjabber has also kicked the bucket. Rest in peace, my friend. If you’re Swiss and need to have a Google Talk alternative for your XMPP-based chat needs, consider Swissjabber. I’ve created an account there and discontinued my Google Talk one, so if you want to contact me via XMPP, add psy-q@swissjabber.org.

One of my customers is in a very unhappy situation: He bought a piece of proprietary software that runs on RedHat’s Enterprise Linux 3, and now the company he bought it from is no longer available. What’s worse, they’ve tied their software to a USB copy protection dongle that uses a homemade Linux kernel module that only works on Linux 2.4. This customer’s entire business depends on this piece of software. And now the server it’s running on is slowly falling apart, entire CPUs have burned due to failing fans, and there’s a proprietary RAID controller doing dangerous things to old and strange SCSI disks that have been unavailable on the market for several years already. ...

Here’s a use case: You want to run an application server that only speaks HTTP, but securely, over HTTPS. The problem is that the application server won’t know that it’s being accessed via HTTPS, so any URLs and redirects it generates might point to HTTP. Here’s an example virtual host entry that takes care of that by rewriting the header. You need Apache, mod_proxy and mod_headers. <VirtualHost *:443> ServerName foo.bar.example.com SSLEngine on SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/ssl-cert-snakeoil.pem SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/ssl-cert-snakeoil.key Header edit Location "^http:(.*)$" "https:$1" PassengerEnabled off ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:3000/ ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:3000/ DocumentRoot /var/www/foo/bar <Directory /var/www/foo/bar> AllowOverride none Options -MultiViews </Directory> </VirtualHost> The magical line is the one with “Header edit…”. This makes sure any request your app server would have sent to HTTP are rewritten to HTTPS. ...

With Google’s questionable treatment of privacy, you might want to gain some distance from that company. I’ve done that myself a couple of steps at a time, and now I’m at the point where only one or two unhappy circumstances keep me nailed to the crucifix of Google systems and services. Here’s what worked well: Replacing Google Reader with my own TinyTinyRSS instance. Replacing Picasa with my own Gallery instance. Replacing Gmail with my own Postfix and Courier servers. I use a fucking awesome email client and organize my stuff well, so I never need to rely on Gmail search anyhow. ...

I was quite annoyed that the Steam Cloud seems to misread file timestamps some of the time, resulting in game saves being overwritten with older versions. And since Steam doesn’t offer a way to reliably find out which save is the most recent one, I needed something better. The things I need: Connects over SSH, works with an SFTP/SSH server Transmits only file differences Reliably determines which copy of the pair is the newest Takes any required actions to make the older copy be identical to the newer one Works on GNU/Linux and Windows, since some games still aren’t available on Linux Should be able to save sets of pre-defined sources and targets so I can sync with one click or command If you have similar needs, I might have a recommendation for you: Unison. Unison is not new, but directory synchronization (especially cross-platform) is not a trivial problem, and Unison has had a solution since 1998 and has only improved since then. ...

I recently discovered Sublime Text and bought a license even though I rarely use proprietary software for work. That’s how good it felt to me. But if you’re comfortable with an editor like vim, you can make vim feel almost like Sublime, using only free and open source software (FOSS). vim (and emacs) have had many of the features that Sublime has, in some cases for decades. Here’s a very small and simple guide for making vim look and behave a little like Sublime. ...