DevLog - Mad_Dud

Ubuntu 10.04 alpha2

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:12:30 +0100

Ubuntu 10.04 alpha2 available to download. Proceeding with tests. New awesome stuff:

Linux kernel 2.6.32
KDE SC 4.4 RC 1

Presentation: SVN and Git

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 22:26:48 +0100

I've had short presentation about Git and SVN revision control systems. Slides are available in PDF format.

yo just print like "hello world" bro

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 23:08:10 +0100

like Python - is that new candidate for the most hilarious programming language? Is lolcode.com still in lead?

Apple

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 19:02:30 +0100

This pictures pretty much summarize Apple politics: And for the big final:

Windows 7 godmode

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 15:29:13 +0100

Windows 7 has this cool feature, which allows user to administrate whole system from one place. It's Called GodMode and it's available for everyone by creating folder with title as following: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-82 5C-99712043E01C} I also recorded video clip which demonstrates GodMode's potential: BTW. this video made me 18th place in polish guru ranking yesterday. :-)

Why Mac?

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:43:57 +0100

Introduction

I received MacBook Pro from university half year ago. Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz, 4GB ram, 320GB hdd, Nvidia, “15 - very good components. Off the record this is my first long term contact with Apple's computer. I use PC since 1992 and have 9 years in professional experience. This is quite good opportunity to write down my thoughts about Apple mark.

Look and feel

Let's face it. It's notebook, so it's supposed to be portable. My MacBook wasn't traveling with me, but my friend was taking it to the university every day and now the casing is very damaged – plenty of scratches and black dots. Especially edges –lots of dents and that really doesn't look nice. Screen is also vulnerable to damages. Casing is very cold when computer is turned off, but after a while it reaches high temperatures because of wrongly designed warming system. Laptop doesn't have any air output holes which makes it very hot even on idle (~49^oC <5%CPU usage). Battery is very good. About 6 hours work and this battery status button on left site – very handy. Also magnets used to keep the lid closed and hold charge cable attached are nice ideas which prevent from breaking additional hooks and the power plug. Big touchpad is great solution in situations, where user can't use normal pointing device, but it sometimes disturbs while typing.

Hardware

Nothing can go wrong with high quality hardware components. Apple choose Intel, Kingstone, Western Digital and Nvidia as allies and it was great choice.

This table shows details of MacBook's hardware parameters and for sure there is now flaw in this configuration. Currently it's the weakest one among whole MacBook Pro offer.

Hardware specification
Model Name	MacBook Pro
Model Identifier	MacBookPro5,4
Processor Name	Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed	2.53 GHz
Number Of Processors	1
Total Number Of Cores	2
L2 Cache	3 MB
Memory	4 GB
Bus Speed	1.07 GHz
Hard drive	WD SATA 320GB
Video	GeForce 9400M
Screen	15-inch

I was asked to provide more information about hardware components, but I don't have any other computer, which could be compared with MacBook where it comes to performance.

Operating system

It's UNIX-based kernel adopted from BSD with C++ API, so it must be good. And I wasn't disappointed. Stable, fast, guarantees easy way to install applications and make system updates. Apple made many modifications to the kernel and peripherals, which violate Unix philosophy but help them in better hardware drivers management – that's why all Mac hardware works out of the box.

MacOS X graphical user interface is not ergonomic. Maybe it is user-friendly and easy to be adapted by new users, but to make it work really fast (keyboard shortcuts, custom task-bars, etc.) It's almost impossible to configure your own user interface, which is caused by very limited customization options. In long term use I found it extremely slow in navigation. The interface design is the reason for lots of desktop space loss, which is unacceptable for me. Top bar is good example, which doesn't have auto hide option available. I had to search for third party scripts to do so, not mentioning modifying body interface itself.

Applications

I found very problematic to get applications that fit my needs. Everything is very messy because of MacOS graphical interface and you can't do anything about it. Also right and middle mouse button successfully reduces ergonomic of programs. Because of small popularity, MacOS still doesn't have as much applications as Windows platform. It's also very hard to find good freeware programs, which is caused by very aggressive mac store advertisement. There is more bad news. MacOS is not popular platform for programmers mostly because of limited access to system libraries. Lately (December 2009) most popular video player lost it's last developer - “There are now effectively zero active developers for MacOS” claims notice on official VLC forum. But still there is lots of good free software available on-line thanks to UNIX-based kernel.

Operating system popularity
operating system	market share	apps on SF
Windows	92.21%	26120
Mac	5.11%	2056
Linux	1.02%	1673

Reliability

Because of good components, MacBook didn't break down yet. Apple products are second on Rescurecom reliability list which is good sign for hardware stability. From this point of view, all Apple computers are in very good quality, and it will be hard to put them next to Acer or Aristo products. There is also user issue, which means that most hardware problems are caused by incorrect usage - traveling with computer turned on in backpack, putting it next to source of heat or just ignoring basic cleanness rules like touching computer (especially screen) with dirty hands. But there is no hardware, which can survive this kind of treatment.

First summary

MacBook is good computer. Great performance and BSD kernel makes is really nice peace of device. But everything is ruined by the interface and lack of it's customization. This is perfect computer for users, who don't care about productivity of their time spent working with it. It's for users, who require computer just to work, and Apple products meet this requirement and fulfill it very well. It's hard to crash the operating system, applications are easy to install, lack of unnecessary alerts and notifications – clean and smooth.

“Hi, I'm Mac”

So what's all about this Mac vs PC war? On apple.com we can find couple of arguments “Why to choose mac?”:

It’s gorgeous. Inside and out.
Secure. Powerful. Compatible. Right out of the box.
It has the world’s most advanced operating system. And then some.
It’s a pleasure to buy and own.

First and last argument must be ignored because taste is individual aspect, so these arguments are void. Security mentioned in second argument is caused by BSD kernel, computer is powerful thanks to Intel and NVidia chipsets. The only thing which Apple made by itself is compatibility with other devices -Apple does not allow anyone else construct and sell their computers so hardware drivers are easy to control.

This is cherry on top: All hardware (beside firewire) is adapted from PC, operating system kernel comes from PC open source project, so why still Mac users claim that their computers are superior?

Security

Virus argument can be brought in this moment. Again user lack of knowledge causes problems here. First of all virus is one of several computer vulnerabilities, which are never mentioned, for example rootkits and spyware. Secondly In 2007 MacOS was most vulnerable operating system comparing to Windows XP and even this year's biggest premiere – Vista.

Windows XP, Vista and Mac OS X vulnerability stats for 2007
	XP	Vista	XP+Vista	Mac OS X
Toral extremely critical	3	1	4	0
Toral highly critical	19	12	23	234
Toral moderately critical	2	1	3	2
Toral less critical	3	1	4	7
Toral flaws	34	20	44*	243
Average flaws per month	2.83	1.67	3.67*	20.25

So we have most secured BSD kernel and so many security flaws in MacOS? Explanation for this strange situation can be found in Apple modifications which causes these problems. Almost all flaws listed above “moderately” level gives full control access over the target, which includes data (files, mails, passwords) loss and full control over system, which can make computer part of DdoS or spam botnet.

Stability

Mac wins here. So does every PC-Linux computer. The reason of MacOS'es stability is lack of driver problems like in Windows family. The easiest way to proof this point is to install MacOS on PC computer. Crash guaranteed.

Glamor

Apple products are all about the look. They must shine, they must be different than others. No discussion. If someone requires nice look from the device, Apple products may be good choice. There is also prestige aspect - Apple brand may be attractive pick for some reasons which I don't understand. I'm not much into fashion.

Second summary

Everyone has right to choose his favorite computer. It's going to be companion for couple of years. The key is to pick the one which fits the most. But as picking of a car, customer must have basic knowledge about many options. Apple's advert campaign is not very honest in many arguments (“Hi, I'm mac” paragraph) and because of atmosphere created around Apple's products, this big Mac vs Pc will never stop unless users wont understand what's really going on there.

Bibliography

http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=758
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/22/
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/13223/
http://secunia.com/advisories/product/96/
http://www.rescuecom.com/RESCUECOM269.html
http://www.appledefects.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_XMPP_client_software
http://www.apple.com/support/snowleopard/
http://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=59905#p228791
http://marketshare.hitslink.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=8

Comments

* - Vista and XP flaws does not sum because Vista was vulnerable for many of XP attacks.

Reviewers

tqm
Herki

Notes

This text has been inspired by my friend Kemot.

Printable

PDF

Do you like them?

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:42:05 +0100

The biggest polish news portal published common article about Albert Gonzalez and it wouldn't be nothing special there but this is just hilarious. It says: Do you like hackers? Yes No I don't know What were they thinking?

FreeBSD slipped

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:42:40 +0100

Couple of days ago local root 0day xploit has been released for FreeBSD family systems. Thx Herki! Patch your systems!


# freebsd-update fetch
# freebsd-update install

The End.

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:58:03 +0100

I want to die. Now.

I'm not an artist but..

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:08:41 +0100

... this photo looks quite nice.

Google Chrome OS - part 1

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:01:12 +0100

Google is fast. Just imagine that couple months ago they announced their own concept of operating system and here it is. Official premiere is announced on year 2010 but they already released iso with beta version. Here is VirtualBox screen available. My screens: Project details can be found here: chromium.org/chromium-os

Uptime 200

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:30:31 +0100

One of my servers reached uptime 200 days. I'm very happy because it's very close to my personal record, which is 247 days. My first server got this uptime... I was participating in Uptime-Project and I was in top 50... The project is down, but there is other one called second. For this anniversary I would like to present you couple of digits, which can tell you something about Red.

Network monthly statistics:

   month         rx      |      tx      |   total
-------------------------+--------------+--------------------------------------
  Jan '09      44.30 MB  |    31.13 MB  |    75.44 MB
  Feb '09       2.97 GB  |   706.20 MB  |     3.66 GB   %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%::::
  Mar '09     573.84 MB  |   594.89 MB  |     1.14 GB   %%%:::
  Apr '09     509.34 MB  |   876.70 MB  |     1.35 GB   %%%:::::
  May '09       1.20 GB  |     1.54 GB  |     2.74 GB   %%%%%%%:::::::::
  Jun '09     739.63 MB  |   803.10 MB  |     1.51 GB   %%%%:::::
  Jul '09     412.48 MB  |   627.91 MB  |     1.02 GB   %%::::
  Aug '09     405.00 MB  |   436.35 MB  |   841.35 MB   %%::
  Sep '09     425.86 MB  |   567.03 MB  |   992.88 MB   %%:::
  Oct '09     543.98 MB  |   891.55 MB  |     1.40 GB   %%%:::::
  Nov '09     176.91 MB  |   348.00 MB  |   524.90 MB   %::
-------------------------+--------------+--------------------------------------
 estimated       597 MB  |     1.15 GB  |     1.73 GB

Count of active users:

[mduda@red ~]$ ls -l /home/ | wc -l
      21

Memory, processor, etc... (from top)

last pid: 74982;  load averages:  0.32,  0.07,  0.02                      up 200+08:52:53 20:10:02
158 processes: 2 running, 156 sleeping
CPU: 35.7% user,  0.0% nice, 21.7% system,  1.6% interrupt, 41.1% idle
Mem: 51M Active, 12M Inact, 43M Wired, 4084K Cache, 21M Buf, 2812K Free
Swap: 56M Total, 47M Used, 8828K Free, 84% Inuse, 8K In

That's how i thought. BSD family systems are great. I must admit it - i wish I had more courage to change platform years ago, but I didn't i stayed with Slackware, which is still my favorite GNU/Linux distribution. But the difference in system architecture, ports, build in scripts (anti brute-force for ssh, jail) are absolutely insane and very surprising for old-fashioned Linux system administrator. I'm now working on yet another member of Tordo network, but I met problems with collecting hardware... People, who know my desktop workstation, usually find it interesting that I must have full system monitoring tool. I used to use Samurize.com (website down) on Windows, but in Linux I found conky unstable and heavy. Now i managed to configure it properly and finally it does what I want. Another good news - Windows 7 premiere. Great success. Guys did good job this time. Grab your VirtualBox and test-drive this baby, because it's really good peace of operating system. Stability, improved interface, good diagnostic tools, fixed filesystem, fixed many security issues. OK, that's it for now. See you around.

The power of BSD

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:23:41 +0100

This is how you do it.

# portsnap fetch
Looking up portsnap.FreeBSD.org mirrors... 3 mirrors found.
Fetching public key from portsnap2.FreeBSD.org... done.
Fetching snapshot tag from portsnap2.FreeBSD.org... done.
Fetching snapshot metadata... done.
Fetching snapshot generated at Sat Oct 31 01:19:37 CET 2009:
6f95d111a49bc1744b0912ef8f3e219a02cab196a6e6b3 100% of   59 MB  204 kBps 00m00s
Extracting snapshot... done.
Verifying snapshot integrity... done.
Fetching snapshot tag from portsnap2.FreeBSD.org... done.
Fetching snapshot metadata... done.
Updating from Sat Oct 31 01:19:37 CET 2009 to Sat Oct 31 14:15:10 CET 2009.
Fetching 4 metadata patches... done.
Applying metadata patches... done.
Fetching 0 metadata files... done.
Fetching 14 patches.....10.. done.
Applying patches... done.
Fetching 1 new ports or files... done.

PS1. Testing on vmware if freebsd behaves correctly as virtual machine server - quote close to craziness. PS2.


top - 19:51:04 up 2 days, 49 min,  2 users,  load average: 0.24, 0.79, 0.78
Tasks: 183 total,   2 running, 178 sleeping,   0 stopped,   3 zombie

3 zombies... my computer must know about Halloween

I'm fixed

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:37:19 +0200

Finally my leg is free. Now rehabilitation and let's move on with life. Santiago deserves hat tip. Waiting for digital x-ray photos...

Memory leak

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:19:47 +0200

That was actually funny. Suddenly Kubuntu 9.04 stopped responding. I always have htop on one of desktops, so i managed to switch view on it and i saw this: Quite interesting. I actually didn't check, what's causing it ... stupid me :-/

Tordo network was down for couple of hours

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:32:57 +0200

Finally it happened. My two main servers and whole lab network has been unaccessible from the Internet. It happened couple of minutes before 2pm today. Bringing everything back took me two hours. What happened, was my ISP increased bandwidth limits (10Mb/s) and my cable modem wasn't able to use this speed. Therefore we got new modem. Technical staff came to my home and they plugged in new device. They had to change modem's mac address and migrate all IP addresses to it. Unfortunately they forgot Tordo main's ip. Because i connect to whole network via main server, I couldn't "see" other machines. Eventually red connected to the Internet and I was able to log in. But main server was still missing. My father called ISP's call center and he put mobile phone next to headset, so i could talk with support member (i was on skype). I asked operator to give me all IP addresses of connected computers from my cable modem. There was no main server's IP on the list. I asked father to log in to my server locally by plugging in CRT monitor and keyboard. He has had token so he could check if network card got data from DHCP server. Test showed that server doesn't have ip parameters and I decided to reboot it. My father doesn't have root access and he can't do it locally. One reboot didn't help. but after second try everything came back to normal. Yes, it's very hard to remotely administrate this kind of network. Yes, it's worth it. Yes, i failed my users and they have right to be angry at me.

Next steps in life

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 09:21:01 +0200

Here i am. New standards, new environment. I always wanted to try something else, something from higher shelf. I hope, I'll make it. Anyway unfortunately I don't have time for my projects. It shouldn't last long, but still all project are friezed (expect current on-line Tordo network servers). You can handle it by yourself. News Tordo main has been reinstalled lately and now it's working on FreeBSD 7.2. It looks very good. lmmon doesn't work properly, but anything else is very good. Yes, there has been released 8.0 beta, but I'm in situation, where I can't fix servers locally. Therefore I had to leave them in as best and stable condition as possible. See you around

Moving on

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:21:21 +0200

There is too much to do and not enough time. I feel like slacking around every night, when I realize that none of my main project isn't closed yet. That's soo annoying! I gave up CatNet for a while in favor of AntHill botnet. Now this shit goes very good. Client almost ready. At the end of this week I'm planing to start main bot development. That is going to be very exciting peace of code. Twitter. Yes, this peace of shit, which sits next to myspace. Yep. I had to register under pressure of tqm. And you know what? It's not that bad. I just have to pick right channels to follow - with decent information. Some of you have heard of new Tordo network family member upcoming. Yep. It just needs good box to put in... be patient.

dud.project 4.2 test version goes public

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 14:54:05 +0200

Here is another realize of my website. Test version for now, because I'm not sure about couple of functions. Most changes are tech updates and new tools, for example DevLog search engine. Anyway here is changelog

Changelog build 20090610

fixing span - abbr on front page (look for dot-underlined text),
totally new cookies engine,
special guest login panel and more features,
devlog search engine,
devlog next/previos buttons,
devlog fixed comment form,
info updated Web places list,
info Friends tab (more options in restricted area),

In progress

Gallery

And now it's time for couple of news. CatNet - yeah. I know, you must hate me for that, but this project still can not be realized due the security issues. I still can find ways to mess with this code. I also consider rewriting it... GAP 4 with admin mode - quire good condition. Realize date probably in next week. Now let's see, what happened in last month. The number one event is astalavista hack. It appears that one of the most famous hacking website isn't really that much pr0. They used to store VIP users passwords in plaintext, their backups were stored on external servers with week passwords and so one. The biggest surprise was that they were stealing exploits from public servers... Today is forum.slackware 5th birthday! This forum was my second serious place where i could get useful information about GNU/Linux server administration methods.

Confidence 2009

mduda@tordo.net (Maciej Duda) — Mon, 18 May 2009 11:19:23 +0200

Great stuff, great people, lots of information, scope. I'm pissed off, because I should have started these kind of serious meetings much earlier. BTW. Cracow is quite nice place.