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Run a command on binary files with this script

Fri, 03/20/2020 - 15:00

Examining files from the command-line is generally an easy thing to do. You just run the command you want, followed by a list of files to be examined. Dealing with binary files, however, is more complicated. These files are often packaged up into archives, tarballs, or other packaging formats. The run-on-binaries script provides a convenient way to run a command on a collection of files, regardless of how they are packaged.

The invocation of the script is quite simple:


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Tools for monitoring, introvert inclusion, and more industry trends

Thu, 03/19/2020 - 21:55

As part of my role as a senior product marketing manager at an enterprise software company with an open source development model, I publish a regular update about open source community, market, and industry trends for product marketers, managers, and other influencers. Here are five of my and their favorite articles from that update.


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4 Markdown tools for the Linux command line

Thu, 03/19/2020 - 15:02

When it comes to working with files formatted with Markdown, command-line tools rule the roost. They're light, fast, powerful, and flexible, and most of them follow the Unix philosophy of doing one thing well.

Take a look at four utilities that can help you work more efficiently with Markdown files at the command line.


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7 open hardware projects working to solve COVID-19

Thu, 03/19/2020 - 15:02

The open source hardware movement has long championed the importance of the right to repair, fully own the technology you buy, and be able to remix and reproduce gadgets, just like you can with music. And so, during this challenging time, open hardware is providing some answers to some of the problems created by the coronavirus pandemic.


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My top 6 open source frameworks for web development

Thu, 03/19/2020 - 15:00

There are a lot of backend frameworks that are open source and easily available, but not all of them offer great features. Backend frameworks are an essential part of website development, as they work as the nuts and bolts of a website. Basically, they handle everything behind the scenes of a website.

Backend frameworks have extensive libraries, APIs, web servers, and a lot more. They are responsible for the database, ensuring it makes proper communication with the front end and generates backend functionality.


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Top 10 open source tools for working from home

Wed, 03/18/2020 - 15:03

If you work from home, you know how important it is to have a great set of tools that stay out of your way and let you focus on what matters. The harder you work during work hours, the more easily you can relax once the workday is through.

I've been working from home for years, and here are my top picks for the best tools open source has to offer the remote worker.

Jitsi video conferencing


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Share data between C and Python with this messaging library

Wed, 03/18/2020 - 15:02

I've had moments as a software engineer when I'm asked to do a task that sends shivers down my spine. One such moment was when I had to write an interface between some new hardware infrastructure that requires C and a cloud infrastructure, which is primarily Python.


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Make advanced Git tasks simple with Lazygit

Wed, 03/18/2020 - 15:01

If there's one word people use to describe Git, it's "powerful." Nobody can deny that Git is indeed a powerful beast, but after months of struggling to do embarrassingly basic things in it, I realized that mere mortals like me were never going to wield that power through a command-line interface.


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How I connect with non-English speakers about open source

Wed, 03/18/2020 - 15:00

One of the wonderful things about open source is the large community of writers contributing to our shared knowledge base. Not surprisingly, much of this is written in English; but there is also a well-served demand for open source-related information in other languages.


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Get started using treq to make async calls in Python

Tue, 03/17/2020 - 15:03

The Twisted Requests (treq) package is an HTTP client built on the popular Twisted library that is used for asynchronous requests. Async libraries offer the ability to do large amounts of network requests in parallel with relatively little CPU impact. This can be useful in HTTP clients that need to make several requests before they have all the information they need. In this article, we'll work through an example of making async calls to explore using treq.


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Open source alternatives to Grammarly for word processing

Tue, 03/17/2020 - 15:02

Grammarly is popular among many teachers, students, business people, and others who need to write or process a lot of words on a regular basis. It's a useful tool, but you're required to register and log in to use it, and I rarely keep website login data in my cache.

I process words pretty often for writing technical and creative pieces, and ducking out of my text editor to open a web browser, much less to visit a site that requires me to log in, is usually too much a bother for me. Fortunately, with a few open source utilities, I can avoid this distraction.


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How to use Ranger for navigating files from the command line

Tue, 03/17/2020 - 15:00

Ranger is an incredibly handy terminal-based file navigator that's written in Python and is available for Linux and Mac.

Ranger allows you to navigate your filesystem using the arrow keys on your keyboard: Up/Down to select files in the current directory (middle pane), and Left/Right to hop back and forth through levels and into directories. When you're focused on a directory, it shows you the contents in the right-hand pane:


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How to be the right person for DevOps

Mon, 03/16/2020 - 15:03

In my kitchen, we have a sign that reads "Marriage is more than finding the right person. It is being the right person." It serves as a great reminder of the individual responsibility everyone has in any healthy relationship. As organizations adopt DevOps as a model of developing and delivering value to customers, the impact of healthy relationships is extremely important for success.


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How to test failed authentication attempts with test-driven development

Mon, 03/16/2020 - 15:01

Testing often begins with what we hope happens. In my previous article, I demonstrated how to virtualize a service you depend on when processing the "happy path" scenario (that is, testing the outcome of a successful login attempt). But we all know that software fails in spectacular and unexpected ways. Now's the time to take a closer look into how to process the "less happy paths": what happens when someone tries to log in with the wrong credentials?


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How to upload an OpenStack disk image to Glance

Mon, 03/16/2020 - 15:00

Glance is an image service that allows you to discover, provide, register, or even delete disk and/or server images. It is a fundamental part of managing images on OpenStack and TripleO (which stands for "OpenStack-On-OpenStack").


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How I migrated from a Mac Mini to a Raspberry Pi

Sun, 03/15/2020 - 15:00

Some time ago, I decided to move my computing environment from a Mac Mini PowerPC to a Raspberry Pi Model 2. This article describes my reasons for doing so and how I did it. While it is quite technical in places, if you're considering switching from an existing system to something decidedly lean and mean, there are things that you need to know before making that leap. There are lots of links to click as well, which will lead you to the software and apps that I mention.

Enjoy!


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Adding a display to a travel-ready Raspberry Pi Zero

Sat, 03/14/2020 - 15:02

In my earlier article, I explained how I transformed a Raspberry Pi Zero into a minimal, portable, go-anywhere computer system that, although small, can actually achieve useful things. I've since made iterations that have proved interesting and made the little Pi even more useful. Read on to learn what I've done.


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Linux Foundation prepares for disaster, new anti-tracking data set, Mozilla goes back to mobile OSes, and more open source news

Sat, 03/14/2020 - 15:01

In this edition of our open source news roundup, we take a look at the Linux Foundation's disaster relief project, DuckDuckGo's anti-tracking tool, open textbooks, and more!


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How to set up the Raspberry Pi Zero for travel

Fri, 03/13/2020 - 15:03

For some time now, I've been a huge fan of the Raspberry Pi computer in all of its various forms. I have a number of them, and each has a server role to play. Most of the time, they work extremely well, and I'm safe in the knowledge that the small amount of power they consume is keeping the bills down.


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How to whiteboard collaboratively with Drawpile

Fri, 03/13/2020 - 15:01

Thanks to applications like Krita and MyPaint, open source software users have all the tools they need to create stunning digital paintings. They are so good that you can see art created with Krita in some of your favorite RPG books.


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