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Trim Linux Kernel Configuration

14 minutes to read

Many Linux users who prefer to compile their own kernels definitely want to reduce kernel compilation time and minimize the on-disk footprint of compiled kernels and modules. Achieving these goals is commonly done by trimming the kernel configuration, which entails disabling kernel configuration options that the user does not need. Users can disable options for software features they do not use and hardware that they do not own; for example, those who do not need to use WireGuard can disable it in their kernel configuration, and those who do not own an AMD graphics card or an AMD CPU with integrated graphics can disable the amdgpu driver at kernel build time. …

SSH-ing into Kobo Clara BW E-book Reader’s System Software

19 minutes to read

I recently bought a Kobo Clara BW e-book reader. While I was copying my e-books to it, I accidentally found that its system software came with an SSH server, which, once enabled, allowed me to explore some internals of the e-book reader’s software as well as hardware. The Purchase Since I just purchased this device, I feel that this post would be incomplete if I did not comment on the reason I got it or my experience with it. I shall make some remarks on these aspects before digressing too much. …

Trying Out the Ptyxis Terminal Emulator

12 minutes to read

In my years of using GNOME, I have been using GNOME Terminal, and it has served me well. There has been a newer GNOME Console; while it has a few nice new features, it lacks a small feature that GNOME Terminal has and I depend on, so I have stayed with GNOME Terminal. Now, a third terminal emulator option for GNOME, Ptyxis (TIK-sis), has appeared. I tried it out recently and quickly found myself liking it, though my declaration that it would be a good-enough replacement of GNOME Terminal for myself came only after I spent a few days tinkering with it. …

Set Up a Custom Gentoo Binary Package Host

Updated: 25 minutes to read

Gentoo is a GNU/Linux distribution where users themselves can easily build software packages for the entire operating system from source code. For a long time, building packages on their own was the only choice Gentoo users had because Gentoo only distributed the scripts (i.e. ebuilds) to build the packages, not the packages’ ready-to-run, pre-built binaries like on other distributions. Compiling software packages for a whole operating system takes a considerable amount of time, and Gentoo users had had to deal with it. This all changed at the end of 2023, when the official Gentoo binary package host was launched. It has been providing users with pre-built binary packages for many software packages available in the Gentoo ebuild repository, and users can install these binary packages to skip the build process, thus saving time. …

Build the Same LaTeX Input File Differently According to Command-Line Options

10 minutes to read

You might have encountered situations where you would like to produce different versions of the same document or create several related documents from a single source, such as: All your document versions have exactly the same content, but each version is formatted differently. Example: In parallel with a standard version of your document, you might also want to create a more accessible version of it that uses a larger font size. …

Framework Laptop 13 with AMD Ryzen 7 7840U

20 minutes to read

Framework Laptops are a series of laptops designed with user repairability, configurability, and upgradability in mind. After two years of launching exclusively models using Intel Core processors, Framework started to ship laptops with AMD Ryzen processors, which are what I looked for since I had heard of Framework. So, I purchased a Framework Laptop 13 with AMD Ryzen 7 7840U, received it in November 2023, and have been using it ever since, but only recently have I found time to write an article about my experience with it. …

Minimize Steam When Launching a Game Shortcut on Windows

5 minutes to read

The recent Steam client major update has brought predominant user interface changes as well as a regression in user experience: if the Steam client is not running, and the user launches a Steam game from its desktop or Start menu shortcut, then the Steam client window will show up before the game launches; prior to the update, Steam would start minimized in this case, thus the window would not show up on its own. …

Avoid Creating -9999-only Gentoo Packages

Updated: 21 minutes to read

Some Gentoo packages provide a special 9999 version; by convention, the ebuild that bears the 9999 version is a live ebuild, which builds the package from its “live” sources in the project’s version control system (VCS) repository – e.g. a Git repository – instead of “non-live” sources in a .zip or a .tar.* archive. The project’s sources in the VCS repository are usually subject to frequent changes due to development activities, hence they are “live”. …

Installing Gentoo via Asahi Linux on an Apple Silicon-based Mac

20 minutes to read

When Apple launched Macs with Apple silicon, people speculated that a revolution in desktop computing had started. I saw on Reddit a GNU/Linux user claimed that GNU/Linux distributions should start to worry about the potential transition from x86-64 to ARM64 and do something about it to survive. What they might have not realized was that common software packages that constitute GNU/Linux had been long prepared for ARM64 thanks to portability of high-level programming languages. The power houses built by Apple would not necessarily threaten GNU/Linux but instead set up a wider stage for it. Thanks to the Asahi Linux project’s efforts, it is now possible to exploit an Apple silicon-based Mac’s performance by running GNU/Linux on it. After seeing it for myself, I think the project is very promising in making Apple silicon-based Macs a worthy choice for GNU/Linux users. …

Using New Feature While Maintaining Backward Compatibility in Hugo Templates

Updated: 8 minutes to read

In the recent v0.109.0 release of Hugo, a new .Ancestors page variable was added to make it easier to implement a breadcrumb navigation template. The new variable’s usefulness is clearly shown by how the example breadcrumb template in Hugo documentation has been simplified and become easier to understand, as presented below (code modified for readability). It is no longer necessary to create a helper inline partial (i.e. breadcrumbnav in the following example) and call it recursively. …