Programming languages and software development
Parsing directory and filename components from an absolute path is a common task in systems programming. Linux provides dirname() and basename() functions for this purpose, but they have implementation-specific behaviors that can cause bugs if you’re not careful. Using dirname() and basename() The POSIX standard defines both functions, though the implementations vary. Here’s the safest…
When converting PostScript to PDF using ps2pdf with certain PDFSETTINGS options, you may hit this error: GPL Ghostscript 9.10: Set UseCIEColor for UseDeviceIndependentColor to work properly. Unrecoverable error: stackunderflow in .setdistillerparams This occurs when Ghostscript’s internal stack runs out of expected values during PDF distiller parameter processing. The root cause is usually conflicting color space…
The nl command is purpose-built for adding line numbers to text files: nl text-file By default, nl numbers all non-empty lines and skips blank lines. This behavior is controlled by the body section style, which defaults to t (text only). Common nl options Number all lines including blanks: nl -ba text-file Start numbering at a…
Line number displays in Emacs can feel cramped without proper spacing. Modern Emacs provides built-in control over line number formatting and width—no external packages needed. Using display-line-numbers-mode display-line-numbers-mode is the standard in Emacs 25+ and should be your default choice. It’s faster and more maintainable than the older linum-mode. Enable it globally: (global-display-line-numbers-mode t) To…
Thunderbird stores message filters in per-account configuration files, making it inconvenient to replicate filters across multiple accounts or installations. Rather than recreating filters manually, you can copy filter files directly or use symbolic links to keep filters synchronized. Where Thunderbird Stores Filters Thunderbird saves filter rules in msgFilterRules.dat, a plain text configuration file. Each account…
If xterm displays Chinese, Japanese, or Korean characters as empty boxes or rectangles, the problem is almost always a missing or improperly configured font with CJK glyphs. Configure fonts in ~/.Xresources xterm reads font configuration from ~/.Xresources. Add these lines: XTerm*utf8: 1 XTerm*locale: true XTerm*faceName: Noto Mono XTerm*faceSize: 11 XTerm*faceNameDoublesize: Noto Mono XTerm*dynamicColors: true The…
Emacs startup time matters when you’re opening files frequently from the command line or in scripts. A few targeted optimizations can reduce perceived startup overhead from seconds to near-instant. Run Emacs as a daemon with emacsclient The most effective optimization is the server/client architecture. Start Emacs once as a daemon, then reuse that instance for…
Backing up a complete IMAP account with thousands of messages across nested folders requires automation to preserve folder structure and avoid manual errors. This guide covers three modern tools and provides detailed setup for the most flexible option. Choosing your backup tool offlineimap — Most flexible for complex folder structures and label handling. Active maintenance…
You have internal hosts on a private network (like 10.0.3.0/24) that aren’t directly accessible from your workstation. They sit behind a gateway (bastion host) like gateway.example.org. You need seamless SSH access to these internal IPs without manually hopping through the gateway each time. Using SSH ProxyJump The modern, straightforward approach is SSH’s built-in ProxyJump feature….
When the Scala compiler emits warnings like deprecation notices, you need to pass compiler flags to see the details. The solution is to configure scalacOptions in your sbt build. Session-Only Configuration During an interactive sbt session, add options temporarily: set scalacOptions += “-deprecation” This applies only to the current session and is lost after reload…
The built-in Print Screen workflow is cumbersome — capture, open Paint, paste, crop, save. There are better approaches depending on your needs. Snipping Tool and Snip & Sketch On Windows 7, the Snipping Tool is available through the Start menu. Press the Windows key, type “snipping tool”, and launch it. You get basic capture modes:…
Tracking programming language adoption helps inform hiring decisions, tool investment, and technology strategy. Several indices measure popularity across different dimensions — job postings, GitHub activity, Stack Overflow traffic, and search trends — so no single metric tells the complete story. TIOBE Index The TIOBE Index ranks languages based on search engine results, counting hits across…
If you’re using the AddThis Welcome Bar with WordPress, you may see an unwanted gap appearing at the top of your page. This happens because AddThis injects a placeholder div that reserves vertical space: <div class=”addthis_bar_placeholder” style=”height: 46px;”></div> The 46px height creates a visible gap that disrupts your layout, especially on themes with fixed headers…
The TP-Link TL-WN725N v2 uses the Realtek RTL8188EU chipset. While kernel support has improved significantly, you may still need to compile drivers manually on recent Fedora releases. Check current driver status First, verify whether your adapter is recognized: lsusb | grep -i realtek If nothing appears, the driver isn’t loaded. Check if the kernel module…
Sharing a router with roommates means dealing with bandwidth conflicts. When someone’s running torrent clients, streaming, or other bandwidth-intensive applications without limits, everyone else suffers. Here’s how to handle it systematically. Start with conversation Before implementing technical controls, talk to your roommates. Most P2P and download applications have built-in rate limiting. Asking someone to cap…
When you have shared Makefiles included across multiple projects in different directory structures, relative includes break. If common.mk tries to include release.mk and both files are in a subdirectory like external/, the include fails because Make uses the current working directory, not the location of the including file. For example, this structure works fine: Makefile…
If you’re using AddThis share buttons and want tweets to automatically include an @ mention to your Twitter handle, you need to add the tw_via attribute to your Tweet button element. Basic Implementation Change your Tweet button markup from: <a class=”addthis_button_tweet”></a> to: <a class=”addthis_button_tweet” tw_via=”yourhandle”></a> Replace yourhandle with your actual Twitter handle (without the @)….
Finding large files is something you end up doing a lot — disk fills up, you need to track down what’s eating space, or you’re auditing a directory before archiving. The find command handles this cleanly. Basic usage Find all files larger than 500MB under the current directory: find . -type f -size +500M The…
GNOME Shell’s appearance, including the panel, notifications, and system UI, is controlled by CSS theme files. Font customization requires editing these theme files directly. System-Wide Font Changes The primary theme file for GNOME Shell is located at: /usr/share/gnome-shell/theme/gnome-shell.css To modify fonts, open this file with elevated privileges: sudo nano /usr/share/gnome-shell/theme/gnome-shell.css Search for font-family declarations throughout…
The default GNOME Settings application doesn’t expose font configuration options. You’ll need additional tools to customize system fonts, but you have several approaches depending on your GNOME version and preferences. Using GNOME Tweaks GNOME Tweaks (formerly gnome-tweak-tool) is the recommended graphical approach for font customization. Installation On Fedora/RHEL: sudo dnf install gnome-tweaks On Ubuntu/Debian: sudo…