You may need to prevent certain packages from being updated during system maintenance—the kernel on production servers, or specific library versions you’ve carefully tuned. When you run dnf update or yum update, you want those packages skipped entirely. The solution is straightforward: add an exclusion to DNF or YUM’s configuration file. Configuration Syntax Add this…
Port forwarding allows external hosts to reach services inside a private network by mapping traffic from a public address to an internal one. On Linux, this is implemented through iptables rules that modify packet headers as they traverse the kernel’s netfilter framework. Common use cases include exposing HTTP/HTTPS servers from a private LAN to the…
Compiling LaTeX documents with BibTeX involves multiple passes—typically three runs of latex followed by one bibtex run to resolve citations. This sequence is identical across most documents, making it perfect for automation with a Makefile. Basic Makefile Template Here’s a practical Makefile for LaTeX with BibTeX support: FILENAME = main LATEX = pdflatex BIBTEX =…
The rpm and dnf commands let you inspect exactly which files a package installed and find the package that owns a specific file. These queries work on both the host system and inside containers like Toolbox or Distrobox. List Files from an Installed Package rpm -ql package-name This recursively lists all files and directories the…
Installing the NVIDIA driver on Fedora via akmod (automatic kernel module) is the cleanest approach when using RPM Fusion. The driver rebuilds automatically whenever the kernel updates, saving you manual reinstalls. Prerequisites First, verify your GPU is supported. Check the NVIDIA driver support matrix for your hardware. Most consumer and professional cards from the past…
SELinux provides mandatory access controls that catch security violations most firewall and file permission rules miss. Before disabling it, exhaust other options — SELinux warnings often reveal real security problems worth understanding. That said, there are legitimate reasons to adjust SELinux: testing application behavior without policy violations, troubleshooting misbehaving software, or running systems where the…
mpv inherits much of MPlayer’s command structure, but with modern improvements for hardware acceleration, Wayland support, and codec handling. Here’s how to configure default startup volume and playback position. Configuration File Edit ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf and add your defaults: volume=80 start=10 The volume parameter sets initial volume as a percentage (0–100). The start parameter specifies playback start…
MPlayer is largely unmaintained; mpv is the actively developed fork that handles 95% of these commands with compatible bindings. That said, if you’re still running MPlayer or need legacy support, here’s what you need to know. MPlayer uses a fully configurable keyboard control layer. Most of these shortcuts work in mpv as well, though some…
Keeping Thunderbird running constantly makes sense for monitoring incoming mail, but leaving it on the taskbar consumes screen real estate. System tray integration is cleaner—minimize to a small icon and optionally display unread message counts. Thunderbird’s addon ecosystem provides platform-specific solutions for this. Note that addon availability and compatibility can vary; check the Mozilla Addons…
Fedora 中文字体的显示一直是个常见问题，特别是在英文环境中。通过合理的字体配置，可以获得清晰舒适的中文显示效果。本文介绍的方案使用开源字体，这些字体在 Fedora 的标准仓库中都可以获得。 快速配置 如果你只想快速完成配置，运行以下命令： sudo dnf install cjkuni-ukai-fonts cjkuni-uming-fonts sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zma/config_files/master/others/local.conf \ -O /etc/fonts/local.conf 这会安装文鼎楷体和文鼎明体，并配置字体渲染优先级。注销后重新登录即可生效。 推荐字体包 Fedora 仓库中提供了多个中文字体包： 基础中文字体： # 文鼎明体 — 适合正文阅读，清晰度高 sudo dnf install cjkuni-uming-fonts # 文鼎楷体 — 适合标题和打印 sudo dnf install cjkuni-ukai-fonts Google Noto 字体（推荐）： # Noto Sans CJK — 现代、清晰、覆盖全面 sudo dnf install google-noto-sans-cjk-fonts # Noto Serif CJK…
ISO images are sector-by-sector copies of optical media stored as binary files. They’re useful for archiving DVDs or creating portable copies without keeping physical disks around. On Linux, several tools can accomplish this—dd is the simplest, but modern alternatives offer better features. Using dd to Create an ISO Image The most straightforward approach uses dd:…
Compiz Fusion is a lightweight 3D window manager and compositing system that can replace your standard window manager. While it’s rarely the default choice on modern Fedora installations, it remains available for users who want its visual effects and functionality. Note: Compiz development has slowed significantly. Most Fedora users today use Wayland-based desktops (GNOME, KDE…
To connect to HKUST’s sMobileNet wireless network via NetworkManager, you’ll need to configure WPA2 Enterprise authentication with PEAP. This guide covers the required settings. Network Settings Configure the following parameters in NetworkManager: Basic Settings: SSID: sMobileNet Wireless security: WPA & WPA2 Enterprise Authentication method: Protected EAP (PEAP) Authentication Details: Anonymous identity: (leave empty) PEAP version:…
Customizing your desktop environment to match macOS aesthetics remains popular on Linux, though the approach differs significantly from GNOME 2 era configurations. Modern desktop environments like GNOME (40+) and KDE Plasma (5/6) use different theming systems, but achieving an Apple-inspired look is still straightforward. Current Desktop Environment Options GNOME 40+ uses CSS-based theming and GTK…
Colossus is Google’s successor to the Google File System (GFS), designed to handle the massive scale of data storage across Google’s infrastructure. While GFS was documented in detail in the 2003 SOSP paper, Colossus information remains sparse in academic literature—much of what we know comes from talks and interviews with Google engineers. Colossus serves as…
Hadoop 1.x reached end-of-life in 2014 and is no longer maintained. This post documents a deprecated architecture for historical reference only. For new deployments, use Hadoop 3.x+ with YARN, which offers significant improvements in resource management, multi-tenancy, and reliability. See the Apache Hadoop documentation for current versions. For managed services, consider AWS EMR, Google Dataproc,…
Understanding distributed systems and cloud computing starts with the literature. These papers form the foundation for anyone working in the space — they’re not just historical artifacts, they’re still actively referenced and their design principles remain relevant. Internet-Scale Systems and Datacenters The Google cluster architecture paper remains essential reading. It laid out the practical realities…
Historical Archive: This post lists conferences from 2012. The submission deadlines and venues are no longer current. For up-to-date conference information, check the official conference websites or resources like Conference Alert and CCF Deadlines. This post lists important conferences related to Cloud Computing in year 2013. SOSP 2013 SOSP’13: The 24th ACM Symposium on Operating…
Gitosis is unmaintained and shouldn’t be used for new deployments. Use Gitolite or Forgejo instead. This guide covers Gitolite, which provides fine-grained access control, is actively maintained, and handles multiple repositories under a single system user. Prerequisites A server running Linux (Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, or similar) SSH access to the server with sudo privileges A…
Historical Archive: This post lists conferences from 2011. The submission deadlines and venues are no longer current. For up-to-date conference information, check the official conference websites or resources like Conference Alert and CCF Deadlines. This post lists important conferences on Cloud Computing in year 2012. OSDI 2012 10th USENIX Symposium on Operating Systems Design and…