From: ibuprofin@painkiller.example.tld.invalid   
      
   On Wed, 10 Apr 2013, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article   
   , Adam wrote:   
      
   >Jeez, this seems to be the only active thread in this newsgroup.   
      
   I'm no longer running a local news spool and thus am not keeping logs,   
   but the traffic seems to have moved on to alt.os.linux.mageia as others   
   have mentioned.  Even that group isn't exactly overly busy.   
      
   >Moe Trin wrote:   
      
   >>> 802.11 b/g/n which I've never enabled as I assume wired is faster.   
      
   >> Depends on the wired net, but probably so. Here, the JetDirect in   
   >> the LJ-5 is 10BaseT, but everything else is talking 100BaseT.   
      
   >I forgot about my CLJ5 (wired 10BaseT), but I assume that like many   
   >(all?) printers its bottleneck is the mechanics, not the interface.   
      
   More or less.  But there also isn't that much traffic involved as   
   compared to perhaps a file server.   
      
   >> But we also intentionally do not keep anything even partially   
   >> sensitive on the laptops.   
      
   >I don't think an assignment, project, or email I'm working would be   
   >"very sensitive".  All the stuff needing security gets done on stolid.   
      
   Of those, the mail is probably most sensitive, and you could almost   
   get by using a Caesar substitution ("tr '[A-Za-z]' 'E-ZA-De-za-d]'" and   
   vice-versa) for most of that.  Real security by obscurity, but it's way   
   beyond the skills of most bad guys.   ;-)   
      
   >BTW how would I go about encrypting a partition so it could be   
   >readable by two separate distros on the same disk?   
      
   I don't have to deal with separate distros, but you'd have to have   
   the same tools and devices on both. I see Dave has a more recent HOWTO   
   than the one I've used.   
      
   >I'll also have to figure out what to sync between helot and stolid,   
   >and then how to do it (probably rsync).  I think doing just newer   
   >files in ~/Documents and the mail/newsreader's "drafts" folders might   
   >be enough   
      
   That's totally a user decision.  We tend not to keep very much on the   
   laptops, and most of the stuff is ordinary text files dumped into ~/   
   or ~/today/.   No idea where it came from, but we have a dumb script   
   named "latest"   
      
     echo "Usage: $0  [line_count] [directory_if_not_PWD]"   
      
   which does a "ls -lAdrt $DIR | tail -n $LINS" to find "the latest"   
   stuff.  If DIR isn't specified, it defaults to PWD, and if LINS isn't   
   specified it defaults to $LINES (environmental variable specifying the   
   size of the current terminal).  If only one variable is supplied, it's   
   tested to see if it's a directory ([ -d $1 ]) or a positive integer   
   between 1 and 250 ([ $1 -ge 1 -a $1 -le 250 ]).  We are also used to   
   using "find . -ctime -1" or similar.  That way, we can find "the new   
   stuff" when we get home, and move it to the file server.   
      
   [new location and method for offsite backups]   
      
   >> Sounds familiar - I've lost a few CDs that way.   
      
   >Pressed or burned?   
      
   Burned.  The pressed ones seem to stand up well, assuming they're not   
   physically damaged.   
      
   >Of course, not everything is equally important.  Most important is   
   >where I have the master and no other copies exist.   
      
   True, and some things only need to exist for "a while".   
      
   >>> Second would be the ability to restore specific files from   
   >>> yesterday's or last week's nightly backup, and third would be   
   >>> failure of the internal and maybe external HDs.   
      
   >> Multiple computers having copies.   
      
   >Just copy the latest backup tarball to eris, sneakernet at first, then   
   >sshd or sftp when I get that set up.   
      
   You haven't done that yet?  Shouldn't take that long.   
      
   >Well, both are within 60 miles of Washington, DC, a likely spot for   
   >any enemy attack.   
      
   Actually, they're not much more than 60 kilometers apart - but to get   
   sites that far apart, you're not speaking of a single device.  Of   
   course, if the attacker is Mother Nature, you could be in deep weeds.   
      
   >> Back in the 1970s, we had a security auditor who absolutely raked us   
   >> though the coals because the tape operators at night didn't remove   
   >> the tapes from the machines when done   
      
   >Sounds to me like he may have put it harshly, but he had a valid point   
   >considering the purpose of his job.   
      
   Well, he wasn't foaming at the mouth, but that has always been a   
   problem security types love to find.   It's also common sense ("you   
   people should know better!!!").   
      
   >>> What's the advantage of that over an external DVD or HD?   
      
   >> Common failure points.  You may have the same drive controller, and   
   >> almost certainly have the same power supply.   
      
   >"stolid" and eris happen to both be on the same circuit, except for   
   >(intentionally) the laserjet.  It just worked out that way.   
      
   Not referring to that (although yes, the UPS is a common point).  I was   
   referring to the power supply _in_ the computer.   
      
   >> The pain can be reduced by having a file that lists what was backed   
   >> up and therefore "where is it".   
      
   >I already thought of that. :-)  My backup script already sends "tar   
   >-tvf" to a tarballname.list file in the same directory as the tarball   
   >itself on my backup partition, whenever any differential backup is   
   >done, or it's a weekly or monthly backup (those are full backups,   
   >automatically done at the appropriate interval.)   
      
   If "tarballname.list" is a unique name like a date-based string, put a   
   copy in /var/backups/.   That way, you can grep "all" of the lists in   
   that directory to find the desired file listing.   
      
   >BTW my backup partition, on my external HD, is intentionally NOT   
   >mounted except when actually in use, to prevent accidental changes.   
      
   In theory, that should do the trick, but the preference is that the   
   backup media is "elsewhere" (if only in the other room).   
      
   >> More than one site (especially the lower cost or free ones) has   
   >> either had an "Oopsie!" or flat out disappeared.   
      
   >Which brings up a common problem -- it's easy to get a list of online   
   >backup services, but some work to figure out which are the better   
   >ones.   
      
   Search engine - look to see what others are saying about each.   Even   
   though the backups are encrypted, I still don't like parking them at a   
   data mining service like google.   
      
   [bookcases]   
      
   >Okay, I'm going to get a 1"x4"x8' board cut into 8 10" long pieces (in   
   >case I get that fourth bookcase), paint at least the parts that will   
   >be visible, and put them in place.   
      
   Sounds good - this also gets them above the floor if the creek rises   
   again   ;-)   As well as probably spreading the load more - a little   
   less crush of the carpet.   
      
   >I'm holding off on putting the books in until that's done.   
      
   I get to empty the bookcases twice a year for dusting and a bit of   
   furniture polish/wax every once in a while.   
      
   [generic meds]   
      
   >Most generics work well enough for me, but several times one   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)