Updated: 2012-01-04
Created: 2000
This site contains some occasionally updated notes mostly about computer related subjects. These notes contain only the author's personal and unchecked opinions, even if it is hoped they are useful.
This site has my
computing blog
with information and opinions on software and hardware, and my
miscellaneous blog
with information and opinion on non computing subject, mostly shopping
and places, plus the notes and comments on specific topics listed
below.
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| Notes | Comments on various aspects of Linux based systems and development. |
| Reviews | Opinions on Linux based software and projects. |
Packagemanagement: why |
A discussion of package management, why it is useful, how it should be done, and the limitations of most current package management systems. |
Driverauthoring |
An introduction to writing drivers for Linux, with pointers to sample code and other resources. |
| UNIX code pragmatics | My list of UNIX-style coding principles. |
| Linux file systems | A collection of data and links on the features, performance and use of some of the many file systems supported by Linux. |
iptables introduction |
An illustration and discussion of the most important
aspects of Linux Netfilter and iptables,
with recommendations on how to structure a set of
directives, and a well commented basic example. |
| Practical advice on writing zone files | An introduction to writing configuration files for the BIND DNS server with examples. |
| Linux fonts | Extensive discussion of the concept involved in font systems, of the several font systems used in a typical GNU/Linux system, and pointers to what I think are the best fonts. |
| Sound and ALSA | An extensive description of ALSA structure, concepts, drivers, application setup, many configuration issues, and troubleshooting. |
| Sound latency | Discussion of sound latency issues on PCs using ALSA, with advice on how to improve latency, and links. |
| Linux WiFi | A discussions of the issues and tradeoffs in using 802.11 based wireless networking, with a list of the drivers and chipsets that seem to be best supported. |
| Linux NVIDIA | How to setup X windows for an NVIDIA graphics card using the NVIDIA or the X drivers, and how to fix common problems. |
| Linux H323 | Concepts, setup and configuration using OpenH323. |
| ALSA | Examples of ALSA library configuration files, in particular for software based sharing of a device and routing of multiple channels. |
| APT | Sample configuration files for APT, including distribution and package version pinning. |
| IPv6 | Examples of IPv6 related setup and configuration, with DNS and tunneling configuration. |
| Mozilla | Some Mozilla and Firefox XUL custmization, for example a nice Chatzilla CSS style. |
| OpenSSL | Extensive parametric setup for using OpenSSL as a small certification authority, with the ability to generate wildcard and multiple site certificates. |
| OpenH323 | Some sample configuration for the OpenH323 servers. |
| Privoxy | Improved filter and site rules for the filtering web proxy Privoxy. |
| PPP and Diald | Some examples of configuration for the PPP and
diald dæmons, including cost
optimizing rules for diald for various UK
ISPs. |
| Fontconfig | Much improved and commented configuration for the regrettable Fontconfig client side font system. |
| X11 | A variety of well written and commented configurations for the X server, including font configuration and modelines. |
| exim4 | A subset of my exim4 configuration, with
some useful techniques. |
| shell | Some of my shell scripts. They are useful in their own with, but also as example of how shell scripts ought to be written. |
sabiwatts-090802.tar.gz
(LSM) |
My shell script to tweak some of the Linux kernel parameters that influence power consumption, for either normal power consumption and better performance and latency, or low power consumption at the cost of worse performance and latency. It has been somewhat inspired by a similar script and more remotely by laptop-mode. |
sabifire-090802.tar.gz
(LSM) |
My shell script to set up a set of
Netfilter
(a.k.a.
iptables) rules suitable for an
internet leaf node, either as a standalone
system or the gateway for a single subnet. Its
logic is outlined in
my draft Linux iptables notes. |
sabishape-091129.tar.gz
(LSM) |
My shell script to configure a network interface for traffic shaping for an ADSL or cable (or dialup) line. I wrote this for the same reasons (work around bad ISP router configuration, prioritize interactive traffic) as the WonderShaper script, and it has some useful advantages over it. |
team-3.11.tar.gz
(LSM) |
A buffered parallel filter I wrote, useful for speeding up backups, in particular to tape, but not just. It takes care to use advising and/or streaming or direct IO if available to maximize efficiency and minimize memory usage. |
cled-2.5.tar.gz
(README) |
My cleanup and rewrite of a line discipline driver for UNIX (System V 3.2) that contains an input line editing facility, a bit like GNU readline but kernel level, and a lot leaner. |
dokde
(manual page) |
A rewrite of the startkde script used to
start a KDE session.
It has been extended, documented, and its source has
been much cleaned up. |
| DocBook | Some related materials I have created or rewritten, mostly a CSS stylesheets to render large subsets of DocBook in Mozilla directly, some extension DTDs, and some example of short documents or templates in DocBook, which I have neatly formatted or reformatted for clarity. |
catalogs-20030311.tar.gz |
Clean, carefully collected compilation I have made of
SGML and
XML
catalogsfor many common SGML and XML applications. |
| IPv6 address ranges | Researching in various documents I have made a list of the various types and roles of common IPv6 prefixes and address ranges. |
| Hardware notes and reviews | Various tips and comments on several pieces of hardware, mostly those I have purchased, thus usually for PCs. |
| Multihead (>= 4) video card options | A presentation and discussion of the options for an efficient setup with 4 or more monitors on a PC system. |
| Notes | Tips and information mostly useful to MS Windows systems administrators, but also to users who have system administration issues. |
| Papers and books. | Links or bibliographics entries and sometimes quotes for several of the articles and books that I think are of particular importance. |
| Obscure computer science research | Links or bibliographic entries for several items of computer science technology and research that have fallen into undeserved obscurity. |
| In progress notes | A list of computer science subjects that eventually I would write something about. |
| Persistence and integration for library APIs | A discussion of the issues when designing a library API, in particular as to how to provide data persistency, and how to design for easier integration with other software. |
| Shopping notes | about online, and mostly London and Oxford shopping. |
| Notes on The Matrix | Some random comments about the film trilogy The Matrix, with particular attention to some subtle (or even unsubtle) details that are easily missed, and to the relationship to computer science concepts. |
| Book notes and reviews. | Some reviews of some non computer books I have read, and comments on their contents. |
| Games notes and reviews | Discussions and (very informal) reviews of some of the PC videogames I play, particularly those with a Linux port. |
| Latin idioms | Several idiomatic phrases, mostly in Latin, with English translation. |
