TL;DR Unix geek tries Windows 10 for a year. For the most part it works, but lots of growing pains. Going back to the land of GNU. Introduction A year ago, I started an attempt to give Windows another try. I jump around different platforms to stay current and cognisant of the industry shifts professionally. The need to get back to Windows happen to coincide with need for a new laptop. ...
2 days straight now on IRC (##security on irc.freenode.net if you want to say hi) I have had to help someone compiling a program deal with it failing mid-stream. This is especially prevalent on security packages like fuzzers and such. First, what is stack protection? Buffer Overflow Protection In software, a stack buffer overflow occurs when a program writes to a memory address on the program’s call stack outside of the intended data structure; usually a fixed length buffer.[1][2] Stack buffer overflow bugs are caused when a program writes more data to a buffer located on the stack than there was actually allocated for that buffer. This almost always results in corruption of adjacent data on the stack, and in cases where the overflow was triggered by mistake, will often cause the program to crash or operate incorrectly. This type of overflow is part of the more general class of programming bugs known as buffer overflows.[1] ...
At work I often get asked what UNIX/Linux I use. Truth of the matter is I am an OS harlot :) I run NeXTStep and Rhapsody for fun. When I buy systems I force myself to use them for at least 3 days online to learn them better. Anyways, below is the questionnaire on how I pick a distro/OS Do you want to use learn Linux for work? CentOS or RHEL Do you want to actually learn the innards of Linux? Gentoo or Arch Do you want to use Linux for day-to-day usage? Ubuntu, Debian, or OpenSuSE Do you want to use UNIX for day-to-day usage? Buy a Mac and install macports Do you want to use linux for development of bleeding edge packages? Fedora or Foresight Do you want to learn UNIX, but hear a lot about Linux? FreeBSD is a better SysV learning platform Are you a paranoid security type? OpenBSD Did you buy a lot of old equipment on eBay or Craigslist and can’t stand the vendor OS? NetBSD Are the type of person that has flashing lights and fans on your computer? Do you want matching bling in software? Linux Mint RC Are you building a server for home? Debian Stable Are you building a file server to run NetApp out of town? OpenSolaris ZFS builds Are you building that same file server but Solaris packages make you want to poke your eyes out? Nexenta Are you doing embedded systems for a special project? NetBSD Building a wireless mesh network with captive portals? OpenBSD Or in the end you are as geeky as Nick and change OS like you change clothes Build a Vmware/Xen server and run them all
In economic times such as these it is imperative that architects and leads alike look beyond the glossy software catalog and instead to the web. In the past we often discounted open source as unsupported and hacker-like in the development efforts. One would hope that in this day of enterprise open source powering the majority of web applications that we could back away from the mantra of yesteryear. The argument often heard in corporate America is without a company backing it, how can you trust the source of the code? In the same bated breath they will speak to Microsoft and Oracle as pristine trophy holders of American Ideals. In this global economy and 24×7 development cycle there is very little code still developed stateside only. The pond and time zone allow for rapid development cycles and releases. It is ignorant to think that Microsoft’s code is not spattered with code developed in foreign countries. The bazaar development paradigm has extended well upon the weird GNU hackers in their basements, even Microsoft and other commercial entities have opened the doors to this development process. ...
I want to like OpenSolaris. I love compiling away on my Sun Machines at the house. The simple fact is though the “Open” is a misnomer of great proportions. What makes me excited about OpenSolaris is the lineage it stems from. For UNIX admins everywhere, it is truly one of the last of the old guard. HP-UX, Tru64, and the host of other dead UNIX OS showcase how much impact the BSD and Linux world has had on mainstream POSIX. ...