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2026-02-02 --Tech & Moderator Notes

Rantburg Technical Report for January 29, 2026

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Posted by badanov 2026-02-02 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1908 views ] Top

1 Donated. Monthly. as long as I can.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2026-01-29 07:59|| 2026-01-29 07:59|| Front Page Top

2 Done

Posted by Frank G 2026-01-29 08:22|| 2026-01-29 08:22|| Front Page Top

3 Done

Posted by ChicagoNorth 2026-01-29 08:31|| 2026-01-29 08:31|| Front Page Top

4 done

Posted by Lord Garth 2026-01-29 09:07|| 2026-01-29 09:07|| Front Page Top

5 An NTP server or client? A server, connected to an external GPS source? NTP isn't really needed unless you're using NFS but it's lightweight so who cares.

Posted by Jairong+Scourge+of+the+Gepids2435 2026-01-29 09:57|| 2026-01-29 09:57|| Front Page Top

6 ^^ It has been 20+ years since I used NFS, but what I do remember it is a royal pain to set up and maintain.

In contrast, NTP I have never used before, so I will be learning it as I go.

Posted by badanov 2026-01-29 10:42|| 2026-01-29 10:42|| Front Page Top

7 but it's lightweight so who cares

Yes.

Posted by Skidmark 2026-01-29 13:18|| 2026-01-29 13:18|| Front Page Top

8 Done

Posted by Mullah Richard 2026-01-30 07:07|| 2026-01-30 07:07|| Front Page Top

9 Are you forgoing the SSL certification protocols altogether, Mr. Bad?

Posted by Mullah Richard 2026-01-30 07:24|| 2026-01-30 07:24|| Front Page Top

10 Thanks for the reminder:

No, just not using the ssl certificate I bought back in August.

Using EFF's certbot processes.

What a pain.

Posted by badanov 2026-01-30 08:20|| 2026-01-30 08:20|| Front Page Top

11 Looked up the EFF process as I was not familiar with that. Heard of it, but that's all.

Yikes. It works apparently, but looks like a PITA to set up.

Good luck, and thank you for all you do.

Posted by Mullah Richard 2026-01-30 11:09|| 2026-01-30 11:09|| Front Page Top

12 done, I thought medicine was tough!

Posted by Snins Trotsky6480 2026-01-30 15:27|| 2026-01-30 15:27|| Front Page Top

13 Medicine is tough, Snins Trotsky6480 — just a different kind of tough. ;-)

badanov, email request sent for your mailing address — I prefer dealing with physical checks for as long as the banking system allows it.

Posted by trailing wife 2026-01-30 19:21|| 2026-01-30 19:21|| Front Page Top

14 Done

Posted by badanov 2026-01-30 19:28|| 2026-01-30 19:28|| Front Page Top

15 Thank you. :-) On its way!

Posted by trailing wife 2026-01-30 21:17|| 2026-01-30 21:17|| Front Page Top

16 I love Rantburg.

Posted by Whiskey Mike 2026-01-31 07:12|| 2026-01-31 07:12|| Front Page Top

17 Done.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-01-31 12:41|| 2026-01-31 12:41|| Front Page Top

18 Done. Happy to help

Posted by magpie 2026-02-01 09:44|| 2026-02-01 09:44|| Front Page Top

19 I have usually donated to Fred, but I suppose that is a distinction without a difference.

So, done, Bad.

Posted by Bobby 2026-02-01 11:22|| 2026-02-01 11:22|| Front Page Top

20 Fred quietly transitioned to an emeritus role last year, Bobby. He handed off the backroom operations lead to badanov, though they’ve continued their years-long close consultation.

Posted by trailing wife 2026-02-01 11:38|| 2026-02-01 11:38|| Front Page Top

21 any chance we can get RSS back?

Posted by newc 2026-02-01 21:01|| 2026-02-01 21:01|| Front Page Top

22 *click*
Thanks, badanov.

All this sysadmin/freebsd talk is giving me flashbacks to the time it was suddenly my job to upgrade the operating system on a VAX 11/785. They gave me a 9-track tape and a loose-leaf binder with the procedure to follow. I still remember the first page:

1. Read the instructions
2. Follow the instructions

Posted by SteveS 2026-02-01 21:31|| 2026-02-01 21:31|| Front Page Top

23 ^^ I can give it a shot, I guess

Posted by badanov 2026-02-01 21:33|| 2026-02-01 21:33|| Front Page Top

24 ^ Is RSS still a thing?

Posted by SteveS 2026-02-01 21:47|| 2026-02-01 21:47|| Front Page Top

25 What is RSS?

Posted by trailing wife 2026-02-01 22:04|| 2026-02-01 22:04|| Front Page Top

26 On the way!

Damn, I didn't know this was a plea for funding. Happy to send in, just so clueless I didn't bother to open the article since I assumed it would be full of meaningless tech words that would just further confirm my clueless-geezer status!

Posted by NoMoreBS 2026-02-02 14:07|| 2026-02-02 14:07|| Front Page Top

27 Words like 'RSS' which stands for Really Simple Syndication?

RSS is a way for websites to publish a summary of What's New on the site by creating a specially formatted (XML) text file that can be downloaded with a web browser or news reader.

Posted by SteveS 2026-02-02 14:32|| 2026-02-02 14:32|| Front Page Top

28 Like the Bloid, SteveS? Or one of those 10 latest comments thingies?

NoMoreBS, I’m glad to have your company in the technically clueless corner, though I’m not ready to be a geezer.

Posted by trailing wife 2026-02-02 14:46|| 2026-02-02 14:46|| Front Page Top

29 You don't have to "get ready" TW. It just happens.

Posted by Besoeker 2026-02-02 16:05|| 2026-02-02 16:05|| Front Page Top

30 <3

Posted by trailing wife 2026-02-02 16:10|| 2026-02-02 16:10|| Front Page Top

31 Like the Bloid, SteveS? Or one of those 10 latest comments thingies?

Exactamaceously, tw! The advantage of an XML file is the well-known format and the identifying tags for all the little pieces of data. If one is not above doing a little web-scraping, it is easy enough to grab the Bloid and parse out the info. But you would have to do this for all the Bloids on all the websites you care about. RSS lets you skip over all the codey stuff.

Posted by SteveS 2026-02-02 16:35|| 2026-02-02 16:35|| Front Page Top

32 I have newsblur, RSS feeder - It feeds instead of me having to click, all the stories.

I also use it to send articles out

Posted by newc 2026-02-02 21:55|| 2026-02-02 21:55|| Front Page Top

33 Badanov,

Request for your mailing address sent via gmail. Mine is the Nevada address...

Posted by NoMoreBS 2026-02-02 21:56|| 2026-02-02 21:56|| Front Page Top

34 Stand by

Posted by badanov 2026-02-02 22:19|| 2026-02-02 22:19|| Front Page Top

23:39 Crusader
23:26 Crusader
22:19 badanov
21:56 NoMoreBS
21:55 newc
20:45 Super Hose
20:43 Super Hose
18:03 DarthVader
17:39 Chantry
16:55 Glenmore
16:35 SteveS
16:26 Angavique Spomons8054
16:24 Chantry
16:17 Chantry
16:15 Angavique Spomons8054
16:14 Chantry
16:10 trailing wife
16:05 Besoeker
16:05 Angel of Death
15:55 Woodrow
15:52 badanov
15:49 Woodrow
15:46 SteveS
15:38 trailing wife
Merry-Go-Blog