You can laugh, but on the farm, we always seeded the pastures after a heavy snow, but only when the temp was going to jump up well above freezing, but still freeze again overnight.
I assume the reason for this was twofold. First, you could see where and how much seed you were spinning out of the whirlybird seeders, and the warm seed would sink down into the snow so the birds couldn't get to them. The ground would be just warm enough the seeds would continue into the soil under the harder frozen snow on top when the temp dipped down again overnight.
I hated doing this in the late winter since it was still so cold out, and because the sun was out, the snow was sorta sloshy besides. Wet feet and all that. But if we waited too long and didn't get any more snow, our pastures looked like bird farms with all the black birds covering the place eating up the seed. Of course that was phun too because we could sit on the porch and fire the shotgun up over them and scare them away for an hour or so.
Birds are smart though, they would just leave that pasture and move to another one. But grandpa was over by that one and he had the biggest two-barrel shotgun, too big for me to shoot. It was either 8 or 10 gauge.
My uncle had a 4 gauge single barrel he shot only one time in his life.
All I had was a 410/22 over under. Loved that thing! My cousin stole it from me.
I don't think I've ever put down weed killer, except for that which kills everything, usually Vinegar and Soap is what I use for that purpose.
Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I just bought some 15% acid content vinegar to do some heavy duty cleaning. The seller, however, was selling it as a herbicide. It's potent stuff and will kill anything it touches which surprises me. I didn't think that percent dilution would be so powerful. I guess it's better than using Roundup which is still on the market even though their butt is being sued for being a carcinogen.
My thoughts about weed killer are similar to yours. If it does nothing else it will contaminate the ground water. I don't think I ever used it in my vegetable garden, but the lawn gets unruly without it. That seems to be particularly true down here in Ol' Missouri. The lawn literally will be taken over by crabgrass if I let it go unattended. That's what I did one year. So, the next year I got the pre-emergant down and no crabgrass showed up till July. A second lighter dose took care of that. I know you told me once that you don't bother because after all crabgrass is still green. Well, yes it is, but it's ugly. Like a bunch of, well, crabs crawling around my lawn. So who cares? I do. The HOA won't let me substitute the sod with sand and decorative rocks, so I have to deal with grass. And I don't need no stinkin' crabs.
My thoughts about weed killer are similar to yours. If it does nothing else it will contaminate the ground water. I don't think I ever used it in my vegetable garden, but the lawn gets unruly without it. That seems to be particularly true down here in Ol' Missouri. The lawn literally will be taken over by crabgrass if I let it go unattended. That's what I did one year. So, the next year I got the pre-emergant down and no crabgrass showed up till July. A second lighter dose took care of that. I know you told me once that you don't bother because after all crabgrass is still green. Well, yes it is, but it's ugly. Like a bunch of, well, crabs crawling around my lawn. So who cares? I do. The HOA won't let me substitute the sod with sand and decorative rocks, so I have to deal with grass. And I don't need no stinkin' crabs.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
When I first moved down here, I heavily sowed the front yard with a blend of grasses from perennial rye to fescue to bluegrass, not knowing what did best down here. But I never used any type of weed killer on it ever. When I did the backyard and cleared hill further back, I just bought several bags of cheap pasture mix. Backyard and hill always looked better than the front yard. Johnson grass is the main weed down here, grows faster than kudzu, hi hi.
When I first moved up to Creve Coeur, I put in a Bentgrass lawn, which is not really a good grass for that far north, but turned out looking great. Over time, other grasses took over, but I never did have very many weed grasses, other than the clumping type of crab grass.
I think one reason my lawn always looks nice is because I cut it so high.
My neighbor cuts his down so low it looks scalped all the time.
At least he got a new mower that don't cut as low as his last one.
And the fact we are separated by a fence doesn't make mine look uncut all the time.
The original neighbor on the other side of me used so much fertilizer on his grass, if you walked through it, your shoes turned green.
When I first moved up to Creve Coeur, I put in a Bentgrass lawn, which is not really a good grass for that far north, but turned out looking great. Over time, other grasses took over, but I never did have very many weed grasses, other than the clumping type of crab grass.
I think one reason my lawn always looks nice is because I cut it so high.
My neighbor cuts his down so low it looks scalped all the time.
At least he got a new mower that don't cut as low as his last one.
And the fact we are separated by a fence doesn't make mine look uncut all the time.
The original neighbor on the other side of me used so much fertilizer on his grass, if you walked through it, your shoes turned green.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
They say fescue is the preferred grass in this area. Up north I would use those blends too and it all look decent in between the weeds. LOL For many years I've been letting my lawn grow beyond three inches tall. They claim that will keep the weeds down, but it's a lie. I get every weed on my Missouri lawn that I've seen on my Illinois lawn, except for the ground mint up there. That stuff is tough and nearly impossible to eradicate. I think my grass looks pretty good when I compare it to the neighbors, but that is because it's tall. The weeds and critters aren't affected by my techniques one bit. That's why I tried the pre-emergent last year. It's chemical warfare at it's worst, but it does it's job well. The other thing I haven't figured out yet is the bare spots. The fescue here seems to grow in bunches leaving bare spots in between them. Overseeding doesn't do much. This year I'll try plugging the holes with sod and see if that works better.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I over-seeded an area along the fence and it got so thick it bogged down the mower, had to cut that area in granny low, hi hi. I think grass also tends to die out on its own. I noticed this on my high back hill where I put the most pasture grass seed, it was nice and lush, now it is getting thin too.
They do make grass for bare areas, but you need to break up the soil to keep the birds from swooping down and eating it all up. I had a little hand held trowel size tiller I would roll back and forth before putting seeds on bare spots. Worked like a charm. But nowadays I don't care too much anymore.
They do make grass for bare areas, but you need to break up the soil to keep the birds from swooping down and eating it all up. I had a little hand held trowel size tiller I would roll back and forth before putting seeds on bare spots. Worked like a charm. But nowadays I don't care too much anymore.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I've seen tillers about the size of a weed wacker and was tempted to get one. The ground here isn't rock hard, but it's the next best thing so that a small tiller wouldn't break up anything. I have two approaches to over seeding, when I do it. One is to use a spade and break up the soil with that. It doesn't need to be pulverized because the moisture from watering will soften it up and level it too. The other thing I do is simply toss the seeds where they are needed and cover them with top soil. This keeps the birds at bay but the germination rate doing that is reduced. About the best way to go is to break up the soil and then put straw or burlap on top of it all. I think I did all those things at one point. That's why I'm ready to take it all out and replace it with a rock garden. Then all I would have is mold to contend with. 
Last edited by yogi on 03 Mar 2020, 17:41, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
The thing I was talking about was tiny, like a small hand trowel, or garden claw. A garden claw would work too, but this little thing had star wheels on it and all you had to do was push it back and forth a couple of times so the seeds had someplace to hide from the birds, hi hi.
Back when we owned the florist and greenhouses, we had a machine that placed seeds between two tissues, then sealed the two tissues together to hold the seed in place. Since it did this from rolls, we could make the strips as long as we wanted, but for most folks, we made them in 1 sq. ft. pieces. We also used a green colored top tissue. The bottom tissue was brown because it was made from fine peat moss compressed so would expand a little when watered, but the top tissue was more like toilet paper, but made from mache.
On grass, the seeds were placed on a staggered 1/8th inch grid, and we had four varieties to choose from. We only charged like 30 cents each square for all except one of the expensive seeds, but even then they were only 40 cents each. AND they came with four greening pins to hold them down.
We also sold a lot of the compressed peat squares also, they were only a nickel each, so nearly everyone who bought the seed squares also bought twice as many peat squares.
Not that it had anything to do with plants or planting, we also had post card sized compressed sponges with our advertising on it. You dip the post card in water and it turned into a sponge. Customers just loved those free sponges, hi hi.
Back when we owned the florist and greenhouses, we had a machine that placed seeds between two tissues, then sealed the two tissues together to hold the seed in place. Since it did this from rolls, we could make the strips as long as we wanted, but for most folks, we made them in 1 sq. ft. pieces. We also used a green colored top tissue. The bottom tissue was brown because it was made from fine peat moss compressed so would expand a little when watered, but the top tissue was more like toilet paper, but made from mache.
On grass, the seeds were placed on a staggered 1/8th inch grid, and we had four varieties to choose from. We only charged like 30 cents each square for all except one of the expensive seeds, but even then they were only 40 cents each. AND they came with four greening pins to hold them down.
We also sold a lot of the compressed peat squares also, they were only a nickel each, so nearly everyone who bought the seed squares also bought twice as many peat squares.
Not that it had anything to do with plants or planting, we also had post card sized compressed sponges with our advertising on it. You dip the post card in water and it turned into a sponge. Customers just loved those free sponges, hi hi.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I do believe I've seen the hand trowel/tiller of which you speak. If I recall they were at the end of a broom stick kind of handle so that you didn't have to bend down to use it. Since I already have the shovel I'm going to try a few spots doing it that way. Even if I put sod patches down, that too would benefit from the loose soil. I have seen seed rolls in catalogs and they look like a great idea. Don't recall seeing squares of seed, but I like the thought behind it. When they put in lawns at the new construction sites around here the grass comes in rolls with some kind of plastic net backing. Those roles are 6 or 8 feet wide and look like bales of hay. I've not seen sod installed that way before. Usually a truckload of migrant workers come in laying individual rolls until they drop from exhaustion. The giant roll method requires a tractor with an attachment to unravel the roll, but it only takes 2 or 3 people to do an entire lawn in a couple hours.
Also, in my distant past, I have had a few of those compressed sponges. I don't recall how we obtained them, but it probably was some sort of advertising.
Also, in my distant past, I have had a few of those compressed sponges. I don't recall how we obtained them, but it probably was some sort of advertising.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
Yes, I have the long handle one also with like eight larger star wheels on it. The little hand trowel size only has four smaller ones.
There is a guy down here that has like five perfectly flat acres where he raises sod. He keeps it mowed with a riding lawn mower about twice the size of those you see on golf courses.
Went by there one day when they were stripping the sod with a humongous tractor cutter roller machine that made BIG ROLLS that looked almost like rolls of hay. When the roller was full, they loaded a roll onto a flat bed semi truck, but what surprised me is the machine turned the roll on its end first, not like hay where they just get lined up. They stacked them two layers high on the truck.
I assume this guy has been doing this for years, and never quite adds back the amount of soil he scrapes off. But I could be wrong. I'm only going on the fact that his area where he does this is down a ways from the roadway, and also a little ways down from the row of houses along the other side of the large field.
They still make these sponges for advertising purposes. Quite a bit more expensive now than back when we gave them away.
https://www.allsorts-online.com/custom- ... ponges.htm
There is a guy down here that has like five perfectly flat acres where he raises sod. He keeps it mowed with a riding lawn mower about twice the size of those you see on golf courses.
Went by there one day when they were stripping the sod with a humongous tractor cutter roller machine that made BIG ROLLS that looked almost like rolls of hay. When the roller was full, they loaded a roll onto a flat bed semi truck, but what surprised me is the machine turned the roll on its end first, not like hay where they just get lined up. They stacked them two layers high on the truck.
I assume this guy has been doing this for years, and never quite adds back the amount of soil he scrapes off. But I could be wrong. I'm only going on the fact that his area where he does this is down a ways from the roadway, and also a little ways down from the row of houses along the other side of the large field.
They still make these sponges for advertising purposes. Quite a bit more expensive now than back when we gave them away.
https://www.allsorts-online.com/custom- ... ponges.htm
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I never witnessed the harvesting of sod, but your description makes sense. A lot more sod can be loaded onto the trailer if it's laying down and stacked two high. Farmers have no need to do that because they aren't transporting the hay over public highways and need not worry about a bundle rolling away. For all I know the sod on my lawn came from that guy with the riding mower. LOL I often wondered about sod farms replenishing the black dirt required to grow it. It would seem very expensive to cover even 5 acres with two inches of high quality soil. But, if the soil is not replenished, eventually he will be growing grass on bedrock.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
He had this big machine where he mixed top soil, peat moss, wood mulch, and some type of black bog material.
Each of those items went through the machine by themselves first and shot into large bins. Then so much was taken from each bin and put into the machine and shot into another empty bin. Once it was all done, he ran it through the machine again with bags of fertilizers and soil builders. When he did this, it was shot into the dump truck he used to spread it on the fields.
But I do know he was not putting down a layer as thick as he was digging up, or at least it didn't look that way.
After he removed the sod, the field looked like good ole Missouri hard clay, hi hi. Even so, he drove all over it with a heavy spiked roller before he put down the new layer of blended top soil, and yes it looked fairly black.
One of my distant uncles Al Linkogel used to raise sod for golfing greens, maybe fairways too in his other field.
He didn't have a whole lot of space, and I'll bet he made more money out of his small 2 acre place than that guy with the 5 acre space. I also think he only raised enough for golf courses to make repairs, not to redo or build a new golf course.
It was not his main business, just a sideline to make use of some of his property is all.
One thing I can tell you about farming. More Rocks come up than go down, hi hi.
Each of those items went through the machine by themselves first and shot into large bins. Then so much was taken from each bin and put into the machine and shot into another empty bin. Once it was all done, he ran it through the machine again with bags of fertilizers and soil builders. When he did this, it was shot into the dump truck he used to spread it on the fields.
But I do know he was not putting down a layer as thick as he was digging up, or at least it didn't look that way.
After he removed the sod, the field looked like good ole Missouri hard clay, hi hi. Even so, he drove all over it with a heavy spiked roller before he put down the new layer of blended top soil, and yes it looked fairly black.
One of my distant uncles Al Linkogel used to raise sod for golfing greens, maybe fairways too in his other field.
He didn't have a whole lot of space, and I'll bet he made more money out of his small 2 acre place than that guy with the 5 acre space. I also think he only raised enough for golf courses to make repairs, not to redo or build a new golf course.
It was not his main business, just a sideline to make use of some of his property is all.
One thing I can tell you about farming. More Rocks come up than go down, hi hi.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I think if it's done right the need to replace all the top soil manually isn't necessary. My understanding is that earth worms and other bugs can make black dirt if the conditions are right. I don't know what the worms can do to be honest, but if all they can do is convert one inch of clay to black dirt, that would be all that's needed to grow sod for many years. That mixture you describe being made by the sod farmer seems just right for growing magnificent night crawlers. LOL
I've heard from farmers that rocks actually do float up to the surface of the earth. I'm not sure how true that is, but if you get a lot of rain it seems possible.
I've heard from farmers that rocks actually do float up to the surface of the earth. I'm not sure how true that is, but if you get a lot of rain it seems possible.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
The natural vibration of the earth, combined with the vibration of farming activities, causes the smaller particles of sand in the clay or soil to fill gaps under the rocks, which in turn causes the rock to move upward.
When we are plowing a field and we hear a plow blade scrape, we usually toss a marker out on the ground so we know where it was. Because the next time we hit it, it may have raised enough to break a plow blade.
We use a metal rod like a rebar and start poking the area behind where we dropped the marker, and on whatever side the tractor was plowing at the time, and when we find that rock, we dig it up. Some of these rocks are huge too, too big for a single person to lift. We usually just pry the rock up to the surface, then come back with a tractor with a bucket and roll them into the bucket. If we find a rock is really huge and we can't dig around it, out comes the back hoe.
One of the reasons you see rock fences around farms is because all those rocks came out of the farmed field.
I didn't mention that he does place Georgia Red Worms in his fields after the grass is sowed and before the straw is blown over it all. Heck we did the same thing in our greenhouses and on our fields.
We also kept one area near the old outhouse area as a bed for night crawlers for those who fish. That's where the coffee grounds would get dumped, and a few table scraps from time to time. Never a shortage of night crawlers for fishing.
When we are plowing a field and we hear a plow blade scrape, we usually toss a marker out on the ground so we know where it was. Because the next time we hit it, it may have raised enough to break a plow blade.
We use a metal rod like a rebar and start poking the area behind where we dropped the marker, and on whatever side the tractor was plowing at the time, and when we find that rock, we dig it up. Some of these rocks are huge too, too big for a single person to lift. We usually just pry the rock up to the surface, then come back with a tractor with a bucket and roll them into the bucket. If we find a rock is really huge and we can't dig around it, out comes the back hoe.
One of the reasons you see rock fences around farms is because all those rocks came out of the farmed field.
I didn't mention that he does place Georgia Red Worms in his fields after the grass is sowed and before the straw is blown over it all. Heck we did the same thing in our greenhouses and on our fields.
We also kept one area near the old outhouse area as a bed for night crawlers for those who fish. That's where the coffee grounds would get dumped, and a few table scraps from time to time. Never a shortage of night crawlers for fishing.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I read a lot about organic gardening when I was growing vegetables as a hobby. Worms were better than fertilizer in theory. So, I bought a bunch and raised them for about a year. That was pretty easy and clean in fact, but when put into the garden they didn't proliferate like they did in the box in my basement. I guess I didn't have the right stuff in the soil. They made great bait for when I went fishing though. LOL
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I trust that you simply forgot about this: viewtopic.php?p=40935#p40935
This leads to the same discussion I've read at least a jillion times already. You like to tell me that every Android and Apple device out there is in reality a Linux OS. That's one way to look at it, but just because you put a Chevy engine into a Ford vehicle that doesn't mean you have a Chevy.
One thing I've always been suspicious about when it comes to Windows is the amount of effort and talent that they put into their product. There are an infinite number of horror stories about how bad Windows is and to be honest I've had my doubts in the past. However, there is no substitute for Micorsoft's ability to buy the best talent available and pour an unending amount of cash into developing their products. Nothing coming from the Linux community can match Microsoft's product support and development. That's not to say Linux sucks any more than Windows. On the other hand, based on my experiences this past year or so, the difference between the two products is clear and obvious. Linux has a long way to go to catch up to Microsoft. Now that Redmond is finally moving in that direction, we might see some better platforms built around a Linux kernel. Unfortunately, they will be coming from Microsoft.
This leads to the same discussion I've read at least a jillion times already. You like to tell me that every Android and Apple device out there is in reality a Linux OS. That's one way to look at it, but just because you put a Chevy engine into a Ford vehicle that doesn't mean you have a Chevy.
One thing I've always been suspicious about when it comes to Windows is the amount of effort and talent that they put into their product. There are an infinite number of horror stories about how bad Windows is and to be honest I've had my doubts in the past. However, there is no substitute for Micorsoft's ability to buy the best talent available and pour an unending amount of cash into developing their products. Nothing coming from the Linux community can match Microsoft's product support and development. That's not to say Linux sucks any more than Windows. On the other hand, based on my experiences this past year or so, the difference between the two products is clear and obvious. Linux has a long way to go to catch up to Microsoft. Now that Redmond is finally moving in that direction, we might see some better platforms built around a Linux kernel. Unfortunately, they will be coming from Microsoft.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I remember that article all too well.
Yes, I have to agree, when one has enough money, they can polish things to the nth degree.
But also, by the same token, keeping all the work HIDDEN to only a few eyes, means not enough eyes are there looking for the loopholes that hackers can exploit.
Plus they are usually too busy and proud doing their wax on wax off routine to notice the termites lurking inside.
I don't know how many times I've seen comments that it is easier to hack into a windows computer than any other OS.
But those who want to do harm will naturally go after the largest base, which is of course Windows Desktops.
Most of the patches for open source programs come from programmers working for major companies who are fixing or creating things for the companies clients. When they do create such a patch, they often offer the code to the open source development team to include in the free program.
Nearly every improvement made to LibreOffice over the years was in a roundabout way paid for by Micro$oft, and through donations by users to the Document Foundation.
Different programmers my work on different paths to come up with a solution for a problem, or develop a new feature.
Only one of these will be used in msOffice, most will be shelved, and a few will be scrapped, although each path is almost equal in quality of work and what it does. Those paths that get scrapped often end up in open source developers toolboxes to study and modify, and often those modifications render them more like the code that ended up in msOffice.
By the same token, Micro$oft often takes open source code and makes some changes to it and declare it proprietary.
A good example of this is the DOCX format, which is nothing more than XML with some code changes for certain characters in the character set. This is why you saw a lot of things folks posted on-line using cut n paste that had a black diamond with a white question mark inside. The program expected XML since that is what it was fed, but it did not recognized the hack job by Mickey$oft to the character set. Little by little programmers added little snippets of code here and there to seek out and correct the DOCX characters back to the XML character so it would display properly.
Yes, I have to agree, when one has enough money, they can polish things to the nth degree.
But also, by the same token, keeping all the work HIDDEN to only a few eyes, means not enough eyes are there looking for the loopholes that hackers can exploit.
Plus they are usually too busy and proud doing their wax on wax off routine to notice the termites lurking inside.
I don't know how many times I've seen comments that it is easier to hack into a windows computer than any other OS.
But those who want to do harm will naturally go after the largest base, which is of course Windows Desktops.
Most of the patches for open source programs come from programmers working for major companies who are fixing or creating things for the companies clients. When they do create such a patch, they often offer the code to the open source development team to include in the free program.
Nearly every improvement made to LibreOffice over the years was in a roundabout way paid for by Micro$oft, and through donations by users to the Document Foundation.
Different programmers my work on different paths to come up with a solution for a problem, or develop a new feature.
Only one of these will be used in msOffice, most will be shelved, and a few will be scrapped, although each path is almost equal in quality of work and what it does. Those paths that get scrapped often end up in open source developers toolboxes to study and modify, and often those modifications render them more like the code that ended up in msOffice.
By the same token, Micro$oft often takes open source code and makes some changes to it and declare it proprietary.
A good example of this is the DOCX format, which is nothing more than XML with some code changes for certain characters in the character set. This is why you saw a lot of things folks posted on-line using cut n paste that had a black diamond with a white question mark inside. The program expected XML since that is what it was fed, but it did not recognized the hack job by Mickey$oft to the character set. Little by little programmers added little snippets of code here and there to seek out and correct the DOCX characters back to the XML character so it would display properly.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
Most of the articles I read about vulnerabilities in kernels and firmware in chip sets does not come from the Dark Web. It comes from companies specializing in security. That's all they do for a living. Most often they are working for a client that has a specific need, but they will uncover a critical flaw that "could" be exploited. That doesn't mean anybody actually did it. Nonetheless these security researchers notify Microsoft, Intel, and all the AV vendors as appropriate. Only after a fix is in place will the announcement of a vulnerability be made. Some of the things they find border on the theoretical and cannot easily be exploited in the wild. That's why Microsoft will drag their feet sometimes when a vulnerability is uncovered. It's there, but nobody outside the research lab can duplicate it.
Every company who makes software for public distribution has a testing lab. The last thing you want to do when trying to sell your state of the art software is to release it with bugs. People won't buy if that's the case. Microsoft is very sensitive to that point, but as you and I know they don't catch everything. There are numerous explanations for that phenomena. The FOSS developers need to be just as accountable as do the proprietary software developers for exactly the same reasons. You don't want to release anything known to be buggy. However, some of the flaws I've seen in Linux appear to be carelessness, and the worst ones suffer from the NIH syndrom, i.e., Not Invented Here. Those devs who take Ubuntu and add some trivial desktop modules think they are doing the world a favor by giving it yet another variation of the same old thing. What these new guys disavow is any responsibility for the mistakes Debian and/or Ubuntu built into their FOSS products. So, when you confront the guy who invented a new improved desktop, he wants nothing to do with the fact the bootloader is buggy. Not his problem. Well, you can't do that at Microsoft where everybody works for the same boss.
Keeping the Windows kernel hidden from public scrutiny isn't a flaw. In fact most of the security issues have very little, if anything, to do with the kernel. It's everything that is attached that becomes a nightmare. If the kernel is blocked from view that means the hacker trying to break it can't see it either, unless he works on that project at Microsoft. And, even that guy signed a nondisclosure agreement so that his ass is grass if discovered to be doing something funky. The bulk of the security and vulnerability issues we hear about are outside the kernel. Think about it. You don't store your login credentials in the kernel so that it wouldn't make sense to hack that if you want to break into a system.
Every company who makes software for public distribution has a testing lab. The last thing you want to do when trying to sell your state of the art software is to release it with bugs. People won't buy if that's the case. Microsoft is very sensitive to that point, but as you and I know they don't catch everything. There are numerous explanations for that phenomena. The FOSS developers need to be just as accountable as do the proprietary software developers for exactly the same reasons. You don't want to release anything known to be buggy. However, some of the flaws I've seen in Linux appear to be carelessness, and the worst ones suffer from the NIH syndrom, i.e., Not Invented Here. Those devs who take Ubuntu and add some trivial desktop modules think they are doing the world a favor by giving it yet another variation of the same old thing. What these new guys disavow is any responsibility for the mistakes Debian and/or Ubuntu built into their FOSS products. So, when you confront the guy who invented a new improved desktop, he wants nothing to do with the fact the bootloader is buggy. Not his problem. Well, you can't do that at Microsoft where everybody works for the same boss.
Keeping the Windows kernel hidden from public scrutiny isn't a flaw. In fact most of the security issues have very little, if anything, to do with the kernel. It's everything that is attached that becomes a nightmare. If the kernel is blocked from view that means the hacker trying to break it can't see it either, unless he works on that project at Microsoft. And, even that guy signed a nondisclosure agreement so that his ass is grass if discovered to be doing something funky. The bulk of the security and vulnerability issues we hear about are outside the kernel. Think about it. You don't store your login credentials in the kernel so that it wouldn't make sense to hack that if you want to break into a system.
Last edited by yogi on 08 Mar 2020, 20:40, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
Almost all hacking of a computer comes in through a program the user installed that has given access to them through a hole in the program itself somewhere. Flash was notorious for having all kinds of holes.
The OS developer gives an access point for a program, and then the program itself is the door into the OS.
Even going back to the days we had the Wang VS 300 system. Each program that runs on Wang did so as a Module.
One of those modules was a simple analog input that read the voltage coming from the temperature sensors in our greenhouse. Then the program would display the temperature in each greenhouse, and we could set a high or low temp alarm, and also another sensor to turn fans on or off. Later we even added motors to open and close dampers in the greenhouses.
I'm only guessing here, based on information I learned in later years. But I imagine those three wires from the thermometers went to like a serial port on the computer, and then the software module intercepted the data.
I'm thinking, this could have been an easy access to the entire computer system via the serial port from any controlled section in any of our greenhouses, if folks knew how back then.
The OS developer gives an access point for a program, and then the program itself is the door into the OS.
Even going back to the days we had the Wang VS 300 system. Each program that runs on Wang did so as a Module.
One of those modules was a simple analog input that read the voltage coming from the temperature sensors in our greenhouse. Then the program would display the temperature in each greenhouse, and we could set a high or low temp alarm, and also another sensor to turn fans on or off. Later we even added motors to open and close dampers in the greenhouses.
I'm only guessing here, based on information I learned in later years. But I imagine those three wires from the thermometers went to like a serial port on the computer, and then the software module intercepted the data.
I'm thinking, this could have been an easy access to the entire computer system via the serial port from any controlled section in any of our greenhouses, if folks knew how back then.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
I don't know if your serial port attack was as real vector, but I do know there is something called IoT (Internet of Things) these days. Things like the ring camera on your front door have next to no security built in, and that's just one thing. There are a gajillion things on the Internet that can give you access to the underlying network.
A few days ago I read an interesting article about breaches into computer systems. Apparently it is normal for 40% of those breaches are done without malware being installed. You know. If I have your login credentials, for example, I can get into your computer without hacking it. Once I'm in, well, that's a different story. The article claimed last year, 2019, that 40% number increased a few percentage points and that it was part of a trend they documented. There is no way to prevent somebody from breaking into your system if they have the login credentials. Antivirus and antimalware is useless in those cases. In fact most of the time there is no way to know these breakins occurred until it's too late. The key is to try and detect unusual activity from that normal login instance. That's damned near impossible right now. So, the warning is that it's still under control. But, if the malwareless breaches achieve a 60% level, we are all doomed. It will be totally out of control at that percentage.
That means you should not worry if you have a virus in your computer. It can be detected and dealt with. But if you see nothing unusual, 43% of the time you are being hacked.
A few days ago I read an interesting article about breaches into computer systems. Apparently it is normal for 40% of those breaches are done without malware being installed. You know. If I have your login credentials, for example, I can get into your computer without hacking it. Once I'm in, well, that's a different story. The article claimed last year, 2019, that 40% number increased a few percentage points and that it was part of a trend they documented. There is no way to prevent somebody from breaking into your system if they have the login credentials. Antivirus and antimalware is useless in those cases. In fact most of the time there is no way to know these breakins occurred until it's too late. The key is to try and detect unusual activity from that normal login instance. That's damned near impossible right now. So, the warning is that it's still under control. But, if the malwareless breaches achieve a 60% level, we are all doomed. It will be totally out of control at that percentage.
That means you should not worry if you have a virus in your computer. It can be detected and dealt with. But if you see nothing unusual, 43% of the time you are being hacked.
Last edited by yogi on 09 Mar 2020, 19:33, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Installing Ubuntu - Part 2
This is exactly one of the things I worried about with those public and private keys. Those private keys are generated on-line and sent to us on-line. Seems they could be intercepted anywhere along the transfer.
I used the same three password levels on all of my computers since moving to Linux. Only had one I never changed on my Windows computers. But starting in 2018 I came up with a new set of passwords that are different on every computer and also have changed most of my on-line passwords so each of them are different by a little bit, but easy enough to remember.
I have a basic password for everything on-line, to which is appended additional code that is different for each website.
Pretty hard to forget the phrase I use the first letter of each word for the basic password.
I'm not telling what I use for each website, but it is derived from the URL, so the same formula is used for all websites I visit where I have to log in. I still keep them written down just in case I croak and the frau needs to get into them.
I used the same three password levels on all of my computers since moving to Linux. Only had one I never changed on my Windows computers. But starting in 2018 I came up with a new set of passwords that are different on every computer and also have changed most of my on-line passwords so each of them are different by a little bit, but easy enough to remember.
I have a basic password for everything on-line, to which is appended additional code that is different for each website.
Pretty hard to forget the phrase I use the first letter of each word for the basic password.
I'm not telling what I use for each website, but it is derived from the URL, so the same formula is used for all websites I visit where I have to log in. I still keep them written down just in case I croak and the frau needs to get into them.