A Simpler Introduction to Sudoers Files
25 May 2019
Despite editing simple sudoers files for over 15 years, I still don't get the basics, each time resorting to ready-to-use examples. Time to change that.

Randomisation in Blender
1 Apr 2019
An overview of the random ways Blender makes it possible to randomly randomise random things, randomly ranging from colours, to materials, to transforms.

Testing command-line tools with shelltestrunner
30 Mar 2019
A short getting-started guide to shelltestrunner, which lets you test command-line tools given a stdin, expecting a stdout and stderr, and an exit status.

The Unixian's Guide to Windows
28 Oct 2018
A few hints for users coming from the UNIX world to find their bearings when they get to work on Windows systems, maybe even to almost feel right at home.

Remotely Executing Processes from Files
21 Sep 2018
A rather absurd approach I implemented to remotely, non-interactively control a computer with a file-based interface. Absurd, yes, but it does work wonders.

Bluetooth and Linux
17 Aug 2018
Behind this mundane title, some notes as I was finding my bearings attempting to use Bluetooth devices when not using a conventional desktop environment.

Apologies to systemd
5 Aug 2018
I want to apologise for not having given systemd a chance before. Like many, I found it an unnecessary change. But the moment I started using it, I loved it.

Microsoft Exchange, Shared Calendars and Linux
22 Jul 2018
Nowadays, Linux users can comfortably dwell in the world of Microsoft Exchange, from mails to calendars, from graphical groupware suites to APIs in Python.

A Filesystem-Based Address Book
15 Jun 2018
I had the project of writing an address book program. Rather than storing the data in a database or even in a single file, I left it all to the filesystem.

Spelling, LaTeX and Accents
31 Dec 2009
There are different tools for checking your spelling that support LaTeX and won't trip on its funny syntax. But they have different limitations with accents.

Parallel Shells and Transfers
22 Mar 2014
PSSH isn't just about running SSH in parallel. It's also about performing parallel transfers with various tools. I was sold by this versatile toolkit.

A Random Selection of Inkscape Tricks
20 Mar 2016
Inkscape is one of these vector graphics editors which were designed with enough flexibility in mind to let you do anything you need provided some creativity.

XeTeX and Fonts
12 Jul 2017
What I particularly like about XeTeX is how using common TrueType and OpenType fonts is made easy. I'm describing in this post how I usually do so in Linux.

That Jungle of Sound Systems
15 Feb 2014
All those different Linux sound systems always leave me with a sense of awe for all their complex interactions. I once tried to see the forest for the trees.

Controlling Line Breaks with LaTeX
23 Dec 2009
This post is but a small overview of how you can control – ward off, really – undesirable line breaks which may be either caused by spaces or hyphens.

Window Managers: Configuration Notes for Notion
5 Aug 2012
The holy grail of window managers, offering that level of configuration I'd always been seeking. Here are tips that were useful as I went along setting it up.

Printer Options with CUPS
8 May 2017
Regular users can set printer options without any privileges, and do so on the fly with arguments passed to lp or configuration files in their home directory.

Mac Python Applications and Exceptions
23 May 2015
When wrapping up Python applications to graphically run in Mac OS X, one problem is that informative exception messages are lost. Here's a way to log them.

Mutt at CERN
16 Nov 2014
Installing, setting up and using mutt at CERN, as a regular user on interactive login services, and enabling those features which make e-mail terrific.

Power-Grepping with Vim
5 Feb 2017
grep is an essential command in the standard UNIX toolkit. Vim brings it to the next level making it more interactive and applicable to a variety of contexts.

Inkscape: Avoiding Transforms Moving Objects
23 Jul 2017
Object positions can be read from the XML that Inkscape writes. They can be subject to transforms, harder to understand. Here's how to make sense out of this.

Spell Checking with an Autocommand in Vim
15 May 2018
After decades of using Vim, I still need to get back to basics: today, how options have a scope and the consequences when enabling them from autocommands.

Typesetting online manuals with groff
9 Oct 2005
groff is a document formatting system relying on a typesetting concept named roff. It offers extensions and macros to typeset the traditional man page format.

The Philips P|3435 Hard Disk Drive
4 Jan 2012
Involved in the heartbreaking job of dismantling a venerable Philips P|3435 hard disk drive, we couldn't do so without studying and documenting its workings.