I am mostly just writing this down as a reference for my future self. I recently got a Dell XPS 13 9310 “developer edition” laptop, which came preinstalled with Ubuntu Focal. Since I know all the hardware is Linux compatible I installed Arch. The laptop ships with a NVME HDD and is configured for UEFI booting, so that’s what is represented here. This is largely copied from this existing gist and most of the credit for figuring all of this out is due to Mohammad Javad Naderi. Disable Secure Boot My laptop came with secure boot turned on, but this won’t work with Arch. Boot the laptop while hitting the F2 key until it shows that you’re going into the BIOS setup. Once you’re in there, find the area for secure boot, turn it off, hit the button to apply changes, and finally hit OK to exit. Prepare a USB…
Cross Compiling Node.js for ARM on Ubuntu
Node.js is available for many different operating systems and architectures. We can run it on our Macbooks locally, on full server grade systems, and on IoT devices with ease. The Node Foundation publishes binary tarballs for a broad spectrum of target platforms. Over at NodeSource we package those builds up for Linux to make them easy to install. However, building Node.js for architectures other than Intel x86 or x64 can be very time-consuming. A clean build of a release from the 10.x line on a Raspberry Pi 3 takes around five hours. It would be nicer if we could cross compile from a beefy Intel machine with the target being the ARM chips that are used in the Raspberry Pi. This is possible, but not as easy as I would have thought when using a recent 64bit Ubuntu system. I spent the better part of my Friday night figuring out exactly how to do it, so I thought I’d share what I learned so you don’t have to jump through all of the hoops I did.
Replacing telnet on OS X High Sierra
For some rather inexplicable reason, Apple decided to remove the telnet utility on OS X High Sierra. At first I thought I must have just been going crazy when it disappeared, but a quick Google showed me that yes, this really happened.
Ridiculous.
A Plea for iMessage on Android
Hi Apple, Chris here. I’m an infrastructure guy, general technology enthusiast, and longtime user of various products you produce. Much like Apple itself seems to be, I am a proponent of strong cryptography for securing personal data and communications. Given the current technical and political climate, I think I probably speak for many when I say that I’d love to see iMessage available for Android phones.
Well Hello There Pagely
I never write here anymore. I keep thinking that I will, and then I don’t, and I should. I know I should. Life has been pretty busy for me for the last year. New job, moved to a Santa Monica with my girlfriend, usual life committments and so on. None are great excuses but c’est la vie. One thing I realized recently was that the only time I have touched this blog as of late, it’s to make sure things are updated. System software, WordPress itself, things of that nature. And that’s not a great use of my time if we’re all being honest here. So instead of managing my own server, I’ve moved things over to the professionals at Pagely. I’ve known Josh Strebel and his lovely wife Sally for some time. They are wonderful, and they run a tight shop. I couldn’t be happier to be here. Hopefully now that I don’t have to think…
What’s to Come After the Ruling on Gay Marriage
Today, the US Supreme court ruled that our Constitution allows same sex marriage. In light of this historic event, I’d like to take a moment and make a brief list of things that will and will not happen as a direct result. I’ll start with the longer list, which is the list of things that will not happen, then I’ll address things that will happen. THINGS THAT WILL NOT HAPPEN NOW THAT GAY MARRIAGE IS LEGAL Civilization as we know it will not crumble around us. Your existing heterosexual marriage will not be invalidated. Democracy will not be replaced as our system of government by socialism, fascism, or anything else. The terrorists will not win. You will not be denied the ability to go to your church of choice or worship as you see fit. Incest will not become legal. Humans marrying their pets will not become legal. Polygamy will…