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ยฉ 2025 - 2026 Nat Welch. All rights reserved.

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Wandering Thoughts

@chris_siebenmann@robot.villas

Unix, system administration, networking, and the practical details of running infrastructure.

Source: https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/?atom

Homepage: https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/

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Posts
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  • Our fileserver generations are a little bit complex #SysAdmin #Infrastructure #Tech

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    Sep 28, 2026
  • Changing your (Unix) terminal appearance on a per-host basis #Unix #SysAdmin #Terminal

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    Sep 27, 2026
  • Giving up on PyPy for my own use (at least for now) #Python #Programming #OpenSource

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    Sep 26, 2026
  • How Emacs does things: flyspell's way of tracking misspelled words #Emacs #Programming #TextEditing

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    Sep 25, 2026
  • Linux programs look at things in <code>/proc</code> more than you'd expect #Linux #SysAdmin #Tech

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    Sep 24, 2026
  • Ubuntu 26.04 has made the Apache systemd service unit fairly restricted #Linux #SystemAdministration #OpenSource

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    Sep 23, 2026
  • At a university, you have to accept that people are going to do stuff #SysAdmin #University #Infrastructure

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    Sep 22, 2026
  • Python settings for Flycheck in GNU Emacs (as of September 2026) #Python #Emacs #Programming

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    Sep 21, 2026
  • I'm eventually going to want a "casual" browser passkey system #Security #WebTech #Passkeys

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    Sep 20, 2026
  • Exim's feature of "tainted" strings is a heuristic #Sysadmin #Exim #Tech

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    Sep 19, 2026
  • Having an Exim test plan for a server saved me #SysAdmin #Networking #DevOps

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    Sep 18, 2026
  • Serious editors are a commitment (at least for me) #Tech #SystemAdministration #Editors

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    Sep 17, 2026
  • Think about your goals and threat models for MFA authentication #Security #Authentication #Tech

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    Sep 16, 2026
  • Some feed readers don't ever react to permanent HTTP redirections #Tech #OpenSource #WebDevOps

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    Sep 15, 2026
  • University MFA authentication has some unusual challenges #Tech #Security #University

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    Sep 14, 2026
  • One possible future for websites is less features #WebDevelopment #Tech #Usability

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    Sep 13, 2026
  • Notes on debugging standard and third-party Emacs code #Emacs #Programming #SoftwareDevelopment

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    Sep 12, 2026
  • The many load averages of Unix(es) in 2026 #Unix #SystemAdministration #Tech

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    Sep 11, 2026
  • Some (mostly historical) issues with the Unix load average #Unix #SysAdmin #Tech

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    Sep 10, 2026
  • Polkit insists on there always being administrative users #Linux #SystemAdmin #Security

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    Sep 9, 2026
  • Always remember to restart daemons and programs after changes #Sysadmin #DevOps #TechTips

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    Sep 8, 2026
  • Thinking about models: authorization versus capabilities #SysAdmin #Security #Tech

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    Sep 7, 2026
  • The prospect for language independent tooling for making code changes #Programming #SoftwareDevelopment #DevOps

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    Sep 6, 2026
  • Our authentication versus authorization problem #SysAdmin #Networking #Security

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    Sep 5, 2026
  • Sorting out a DNF "transaction failed" during my upgrade to Fedora 44 #Linux #SysAdmin #Troubleshooting

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    Sep 4, 2026
  • Status reports and indicators are untrustworthy, UPS battery edition #Tech #SysAdmin #Infrastructure

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    Sep 3, 2026
  • We're no longer using Linux's strict memory overcommit mode #Linux #SystemAdministration #DevOps

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    Sep 2, 2026
  • Getting LSP servers and other tools to work in venvs in GNU Emacs #Python #Emacs #DevOps

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    Sep 1, 2026
  • There's a difference between a technology being ineffective and being uneconomical #Tech #SysAdmin #Infrastructure

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    Aug 31, 2026
  • Our slow move toward boring (server) host names #SysAdmin #Infrastructure #Networking

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    Aug 30, 2026
  • Blocking SSH logins with PAM (at least on Linux) #SystemAdministration #SSH #Linux

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    Aug 29, 2026
  • Using Polkit to prevent people from doing '<code>loginctl enable-linger</code>' #Linux #SystemAdministration #Security

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    Aug 28, 2026
  • A surprise with systemd user service units and special shells #Systemd #Linux #SysAdmin

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    Aug 27, 2026
  • Making a bytes/Unicode confusion in email parsing in Python #Python #Programming #Unicode

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    Aug 26, 2026
  • Considering how much RAM system.slice and the kernel need #Linux #SystemAdministration #Tech

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    Aug 25, 2026
  • I should write more shell scripts than I do #ShellScript #Automation #SysAdmin

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    Aug 24, 2026
  • Some notes on taming ruff (and mypy) so they're useful for me #Python #DevOps #Programming

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    Aug 23, 2026
  • I've become more optimistic about my someday future on Wayland #Unix #SystemAdministration #Tech

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    Aug 22, 2026
  • We should re-check our local settings every so often #SysAdmin #Networking #DevOps

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    Aug 21, 2026
  • Why one of our systems had very slow systemd session starts #Systemd #Linux #SysAdmin

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    Aug 20, 2026
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