Updated: 2015-01-11 23:24 EST

1 Readings, Assignments, Labs, Tests, and ToDoIndexup to index

1.1 Assignments this weekIndexup to index

Check the due date for each assignment and put a reminder in your agenda, calendar, and digital assistant.

1.2 Lab work this weekIndexup to index

Never use the sample userid abcd0001 to log in. These are example userids used in the notes that are meant to be replaced with your own login userid. If you try repeatedly to log in to the Course Linux Server from home using a non-existent userid, your home IP address will be locked out; see your instructor for help.

1.3 Upcoming testsIndexup to index

Read the Test Instructions (all the words) before your first midterm test.

  1. First Midterm test: 45 minutes; in class 8am Thursday in Week 6 (February 12)
  2. Second Midterm test: 45 minutes; in class 8am Thursday in Week 9 (March 12)

Tests take place in your 8am lecture hour, not in your lab period.

3 From the Classroom Whiteboard/ChalkboardIndexup to index

Take Notes in Class

Take Notes in Class

4 Real Sysadmin WorkIndexup to index

4.1 GNU Radio free software talks to ISEE-3Indexup to index

https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/free-software-in-space-gnu-radio-and-the-isee-3-spacecraft

To do this, the group turned to GNU Radio, a free software toolkit for implementing software-defined radios and signal processing systems. Modifying the software to communicate in the 1970s satellite protocol, members of the reboot project were able to gain access to the spacecraft and fire its thrusters in early July

4.2 Someone deletes Toy Story 2 at PixarIndexup to index

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dhp_20j0Ys

The backups were bad! Luck: An employee happened to have taken a copy home.

4.3 Data Centre technician unplugs running disksIndexup to index

DSL Reports pays $28,000 in data recovery fees after the technician unplugs the disks while they are still running: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kll86bDn_MgWoo6Ja7oHo_yvI0SCqggEvNWwPWIcrHY/edit?pli=1

4.4 ISS Windows contaminated by virusIndexup to index

Most International Space Station [ISS] computers already run GNU/Linux:

GNU/Linux chosen as operating system of the International Space Station: Gnus now join astronauts of many countries in humanity’s biggest space station. This is a wise choice for the space station, and a high-profile victory for software freedom. It brings good publicity for free software, demonstrating its respected position in the world of science and technology.

They finally had to fix the laptops on the ISS:

Although Windows 8 offers built-in anti-virus software called Windows Defender, the ISS really needs an operating system that is less targeted for cyber-attacks than Windows, according to ExtremeTech. The ISS has already experienced the headache of having infected computers onboard after a Russian cosmonaut accidentally brought a laptop infected with the W32.Gammima.AG worm to the station, which ended up contaminating all the other laptops on the station.

The solution was to dump Windows in favour of Linux:

The United Space Alliance, which manages all of the space station’s computers in association with NASA, made the decision to migrate key functions from Windows to Linux, “because we needed an operating system that [is] stable and reliable,” Keith Chuvala of United Space Alliance said in a Linux Foundation press release.

See Also: ISS Robonaut 2 runs Linux

Most systems on the space station already use some form of Linux, including the Robonaut 2, which is expected to take over some of the “tasks too dangerous or mundane for astronauts in microgravity.” The R2 is already a Linux-bot, so both the on-board astronauts and the ground crew are trying to learn to use the platform to better communicate with the first humanoid robot in space.

http://rocketry.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/nasa-to-migrate-iss-computers-from-windows-to-linux/

http://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/gnu-linux-chosen-as-operating-system-of-the-international-space-station

Tux the Linux Penguin mascot

Tux the Linux Penguin mascot

Author: 
| Ian! D. Allen  -  idallen@idallen.ca  -  Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
| Home Page: http://idallen.com/   Contact Improv: http://contactimprov.ca/
| College professor (Free/Libre GNU+Linux) at: http://teaching.idallen.com/
| Defend digital freedom:  http://eff.org/  and have fun:  http://fools.ca/

Plain Text - plain text version of this page in Pandoc Markdown format

Campaign for non-browser-specific HTML   Valid XHTML 1.0 Transitional   Valid CSS!   Creative Commons by nc sa 3.0   Hacker Ideals Emblem   Author Ian! D. Allen