Topic: Linux – Ctrl blog

How to change keyboard layout on the GNOME and Plasma login screens

2021-05-20T11:03:00Z

I’ve had an annoying issue with the login screen on my Linux computer: it’s using the wrong keyboard layout. I can’t log in without first doing some mental mapping of where the keys are on the wrong keyboard layout. Here’s how you change the keyboard on the LUKS password screen, and graphical login screens.

WSLg simplifies running Linux desktop apps on Windows

2021-04-23T07:58:00Z

The latest Windows 10 Insider build (21354.1) introduced support for Windows Subsystem for Linux GUI Apps (WSLg). Microsoft Windows can now run Linux desktop apps natively. Let that sink in for a bit.

GNU Parallel can do anything, but scripting may be the better option

2021-04-03T15:07:00Z

GNU Parallel is a utility that lets you run command jobs in parallel; on local and on remote hosts over the network. It’s incredibly powerful when you need something more flexible than xargs, and it’s especially useful with small computer clusters.

systemd application firewalls by example

2021-02-12T20:02:00Z

An application firewall, unlike a gateway (router) or system level firewall, is meant to limit the networking of a single application. It can be used to prevent a compromised service from seeing into the local network, prevent programs from calling home, plug metadata leaks, or more tightly control a program’s network access.

What’s with cp --reflink: failed to clone: Invalid argument?

2021-01-23T14:10:00Z

Most modern copy-on-write file systems, such as Btrfs and XFS, support file cloning. (OpenZFS being the notable exception.) However, the tools that support this space-saving innovation can be difficult to use. Here’s an example situation detailing how the simple copy (cp) command on Linux can make it hard to understand what’s going on.