Switching to DWM

Date: 13/7/2024

It has been a little while since I have updated or added anything to the website, and this is due to the fact that I have been working on my configs, and so far I have them in such a way that I am happy with them. I have also been switching from Qtile to i3 to, well, Dwm now, which has been fun! The reason why I have switched to DWM is because it is written in C, and as my last article stated, I am currently learning C, so it's a win-win: I get a highly hackable window manager, and I get to learn more about C. I also just like how small it is in size because I have been considering doing a few projects in the future, that being, trying BSD, LFS, and Gentoo, which DWM works on all of them; since two of them (LFS and Gentoo) require me to compile everything, this has not been the worst decision I have made.

Here is my DWM config on my PC

So far, I would say DWM is the perfect window manager for me. I do not see myself going back to Qtile or I3 any time soon because DWM has literally everything I would ever need and more, thanks to the amazing patches I am set up with. I have found it quite easy to configure it; it did take a little bit of time to get used to, but the people at Suckless have made it very easy to configure. I don't think I will be adding much to DWM from now on because I have it how I want currently, so I am pretty happy!

That is all for this post thank you for reading, more posts to come!

6 Weeks holiday

Date: 19/7/2024

As of today, my summer holiday has started. And with that comes a lot of freetime to mess around with computers! I have planned some projects for the next 6 weeks so I thoought I would make a post on what I have planned!

Operating system plans

At some point, I will try out Linux from scratch because I have heard it is a good way to see how a Linux system is constructed while making it. I would also like to try creating my own distro of some kind and maybe ship it too.

+ +

While we are on the topic of Linux, I am going to try out Gentoo to see if it is any good. All I really know is that it takes longer to install than Arch Linux and you need to compile all the programs. I'm looking forward to that experience!

+ +

On top of trying Gentoo and Linux From Scratch, I will also try out FreeBSD just to see how it is. Though I am not planning to switch to it because nothing can beat Linux! However, I have heard BSD is really good for web servers, and I know you can run Nextcloud on it, so maybe I will try something like that out to see if its any good.

This is my 'testing computer' where I will be doing all this on.

Programming

Learning programming languages

Over the next 6 weeks I will also try and dedicate some more time into learning the C programming language, and I will be trying to learn some more Python because it is easier for smaller progects and I am planning on trying to make a few small programs and see how much I can do.

+ +

Fakefetch

I will try to give Fakefetch weekly updates to improve its functionality because I really enjoy developing Fakefetch. It is something simple, yet it expands my knowledge of Linux and the C programming language. For example, I could add an IP option to Fakefetch where you can display your IP address, or I could add a battery option. There are lots of things to do with Fakefetch, so I am excited to work on it more!

Fakefetch Link

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Dotfiles

There is not much I will do with my dotfiles, to be honest, because so far I have my ideal setup. Maybe I will add some more bits to Neovim and perhaps create a custom color theme, but that's all I can really think of. Of course, I will add little bits and maybe update some of the programs on the install list, but as of today, there is not much I will change apart from maybe some patches for DWM.

Dotfiles Link

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Website

I will try to do daily updates to this website. Making this website is one of the most fun projects I have ever undertaken because it is just enjoyable to write down ideas and projects I have done. I will do my best to make this website more mobile-friendly; in fact, I am going to try to do this tomorrow and see how it goes.

+ + +

Writing

In the next few weeks, I will be trying to compile all my notes about Linux into a small book that anybody can read! In this book, there will be information about different commands, how to start in the Linux world, and more! So far, I have finished the first part, but there is way more to go. If you are interested, keep an eye on the projects page for any updates!

+ + +

Last words

That is all for now, as you can tell I am going to be busy but I am going to love the next few weeks! Thank you for reading.

Trying out FreeBSD

Date: 22/7/2024

Today, I had the pleasure of trying out FreeBSD, the open source, Unix-like operating system. In this post, I will share my experience with FreeBSD based on my time using it.

Instillation

Installing FreeBSD is relatively easy; you are provided with a nice graphical interface that supports mouse input. Below is a screenshot.

I had no issues with the install script. The only problem I encountered was with using Ventoy; for some reason, FreeBSD does not work with Ventoy, so I had to burn it to a standard USB stick.

I downloaded the amd64-memstick.img for my installation of FreeBSD.

I encountered some internet issues because my test computer has an unusual Wi-Fi card. I resolved this by plugging in an Ethernet cable and would recommend doing the same for anyone installing FreeBSD or any other operating system for that matter. Using Ethernet makes the setup process so much faster.

When adding users during the FreeBSD installation, I had to include them in the `wheel` group, which grants them the ability to gain root access.

+ + +

Post install

After installing everything, the first thing I noticed was that most commands in BSD are similar to those in Linux, as both are Unix-like operating systems. Another observation was that the `sudo` command was not available by default. This command allows users to run commands with root privileges, so I had to install it using FreeBSD's package manager, PKG. The command to install it is listed below.

su # To become root

pkg install sudo # Installing the sudo program

Even after installing `sudo`, I was unable to use the command, despite being in the `wheel` group. This was unexpected because I assumed that `sudo` would check for group membership and grant access accordingly. However, FreeBSD handles this differently. To allow a user to use `sudo`, follow the commands below, replacing `shipwreckt` with your username:

sudo visudo

# Add this to the very bottom of the file on a new line

shipwreckt ALL=(ALL) ALL

After updating `sudo`, I was able to use the command. The next step was installing X.Org and dwm. I didn't need a display manager (login prompt) since I could use `startx`, so I focused on installing the X.Org package and `git` to use my own `dwm` configuration that I uploaded there. I tested X.Org with `startx`, and it worked fine. However, when I cloned my configuration files and tried to compile `dwm`, I encountered a problem. Fortunately, it was an easy fix thanks to a helpful post on the FreeBSD forums. After applying that fix, I was able to use my `dwm` setup successfully. I then checked if my two most-used programs, Alacritty and Librewolf, were available on FreeBSD. To my surprise, they were, and both were fully functional. Below is a photo of FreeBSD running with `neofetch` (`fakefetch` only works on Linux).

Conclusion

Overall, I like FreeBSD and could use it as a daily driver since it supports three of my most-used programs: `git`, `Librewolf`, and `Alacritty`. I appreciate how it works, but for now, I’m sticking with Linux because I am more comfortable with it and prefer Linux over BSD. In the future, I plan to set up a server with OpenBSD, as I’ve heard excellent things about BSD servers.

Thank you for reading!

+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/03Art b/public/posts/03Art new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1e629e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/03Art @@ -0,0 +1,39 @@ + + + + + + Art + + + + +

+ +

Making some art

Date: 24/7/2024

Over the last few days in my free time, I have been messing around with Gimp to make some wallpapers and a profile picture. I do admit this is something I plan to do more of, so I have made a page on my projects page for all of the art I have done! Below are some examples of what I have done so far; I am exited to do some more!

+ +

Here I have tried to give Tux a vaporwave effect.

Here are all the wallpapers I have done so far! I think the Newyork image is the best one so far.

As normal thank you for reading!

+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/04Servers b/public/posts/04Servers new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2561348 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/04Servers @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ + + + + + + Servers + + + + + +

+ +

Messing Around with servers

Date: 24/7/2024

Originally, this article was going to be about setting up an email server. However, due to problems with my router and the fact that I do not like the idea of hosting an email server locally in case it goes down, I have chosen not to do that. Instead, I have decided to host a different server on my local network, and that is what this article is about!

Below is my server; it is a ThinkCentre. I do not really care about the specs because it is not going to be doing much, but it does have an Intel i7, so it’s not bad at all for what I am doing. It has 8 cores and 16 GB of memory, which should be more than enough for what I am doing.

+
+ + ThinkCentre

What is on the Server?

+ +

The operating system of choice for this server is Ubuntu Server; I do know it is not the best server operating system, but I will stick with it for now because I have already set everything up. In the future, I plan to migrate to either a Debian server or an OpenBSD server due to the annoyance of Ubuntu’s snap packages and other weird stuff Ubuntu likes to do.

+ +

This is my first time using Docker. Docker allows you to contain programs, such as Apache, letting you to run multiple instances and manage them easily. It has been a pretty smooth experience so far! With Docker, I have installed the Jellyfin media server.

+ +

Originally, I planned to install Plex, but the web interface was scuffed and was stuck on the "Premium Features" popup, and none of the buttons worked. So, I removed that container and chose Jellyfin instead. I have heard good things about Jellyfin beforehand, and those have turned out to be true! So far, Jellyfin has met all my needs for a media server, and I am very content with it. If I do change the server OS, I will stick with Jellyfin. I also like that you can upload books to it but I have not tried that feature yet.

+ +

The other thing I have on this server is an instance of SearXNG on my local network, providing my own self-hosted search engine! I set it up because I wasn’t sure what else to do with the server, and it’s fun having my own private search engine. Plus, it is definitely much more private than using online search engines like DuckDuckGo or, God forbid, Google.

+ +

Conclusion

Overall, this has been an enjoyable project, and I will probably migrate my server sometime in the coming weeks. As always, thank you for reading!

+ + + + diff --git a/public/posts/05Yubikeys b/public/posts/05Yubikeys new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e6f52c --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/05Yubikeys @@ -0,0 +1,41 @@ + + + + + + Yubikey + + + + +

+ +

Using Yubikey

Date: 03/8/2024

For a while now, I have wanted to own a Yubikey, but the price has always held me back since they cost a lot of money. After scouring ebay for a while, I finally found a good deal on one. I bought it, and now I’ve had the chance to mess around with it.

So far, I have been relatively happy with the Yubikey, but there is one concern I have: a lot of the firmware on the Yubikey is closed source, meaning someone like me cannot read the source code. While this may sound like something small to most, and I might seem overly cautious, but all I will say is how can you fully trust a product and its functionality if you can't see what it’s doing? Due to the Yubikey having closed source components, I have looked for some FOSS alternatives. Below, I have listed some of these products below:

There are two on that list that I am particually interested in, that being TKey and Nitrokey, this is because they are both well delevoped and have ways to set up with SSH so I can connect to servers way more securely, they also provide keys that have NFC so I can use it with my phone which is a big save.

+ +

So far the only thing I have really done with my Yubikey is set it up with KeepassXC, for some reason I cannot get my Google account working with it, and this is because I am under Linux, so I might need to install Windows or ChromeOS in a virtual machine and set it up, but even if then, I just have to hope it will still work on Linux because if not, well, that would be ass.

That is all I am going to look more into hardware keys because well they are awesome, but that is all thank you for reading!

+ + + diff --git a/public/posts/06NewLaptop b/public/posts/06NewLaptop new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6caede8 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/posts/06NewLaptop @@ -0,0 +1,47 @@ + + + + + + DWM + + + + +

+ +

New Laptop!

Date: 17/8/2024

Last weekend I was able to buy a ThinkPad L560 laptop from a car boot, and the best part about buying this laptop is it only cost me £15 with it being fully working!

+ +

Likes

The best thing about this ThinkPad as well as most ThinkPads is the keyboard; it feels so good to type on, and I love it so much; it definitely subconsciously encourages me to type faster. I also like the fact that it is bigger than my main laptop; it gives me a lot of screen space and is more comfortable for me to use. The only disadvantage to this is that the laptop does not fit in some of my bags.

+ +

Dislikes

The only thing I really dislike about the laptop is where the ports are located. This is because the charger is at the side when it should, in my opinion, be at the back where there is a USB port. There is also the fact that the screen is not all that bright, not making it ideal for outside use, but I do not plan on using it outside much. But apart from all of that, I am all happy with it!

+ +

Problems

There have been two problems with this laptop so far, the first being that it had issues powering on when I brought it. But after a while with messing around with the laptop, I fixed the issue and it is all good now, but there is a chance this could happen in the future, so I have to keep that in mind. The other issue I had was the fan being weird; this problem has only occurred as of today, but it is only a small problem and is probably fixed for good now!

+ +

What will it be used for?

This ThinkPad will be my day laptop, so whenever I go out I will bring it; the reason why I will use it as a day laptop is because I got it for cheep and if it goes missing I will not be too upset.

That is all, thank you for reading!

+ + + diff --git a/public/posts/0learningC b/public/posts/0learningC deleted file mode 100644 index a91c139..0000000 --- a/public/posts/0learningC +++ /dev/null @@ -1,56 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - Learning C - - - - -

- -

Learning the C programming language

Date: 10:6:2024

Hello there, I have not updated this website in the last few days or posted much to GitLab, so I thought I might as well publish something to keep some people updated.

So as the title implies, I have been learning the C programming language recently, and it has been fun. I am still at the basics, and I have tests coming up, but I am doing my best with the time I have! i While I have been learning, I have been making a kind of tutorial file from the tutorial videos I have watched, so when I believe it is fully ready, I will publish it to GitLab.

Date: 27:6:2024

It has been a few weeks, and I have not made much progress, sadly. I have been quite busy with school, but I have more free time now, so I will have more time to study. I am happy I have more time because I have been really falling behind on learning C.

Date: 8:7:2024

Hello there! It has been a little while since I last updated this page. I have added some of the resources I use today, so that is a plus for you to read if you are curious! But the main bit of news is that I have is that I have rewrote my programme Fakefetch in the C programmeming language. It was a bit of a challenging, and I needed some help with troubleshooting, but I got there in the end. I have expanded on my notes, and when I am ready, I shall publish what I have done so far. But for now, that is all. Thank you for reading.

- This page is still being updated as I learn more C so keep checking in! -

This is a section is full of resources I use to learn the C programming language.

Websites

Freecomputerbooks.com
learn-c.org

Reading material

Videos

For privacy reasons I have used yewtu.be which for now is more private then google's youtube.

- - - diff --git a/public/posts/1dwm b/public/posts/1dwm deleted file mode 100644 index 33b827c..0000000 --- a/public/posts/1dwm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,33 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - DWM - - - - -

- -

Switching to DWM

Date: 13/7/2024

Here is my DWM config on my PC

That is all for this post thank you for reading, more posts to come!

- - - diff --git a/public/posts/2Summer b/public/posts/2Summer deleted file mode 100644 index 7e504e5..0000000 --- a/public/posts/2Summer +++ /dev/null @@ -1,63 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - Summer Holiday - - - - -

- -

6 Weeks holiday

Date: 19/7/2024

Operating system plans

- -

This is my 'testing computer' where I will be doing all this on.

Programming

Learning programming languages

- -

Fakefetch

Fakefetch Link

- -

Dotfiles

Dotfiles Link

- -

Website

- - -

Writing

- - -

Last words

That is all for now, as you can tell I am going to be busy but I am going to love the next few weeks! Thank you for reading.

- - - diff --git a/public/posts/3FreeBSD b/public/posts/3FreeBSD deleted file mode 100644 index 3865c78..0000000 --- a/public/posts/3FreeBSD +++ /dev/null @@ -1,56 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - FreeBSD - - - - -

- -

Trying out FreeBSD

Date: 22/7/2024

Today, I had the pleasure of trying out FreeBSD, the open source, Unix-like operating system. In this post, I will share my experience with FreeBSD based on my time using it.

Instillation

Installing FreeBSD is relatively easy; you are provided with a nice graphical interface that supports mouse input. Below is a screenshot.

I had no issues with the install script. The only problem I encountered was with using Ventoy; for some reason, FreeBSD does not work with Ventoy, so I had to burn it to a standard USB stick.

I downloaded the amd64-memstick.img for my installation of FreeBSD.

When adding users during the FreeBSD installation, I had to include them in the `wheel` group, which grants them the ability to gain root access.

- - -

Post install

su # To become root

pkg install sudo # Installing the sudo program

sudo visudo

# Add this to the very bottom of the file on a new line

shipwreckt ALL=(ALL) ALL

Conclusion

Thank you for reading!

- - - - diff --git a/public/posts/4Art b/public/posts/4Art deleted file mode 100644 index 1e629e9..0000000 --- a/public/posts/4Art +++ /dev/null @@ -1,39 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - Art - - - - -

- -

Making some art

Date: 24/7/2024

- -

Here I have tried to give Tux a vaporwave effect.

Here are all the wallpapers I have done so far! I think the Newyork image is the best one so far.

As normal thank you for reading!

- - - - diff --git a/public/posts/5Servers b/public/posts/5Servers deleted file mode 100644 index 2561348..0000000 --- a/public/posts/5Servers +++ /dev/null @@ -1,50 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - Servers - - - - - -

- -

Messing Around with servers

Date: 24/7/2024

-
- - ThinkCentre

What is on the Server?

- -

Conclusion

Overall, this has been an enjoyable project, and I will probably migrate my server sometime in the coming weeks. As always, thank you for reading!

- - - - diff --git a/public/posts/6Yubikeys b/public/posts/6Yubikeys deleted file mode 100644 index 6e6f52c..0000000 --- a/public/posts/6Yubikeys +++ /dev/null @@ -1,41 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - Yubikey - - - - -

- -

Using Yubikey

Date: 03/8/2024

- -

That is all I am going to look more into hardware keys because well they are awesome, but that is all thank you for reading!

- - - diff --git a/public/posts/7NewLaptop b/public/posts/7NewLaptop deleted file mode 100644 index 6caede8..0000000 --- a/public/posts/7NewLaptop +++ /dev/null @@ -1,47 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - DWM - - - - -

- -

New Laptop!

Date: 17/8/2024

Last weekend I was able to buy a ThinkPad L560 laptop from a car boot, and the best part about buying this laptop is it only cost me £15 with it being fully working!

- -

Likes

- -

Dislikes

- -

Problems

- -

What will it be used for?

This ThinkPad will be my day laptop, so whenever I go out I will bring it; the reason why I will use it as a day laptop is because I got it for cheep and if it goes missing I will not be too upset.

That is all, thank you for reading!

- - - diff --git a/public/posts/8Games b/public/posts/8Games deleted file mode 100644 index 99f2f48..0000000 --- a/public/posts/8Games +++ /dev/null @@ -1,31 +0,0 @@ - - - - - - DWM - - - - -

- -

Vidio games

Date: 16/8/2024

I am going to try stop playing video games because it is just distracting me from working and learning. So I have uninstalled Steam on my main gaming computer. While I do love video games a lot and I have been playing them since I was a little kid, its something I should limit myself too, I will still play some games, mostly rythem games but apart from that I will be trying to stop playing video games all together.

- -

I might try modify some open source games and try make mods for them or something like that but apart from that I am quitting! That is really all, thank you for reading and I will try put out some more work!

- - - diff --git a/public/projects/programs/dotfiles b/public/projects/programs/dotfiles index a779085..3eb4695 100644 --- a/public/projects/programs/dotfiles +++ b/public/projects/programs/dotfiles @@ -20,7 +20,7 @@

Dotfiles

Last tested: 21/7/2024

Last tested: 21-08-2024

What are Dotfiles?

@@ -31,14 +31,17 @@

I will not go in-depth about the software I use since I have already done that on the software page. Instead of including all my software, I have only included the essential software in the install script, as different computers serve different purposes. Additionally, I have programmed a part of the script to install any missing firmware, eliminating those annoying warning messages during package installation. While I can't guarantee this will work on all computers, it has successfully fixed all missing firmware on every computer I've tested it on so far. If you still encounter warning messages, please refer to the Arch Wiki page to see what firmware you need to install.

Inprovments

As far as I am aware, the only improvement I can make is getting the ranger configuration working on the first install without the user making it work themself.

News

Fixing Ownership of directories and files

Date: 22/7/2024

Changing to starship and other improvments!

Date: 21-08-2024

It has been a month since the last update, and right now, as of today, I have finished a pretty big part of my Dotfiles! So I have switched my terminal emulator from Alacritty to st by Suckless Software. The reason why I have done this is because St is just way lighter than Alacritty. I have also got the ranger configuration to work on the first install, which is amazing! And I have switched from synth-shell to starship because it is just more fun to mess around with. But that is all for this update!

+ +

Fixing Ownership of directories and files

Date: 22-7-2024

Yesterday I tested the config again because I reinstalled arch on my laptop, and I noticed a problem when I wanted to change a config, it was readonly becasue mt user did not have access to the file, this is the same for the wallpaper file. So to fix this I have added a line in the install file that fixes this issue.

Stable install (mostly)

Date: 20/7/2024

Stable install (mostly)

Date: 20-7-2024

Today, I tested my install script on my test computer, and it went smoothly. I only found one problem, which was easily fixed: I forgot to use the -r option when copying files to the .config directory. The only remaining issue is with the ranger config, but apart from that, the install script is stable for anybody to use.

diff --git a/public/styles.css b/public/styles.css index bedd7c2..aae6ccc 100644 --- a/public/styles.css +++ b/public/styles.css @@ -1,5 +1,6 @@ /* styles.css */ + body { background-color: #1f1f1f; color: #e6e6e6; -- cgit v1.2.3

Posts

Switching to DWM

Date: 13/7/2024

6 Weeks holiday

Date: 19/7/2024

Operating system plans

Programming

Learning programming languages

Fakefetch

Dotfiles

Website

Writing

Last words

Trying out FreeBSD

Date: 22/7/2024

Instillation

Post install

Conclusion

Making some art

Date: 24/7/2024

Messing Around with servers

Date: 24/7/2024

What is on the Server?

Conclusion

Using Yubikey

Date: 03/8/2024

New Laptop!

Date: 17/8/2024

Likes

Dislikes

Problems

What will it be used for?

Learning the C programming language

Date: 10:6:2024

Date: 27:6:2024

Date: 8:7:2024

Websites

Reading material

Videos

Switching to DWM

Date: 13/7/2024

6 Weeks holiday

Date: 19/7/2024

Operating system plans

Programming

Learning programming languages

Fakefetch

Dotfiles

Website

Writing

Last words

Trying out FreeBSD

Date: 22/7/2024

Instillation

Post install

Conclusion

Making some art

Date: 24/7/2024

Messing Around with servers

Date: 24/7/2024

What is on the Server?

Conclusion

Using Yubikey

Date: 03/8/2024

New Laptop!

Date: 17/8/2024

Likes

Dislikes

Problems

What will it be used for?

Vidio games

Date: 16/8/2024

Dotfiles

What are Dotfiles?

Inprovments

News

Fixing Ownership of directories and files

Date: 22/7/2024

Changing to starship and other improvments!

Date: 21-08-2024