Is Viber a Trojan horse? The mass bans of Ukrainian accounts

Once I found out that my Viber app can't sent any message, all messages were frozen with clock icons, which probably means "something in progress". Waiting a day, two days, a week and a bit more didn't bring any news...

How to prevent IPv6 leak with an OpenVPN client on GNU Linux?

You might want to use a VPN, so that you can browse the Internet from another location, but your ISP provides an IPv6 network which could route traffic differently than an ISP with only IPv4 connectivity.

How to setup a VPN kill switch on Linux for OpenVPN and WireGuard?

This guide will show you how to set up a manual kill switch for OpenVPN in GNU/Linux, with all details, explained. A VPN firewall (or kill switch) kills network connections that are active when there is no active connection on a given system through the use of IPTables, UFW or Firewalld.

Security Featured

Security: Seat belts, Sunscreen and Smoke Detectors

When you first start to dig into the dark realms of computer security, it’s easy to go down a rabbit hole. There are lots of things that could go wrong, at least theoretically. It can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Before you spend a lot

Linux Featured

An interview with Alexandre Oliva, lead developer of Linux-libre at FSFLA

Most distributions we use today, including Debian, Fedora, Arch etc, are a modified version of the GNU system with Linux as the kernel. In short, it is GNU (system) + Linux (kernel). By calling it Linux, without giving any credit to the GNU project for the GNU system, we are basically

Programming Featured

Perl is dead. Cool story, bro

Perl is a high-level, interpreted, general-purpose programming language developed by Mr Larry Wall. It was written by Mr Larry for himself and his office mates to glue things together while he was working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Labs. The first public release of Perl, version 1.000, was on 18

Featured

Libera Chat - a popular IRC network plays an April Fool's joke about moving to Discord and makes a point

On the 1st of April, Libera.chat, a popular IRC network, played an April Fool's joke about moving to a Discord server and asked people to join an IRC channel to chat about it. Libera's global notice caught a lot of users for a moment. A_Dragon (A_D@libera/

Linus Torvalds joined Free Software Foundation

As unexpected as it may seem, Linus Torvalds has finally joined the Free Software Foundation. 1st of April 2023 has brought good news to the world of Free Software. Mr Linus, creator of the Linux kernel, has joined the Free Software Foundation's ongoing fight to bring completely free software to

Linus Tech Tips Youtube Channel hacked. Here's why you don't need to worry as a GNU Linux user

Linus Tech Tips and their media house's other Youtube channels were hacked using session tokens with malware disguised as PDF. In a sad turn of events, Linus Media House has been hacked and its Youtube channels temporarily hijacked by a third party. Canadian Youtuber Linus Sebastian told us it was

Hosting Featured

Free European Email Hosting Service Provider for Domains - Inleed.xyz

When I first got a domain name from a European registrar a few years ago, I was absolutely thrilled with the idea of owning a domain name. After a lot of searching. I finally found a registrar who offered free mailboxes with the domain registration. What happens if you already

My first experience with MacOS and Macbook as a GNU Linux developer

As a GNU Linux developer, I am used to working with the GNU Linux distribution on a wide range of Linux-compatible hardware. Recently I got a Macbook as a mobile workstation, which gave me the chance to explore the world of macOS and a different hardware architecture, i.e. Apple

Dear Telegram, stop calling Cloud Chats encrypted, let alone heavily encrypted

Telegram is a robust cloud messenger with a top-secret end-to-end encrypted chat option exclusive to one-to-one chats available on limited platforms only. What is and what isn't Telegram Cloud Chats? All the private (one-to-one) and group chats that you do on Telegram is Cloud Chats. Cloud Chats use Server-client encryption

Featured

The definitive guide to choose Ubuntu or Debian as your next GNU Linux distribution

I am very sure that many of you have had trouble choosing a desktop operating system of your choice when you first started out with a personal desktop or laptop PC. If software freedom is important to you, there is no replacement for GNU Linux. You have a plethora of

Rust

Rust for beginners: GPX Analyzer - how to find the best GPS tracks in apps like Strava or Nike Run Club

This article was written for beginners and not by a Rust professional, so do not judge it too harshly. All the code is available here. Running is fun and important for your health, so run and don't stop! Why not make your daily run more interesting with Rust, the popular

How to make your IPv6-only website available to IPv4-only networks in under 5 minutes?

We recently discussed the importance of IPv6-only networks and how you can really save money and reduce the use of IPv4 for a variety of hosting purposes. By introducing IPv6 to our services, we would be making a contribution and doing our part to help solve the problem of the

FOSS Featured

Here's why I self-host my blog with Ghost instead of subscribing to Ghost Pro, a nifty Wordpress alternative

The whole idea of self-hosting is a cool aspiration and it is more about control over your data. Also, you are unlikely to hit the various pay-for features that you unlock. The more you spend the more you get. I understand that managed hosting is quite a bit more expensive

Here is why GNU Linux or macOS may be more secure than Microsoft Windows in some cases

Let us discuss some of the things I have noticed that make macOS or GNU Linux more secure by default. This is a very subjective topic and this post is my personal opinion based on my daily observations. Backdoors The thing is, Windows is more vulnerable because of the backdoors

Featured

Ukrainian netizens' daily struggle amidst War and how Telegram, Whatsapp, Viber, Signal played a crucial role for Smartphone users

“Need ammunition, not a ride.” ― Volodymyr Zelensky The Russian invasion left many dead and wounded. The war continues not only on the real battlefield, but also on the digital one. The mobile phone is the weapon: one piece of information can save lives or kill enemies. Especially in occupied territories:

Curious case of IPv6 only hosting

IPv6 was created by The Internet Engineering Task Force 'cause began to worry about IPv4 address exhaustion as a result of startling growth in use.

VPN Featured

How to route or exclude a network or service specific or China only traffic through a VPN using IP based split tunneling on GNU Linux?

Long gone are the days when a website was hosted on a single server with a static IP for years. In today's web, redundancy and robust content delivery networks are taking over from traditional web server systems. I am sure you have often struggled with IPs and routing table tricks

VPN Featured

How to exclude a website from VPN gateway using IP based split tunneling on GNU Linux?

Some websites often block access through a work or private VPN, including your government web resources, streaming sites like Netflix, HBO, Hulu, etc. While it is easy to disable VPN and open the website or search for a better service, doing it several times a day can be painful. You

Opensource Featured

Smartwatches with Open Source OS And Where To Find Them

In context of fresh Chinese smartphones' telemetry leaks - OnePlus, Xiaomi, Oppo and Realme, the **data privacy concerns are rising again**.

Microsoft Featured

Microsoft: occupy PC? Secure Boot, TPM and Pluton

When a general user enables his laptop or desktop, there's often happens a question - is the current OS secure? Or maybe some core files were replaced by hackers and after load your device will open a backdoor to bad people or even _be transformed in part of botnet_?

Featured Featured

How to share VPN connection using Ethernet and Wi-Fi on Linux

This setup can be helpful _if_: - part of your or your friend network equipment is broken or badly configured - for developer purposes like debug or microservices development - your VPN plan supports only one connection to server - share wired connection to your smartphone over Wi-Fi

Linux Featured

How to use VPN for only one application on Linux

The default approach with routing all traffic over VPN can hit user experience sometimes. If user need to do some tasks with application which requires low traffic or speed - it can be done with cheap VPN, but _comfortable web browsing will be definitely broken_.