JDPFu.com 2025

Below is the 2nd of 6 questions from a reader. I definitely don’t have all the answers, but I’m not short on opinion. ;)

Part 1 – LVM+JFS+RAID | Part 2 – Service Virtualization | Part 3 – Virtualizing Media Storage | Part 4 – Hosting Email

duijf asks:

Q2: I read everywhere about Virtualisation, should I directly install packages to the base system to provide services, or should I virtualise all services? What are the advantages here?

Advantages of Virtualization

The list of advantages is long, but with those advantages comes a few disadvantages. I cannot hope to point out all the advantages, so I’ll limit it to just the main ones.

Bare with me here. This is a great technique. I think you’ll thank me later after doing what this article suggests.

Homes and businesses today have lots of network devices. Using DHCP is the easiest way to get those on the network, but if you ever want those different devices to talk to each other, perhaps to transfer a file or to have a central backup server, then now your are running a network. Running a network means you probably want to know which devices are on your network or maybe that is just me. Perhaps you want each device to locate each other device too? Static IPs are possible under DHCP, sometimes called DHCP Reservations or Static Leases.

Make it easy for everyone in the house by using your router to force static IPs for the devices when they are at home, but still can connect to DHCP networks easily when roaming. This is really good for portable WiFi devices like laptops, smartphones, and for home entertainment devices that easily support DHCP.

Last week (4/12/11), Microsoft pushed out a bunch of patches. I didn’t really notice most of the changes, but one changed the way that the mouse snaps to an open window. Yuck. I alt-tab to change programs all the time – all the time – and even the alt-tab moves the mouse over the center of the screen where the program selection window is temporarily located. Some of my automatic scripts open and close new windows. When those windows are opened, the mouse is moved, but when they close, it doesn’t go back where it came from or set the focus back to the prior window. Not good.

Anyway, just typing “mouse” into the superbar under Windows7 offered Change how your mouse works with a checkbox to Activate by hovering …. Uncheck that choice and the mouse behavior works the way I need again.

Why would a patch need to alter this mouse behavior?
Perhaps some security issue with auto-focus?
I dunno. Perhaps it was just there to frustrate UNIX/Linux people who use focus follows mouse.

These days, there is a real desire to have videos on your network, but not loose any of the features that the source media provides. Things like multiple languages tracks, director’s comments and other interesting audio tracks. I like to listen to the Spanish soundtrack and have the Spanish subtitles displayed for movies that I already know. It has been possible to have all this by ripping the full DVD contents and using an appropriate playback device for a long time, but that uses a bunch of storage – perhaps 4x more than needed if modern video codecs are used.

I’m guilty of oversimplification. We all are. I say that I run Linux. That isn’t really accurate, but it is short and only people in the know really understand what that means. Below I’ll attempt to compare a few well known operating systems to an automobile and the parts inside it.

OS to Vehicle Comparison

I’ve picked 1 specific version of a vehicle, Linux OS and Windows OS to use for comparison.

Part              Vehicle                  Linux                         Windows

Total Name        Ford F-150 Truck         Ubuntu 10.04 x32 Desktop      Microsoft Windows7
                                                                         x32 Home Premium

Engine            Ford V8 4.4L Diesel      Linux Kernel 2.6.24-28        Kernel.xyz build 
                                            No direct access to the      number xxxx. No 
                                            kernel without helper        direct access to  
                                            programs.                    the kernel without 
                                                                         helper programs. 
                                                                         The kernel 
                                                                         provides services
                                                                         to other programs.

Outside Bling     Paint, chrome, flashers  Gnome 3.x, customized GUI     Windows Desktop 
                                           running on top of X/Windows   Program / Explorer 
                                           and a _Window Manager_ like   (1st instance only)  
                                           xfce, fvwm, Icewm ... *wm     This is the GUI - 
                                           Other examples of _Desktop    Start Menu, etc.
                                           Environments_: Gnome, KDE, 
                                           LXDE, XFCE. DEs are a 
                                           convenience and not 
                                           necessary.

Raw Controls      N/A, but directly        GNU CLI programs - ls, df     CMD.EXE and a 
                  controlling the throttle  du, and thousands of         limited set of 
                  with a pair of pliers is  others. Example UNIX         programs - dir, 
                  an example.               "Shells" are bash, sh, csh,  scandisk, chkdsk, 
                                            tcsh, ash, zsh, etc...       nslookup, net use, 
                                                                         route. Any program 
                                                                         that doesn't have 
                                                                         a GUI.

User Control Sytm Steering wheel,          CLI interface                 CLI interface 
                  instruments, peddles,    OR                            (mostly unused) - 
                  gear shifter, radio, etc GUI xfaces                    the old DOS-style 
                                                                         interface
                                                                         OR
                                                                         GUI controls like 
                                                                         Control Panel

When you have a laptop, you expect to take it with you. When you have a portable computer, the data on it is at higher than normal risk for theft. This means you need to take steps to protect that data. In 2010, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed laws that require non-public consumer data be encrypted on disk and networks. Basically, disk encryption is here to stay, but there are some drawbacks. Below I’ll describe why you want to encrypt much of your laptop disk storage, why you probably don’t want whole disk encryption, and the setup that I’m using.

Just got a new laptop yesterday, but I didn’t like the way that the 500GB HDD is partitioned.

• Unknown (50MB)
• RECOVERY (18GB)
• WIN7 (whatever remained of the 500GB – over 400+GB)

Only a noob would want that partitioning because they simply don’t know any better. Why do manufacturers still do this? Ah – because it is easy. Sorry for the dumb question.

I want:

• Unknown (50MB)
• RECOVERY (10GB – it actually only uses less than 8GB – resize)
• WIN7 (60GB for apps and the OS – resize + move)
• Data (size determined by my backup disk … I’m guessing about 250GB) Much of it will be encrypted, since this is where my VMs are placed.
• Scratch area for local disk backups or snapshots of VMs or …. unimportant temp data.

Ah, if it were only that simple. Below I’ll discuss the methods used to shrink / resize disk partitions and re-align the data so reduce wasted areas on the disk.

Each of us use a computer for various reasons. Some just want a system that works, without any hassle. Most of us want to run specific software, work with specific file types, connect with everyone else, and possibly just do what the people around us are doing to be the same.

I’ll be as honest as I can and put the reasons in order.

2014 Update:
Adobe is at it again. This time violating paid customer privacy.
Adobe spies on readers: EVERY page you turn, EVERY book you own leaked back to base

Time to start blocking adobe domains, if you don’t already.
adelogs.adobe.com is one.

Adobe has been plagued with security issues in their most popular tool, like Acrobat and Reader. These issues seem to be on all platforms, but are mostly targeted by hackers on MS-Windows. For years, we’ve known that Acrobat allowed PDF documents more access than most people need by default – JavaScript and the ability to start other programs running on the system. 99% of Acrobat Reader users do not need or want either of those features, yet, they are enabled by default.

Adobe has been slow to correct issues and claimed to be on a quarterly patch cycle. This is for Flash, Shockwave, Reader and all products including PhotoShop. For almost all of these tools, there are alternatives that are not the main targets of hackers.

So, I gotta ask …

Why are you still using Adobe Tools?

How to ask for help for Linux issues.

All of us need a little help now and again. Linux users aren’t any different than MS-Windows or Mac users in that regard. The difference is that to get help for Linux, you need to do a little more research first.

We’ll assume you don’t have a nearby Linux knowledgeable friend that knows everything. You’ll need to ask people you do not know for help. Or, perhaps you are the Linux guru in your circle of friends and your questions are more complex than most.

Below, I’ll suggest a few methods to use to get help and outline the data you should include in your requests to optimize the ability of others to actually be helpful to you.