The fresh education has begun. Not that I’ve ever stopped learning in the first place, but this is something I never felt the need to know. I approach it like every other academic endeavor because I need to make sure I can do what it takes to press ahead in the mission calling. So I’ve got this marvelous computer and CentOS 7 is installed and I’ve already learned how to set up and run the service that replaces the APC “Powerchute” software you get with the battery backups for Windows. It’s not exactly simple, but very effective; the system is now fully aware of the battery. But this is just the beginning.
Aside from different logos and not having to pay for use and software updates, the official Red Hat manuals apply to everything involving CentOS. For years CentOS chugged along as the a free clone of RHEL. A couple of years ago, Red Hat adopted CentOS as one of their officially sponsored projects. So if you visit the RHEL documentation page, and click on the small gear-button at the right side across from any of the manuals, you can choose to download different formats or simply read it online. The System Administrator’s Guide is mostly review for me, but I’ve already run across a few tricks I hadn’t known before.
At the same time I’m reading this excellent guide to Linux networking. My knowledge of networking in general is very spotty, so this is more work. I’m taking the time to memorize bits of it here and there, whatever strikes me as critical. And it turns out that there is a lot more to those little home routers you buy so cheaply; a lot of them run Linux already and can be tuned to carry out some pretty sophisticated networking tasks.
The business of webmaster is more complicated because the technology is a faster-moving target. Any book will be little more than an introduction to each of the topics common to the field, and it becomes more important to master specific tools you use. Do I really need to know all about SQL and the details of database management? Must I become a master of PHP and Apache webserver operations, too? Probably not right away. Those are specialties within a broad array of possible applicable topics. I have zero interest in web design, and I’m much more likely to engage only the stuff I have to know to do what I’m doing. Most of those things yield nicely to mere familiarity because some of the best tools are already prepackaged for you.
Meanwhile, you notice that I continue my biblical studies by churning out the weekly lessons in Psalms and I’ll be working on some more of Proverbs this week. If it turns out that starting a new “career” at almost 60 was even half the reason God drove me to retain a high level of physical fitness, it makes all the sense in the world to me.
Thanks for providing the Linux networking link. I’ve added it to my reading list.
Praise the Lord for the good work He has chosen for you. Well, I for one am excited! I spent over twenty years in the computer arena and had to keep up with all the latest. Those days ended over ten years now, but the excitement I felt then just came back to life, Pastor.
May the path He has you on bring you more of His Joy!
It’s plenty of fun for me, actually. This is the first time I’ve tried learning something new with my heart-mind engaged.
Just wanted to pass this article along to you about a privilege escalation exploit vulnerability someone discovered in the Linux kernel. http://perception-point.io/2016/01/14
Regards
Thanks, Benjamin; good point. I’m posting this through because it’s a teachable moment, so I will make a comment in response. This thing is all over the technology news but you seldom get the whole story. Part of this is because of the various biases of editors and such. Some will crow about Linux being no less buggy and/or insecure as Windows, Mac, etc. After awhile you begin to recognize that faction. There is another group that holds no animosity, but also very little understanding. That’s most tech reporting in the first place. Among those who do report the whole story, most will target techies as does the article you linked. A precious few sources will factor it down for the average Joe Linux user. To be honest, you end up having to read a lot of tech reporting sites, and even wade through some busy forums and factor out lots of “noise” to get to the meat of the story.
(1) The attack requires getting an account on the machine, or gaining access to an account. This in itself depends on a very large number of factors and affects almost nobody running a home machine or laptop. It works only in environments where you have insider threats, or facing a direct attack from someone with time and skill, so that they can exploit some other flaw to gain a remote login. (2) Most Linux machines will bog down and freeze before the vulnerability can be exploited. This particular attack requires machines with way more RAM than even most servers have. The article you linked notes honestly that this attack takes a very long time when it does work and they use a machine with very high specs. Some Linux distros add various types of system protection that make even this exploit useless. The threat is real, but highly limited in scope. Still, some distros have already begun distributing the patch to their users.