Category: Linux

Linux is my primary operating system. I used it on the servers, desktops, laptops, netbooks, and even mobile phones since approximately 1997. I’ve tried a number of distributions over the years, and even created a couple myself. I still look around sometimes to see what others are up to. But most of my machines are running some sort of Red Hat – either a quick and easy Fedora Linux, or a stable and secure Red Hat Enterprise Server, or a cheaper CentOS alternative.

And while by now I am very comfortable in the Linux environment (both graphical and command line), I still discover a lot of new and interesting things about it. When I come across something worthy, I usually share it with the rest of the Open Software world, using this category.

Slimming down Docker images

It’s been a while since I posted anything about Docker.  That’s mostly because I still don’t really use it for anything – playing around locally, testing and learning doesn’t count yet.

But just to keep the ball rolling, here are a couple of handy links for the ideas on how to improve your Docker images, so that Docker uses much less space, benefits more from caching, and brings up the containers faster:

Both articles are around the same theme – choose your  base image carefully, try to minimize the layers, use only what you need, and don’t forget to clean up the disk space with “docker system prune“.

Happy 20th birthday, LWN!

Linux Weekly News (aka LWN) is celebrating its 20th birthday.  Wow, that’s quite impressive! Not many web sites can say that.  But even fewer can do so while covering technology news related to Linux and other Open Source Software.

I’ve been a reader of LWN since their early days.  I’ve been subscribed to it also at different times during the years (see 2002, and then 2004).  And I’m glad that they are still around.  I still catch up with the RSS feed on a weekly basis.

Happy birthday, LWN!  And thanks for all the hard work and excellent content.

Red Hat to Acquire CoreOS

Red Hat issued a press release announcing that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CoreOS Inc.

RALEIGH, N.C. —  — Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire CoreOS, Inc., an innovator and leader in Kubernetes and container-native solutions, for a purchase price of $250 million, subject to certain adjustments at closing that are not expected to be material. Red Hat’s acquisition of CoreOS will further its vision of enabling customers to build any application and deploy them in any environment with the flexibility afforded by open source. By combining CoreOS’s complementary capabilities with Red Hat’s already broad Kubernetes and container-based portfolio, including Red Hat OpenShift, Red Hat aims to further accelerate adoption and development of the industry’s leading hybrid cloud platform for modern application workloads.
I find it to be very significant.  Have a look at other Red Hat acquisitions, especially lately, as well as their other programs and projects.

Getting the best performance out of Amazon EFS

Jeff Geerling shares his tips for “Getting the best performance out of Amazon EFS”.  Given how (still) new the Amazon EFS is and how limited is the documentation of the best practices, this stuff is golden.

tl;dr: EFS is NFS. Networked file systems have inherent tradeoffs over local filesystem access—EFS doesn’t change that. Don’t expect the moon, benchmark and monitor it, and you’ll do fine.

Nerd Fonts – Iconic font aggregator, collection, and patcher

Nerd Fonts is a collection of fonts for people who work with code snippets, command line, and text-based user interface applications.  The fonts are also patched with additional popular icon sets like Font Awesome, Devicons, Octicons, and others.