Okay... BIG qualifier here: this post pertains to a 2008 Mac Pro running Ubuntu 18.04.5 LTS. If you're expecting some sort of cutting edge hardware review, this isn't it. However, I fetishize old computers and my 2008 Mac Pro holds well enough against contemporary computers that it can handle just about anything I throw at it as a web-developer in 2021. This computer has been an ongoing project, and I enjoy tweaking it here and there to see just how well it can keep up. I recently purchased some PCIe cards (adapters, really) to run hard-disks on, and in this post I'd like to casually review which card, which drive, and which connection gets me the best performance. I'll also discuss what kinds of tools on Ubuntu/Linux help me assess this.
Now, technically speaking, most of the information in this review could easily be found in product descriptions. Product descriptions, however, aren't always what they're cut out to be. I really prefer not to take it for granted that the maximum throughput listed on a product is the same as what you'll get on your own computer. It seems like there are enough variables in data throughput (reading and writing hard disks) that use-case is inevitably a factor.
Here's some background: I'm a little bit of a tinkerer. Nothing hardcore--but, I do fetishize older computers and anything outside the fringes of mainstream technology. When my kids were in 3rd grade (they're twins), I caught wind of the Kano Computer and decided to get one for their birthday.
I was never able to get file-sharing to work on Xubuntu. I recall fooling around with Samba back when I first installed the OS, but it never really resulted in much. Today I was installing Zorin OS (another XFCE flavor of Ubuntu) on an older work computer and I stumbled across the exact same file-sharing predicament: there appears to be no working graphical method to setup network Samba shares.
One of my first Linux installs was Xubuntu on a 2008 MacPro (at two 3Ghz processors with 4 cores each, 15.6 Gb RAM, and an upgraded GeForce GTX card, it's still a contender in 2020). I bought the computer, prior to upgrade, for about $350 on eBay as a pet project, hoping it could take the place of my 2012 Mac Mini--a computer Apple was no longer looking to support with OS releases.
Compared to all the work that went into prepping the site, the actual upgrade is a walk in the park. I'll be sure to cover the actual upgrade process in Step 5 of this article; I'd like to do a quick recap on the entire process, though--so, if you've already read my earlier Drupal 9 Upgrade posts, feel free to skip to Step 5. Otherwise, let's reconnect with what the basic steps are for a D8 to D9 upgrade.
It's been a long couple of weeks...
... long...
This error is almost definitely a permissions issue. In my case, outlined herein, the problem stemmed from a blatant abuse of sudo. Let's break it all down.
I recently needed to make some DNS changes on domains I manage. As is always the case, I made my changes, set the TTL as low as I can get away with, and then made myself ready for what always seems like an unbearably long wait. The time it takes for changes to propagate (for DNS Servers to clear out previously cached entries on your domains) is probably one of the most painful elements in Dev-Ops.
I run Xubuntu on my work computer; I'd run straight-up-Ubuntu, but it's just too late--too much of a pain to migrate at this point. For my foray into Linux distros, I wanted a light build and Xubuntu was my weapon of choice. For the most part, Xubuntu and Ubuntu are sibling OS'es, though. And, this means that if I ever need to figure out how to fiddle around with Xubuntu, the Ubuntu forums are generally the best place to start.
I just bought my Kids a new computer for Christmas. I don't fork out cash for kid computers, nor do I really believe in buying into the newest gaming platforms, whatever they may be; there's always something better just on the horizon, and the games are way too expensive. Beyond that, "pay to play" is real in 2019, and there are far too many gaming ecosystems engaged in predatory marketing.