Gregory's ServerWhat are we up to for today? What makes nerds get up early? Some journey ahead ...
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Train staff didn't accept us presenting our digital ticket on ebook reader π - they are not allowed to scan arbitrary QR codes without "verifying where they are coming from". Luckily enough, #PassAndroid was fine for them, because "some app" is apparently okay..  @Codeberg π€¦ββοΈπ€·ββοΈπ₯΄ @eliasp Actually, the same staff member checked our tickets about an hour later on the way back (without recognizing us), and asked me to "scroll" in the app to show it's actually "an app" and not just a screenshot. @Codeberg π I feel like most people don't understand what the process of "scanning a QR code" actually means. To them, it seems to be comparable to waving a magic stick.   A new piece of baggage has joined us. Makes for happy sysadmins - which you can see in the image when you look close enough. @Codeberg Never underestimate the data transfer speed of a server filled with hard drives on a train @SM0RVV It's actually empty, but we might offer pickup service for large free software projects :) @Codeberg when transporting your servers like that, do anticipate for dirt, and worse, rain. Two Ikea blue bags fit great for most servers ;) [one over the top, one over the bottom upwards due to dirt/mud coming from the floor). At arrival, do acclimatize the server and ensure to reseat many cards; which is why a outer carton box is advised. Good luck with the new toy! -- fellow server-by-public-transport person ;) @jeroen We were prepared for moist and rain, but it was a rather sunny day. We will clean up the interior (during the handover, at least one leaf fell in). But thank you for the hints! Waiting for the train ... we have all we need for "holidays" π (posted a little late, because the train had bad WiFi)  @Codeberg Strap a display and keyboard to that, and you have the perfect laptop. Well, except maybe for gaming, I doubt the GPU in that one is anything fancy π   To answer the initial question: This is what makes us nerds happy (in case you didn't expect an answer like this). An interesting experiment for us, too. What this means in the long run for Codeberg? We're finally - thanks to the expertise and help of some volunteers - ready to expand our hardware infrastructure, making Codeberg more resilient to certain kinds of issues and improving availability in the long run. @baloo Emulating keyboard navigation for selecting the right boot device. You know, not the kind of automation that is really worth the effort, but some fun. ~f  @Codeberg Love the fire extinguisher on the table. Juuuuuust in case something could go wrong... ;)  @Codeberg I first thought you would make a joke that the post came late because the train was xD @f2k1de Pretty cool. Looking forward to accidentally meeting other people with servers in the train, so we can build an ad-hoc cluster π ~f  @ProfessorCode Unfortunately, the USB-C port failed after about one year, still not sure about the exact reason.  For those still wondering about why they were "not allowed" to scan the other QR code: I suspect this is related to potential abuse vectors via QR codes (yes, we know, requiring the hacker to spoof it via a fake app instead of an ebook is not the answer). Watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIcbAMO6sxo or read https://www.revk.uk/2020/01/eicar-test-qr.html for some background. ~f @Codeberg Kinda odd that the QR-code doesn't contain just a digital signature or something similar, and that their ticket-checking app might be vulnerable to it containing something malicious, like opening a random malicious URL. I suppose it was just "QR code bad" and the policy wasn't thought through much more than that? @Codeberg In all honesty... If they fear some malicious actors causing issues, then they shouldn't offer a QR-code-based system to begin with, if they can't be bothered having a solid system that prevents issues like this to begin with... @Codeberg if you're doing something that makes it dangerous to scan an untrusted QR code, the security risk is not the provenance of the QR code.  |
@Codeberg Godspeed! See you soon π