asty.org – Page 9 – the homepage of Chris Allegretta

A/UX 2K14 Notes

Posted on February 17, 2014February 8, 2018 by chrisa

Since AUX Penelope has been shut down, I’m going to jot down some details about where you can get A/UX software and commands you need to get going with your shiny old A/UX system.

Hardware:

At this point you want a full 68040 Mac like the Quadra 650, 700, 800, or 9xx, they can still be had on eBay relatively easily. If you want to use a luggable you’re stuck with an SE/30 which is B&W. Get yourself a decent amount of RAM and a supported CD-ROM.
KB/Mouse: Any ADB KB & mouse you can find should work like a champ. Im toying with picking up the GeeThree PS/2->ADB adapter so I can eliminate the old physical mouse as my

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MVNOs Part 2: For you Sprint and Verizon users

Posted on January 4, 2014April 7, 2021 by chrisa

In my original article I let you know what options there are for those of you who wanted to switch to discounted phone provider (also known as an MVNO) in the US to save some moolah, but I focused mainly on carriers who operated on the AT&T and T-mobile GSM networks. Since then I’ve gotten some good experiences with two other MVNOs and wanted to share my findings; one for all those of you who think you HAVE to be on Verizon’s network (and if you live outside a major Metro area you’re probably right). And another which seems to be redefining low-cost quality cell service and combining cellular and wifi calling working on your cell phone amazingly well. So …

Contract-Free Unlimited Android for $50. Time to move to an MVNO!

Posted on October 15, 2012April 7, 2021 by chrisa

Update 2013.02.21 – I recently ported back to Straight Talk and have found that I can no longer seem to successfully make the forwarding call required to use GVoice for my voicemail. Lame! One less reason to pick them I guess. The carrier table should be updated accordingly. For those interested, I also signed up the the Republic Wireless $19/mo unlimited program today, and I’ll put up an article about this service once I’ve had the chance to kick the tires.

I recently read JR Raphael’s excellent article Android off-contract: My prepaid journey, 3 months later and thought to myself “self, we definitely need more prepaid customers. But the described setup only gets you 100 minutes a month!” Normal humans …

back…again?

Posted on October 14, 2012January 24, 2018 by chrisa

Well my upgrade for security-paranoia’s sake seems to have wiped out the previous site, which was rather spartan to begin with. I’ll try and put something together which looks slightly more ugly but less basic. You’re welcome America!…

On text editor bigotry

Posted on March 3, 2011October 3, 2019 by chrisa

I have to say that as a Free Software developer, one thing I find very disappointing is people being needlessly hostile to a project of mine, and using incorrect reasoning to substantiate it. Nine traits of the veteran Unix admin is one of those gems.

Let me first say that I actually like vi[m] quite a bit. I’d even agree with people who say you can’t be a true Unix admin without knowing vi. Note I said knowing, not using for every task. On any Unix machine made before the turn of the century, you’re going to want to know vi to get around. Emacs I never got around to using; many of my coworkers swear by it. It looks …

When Non-Free is “Free Enough”

Posted on July 2, 2001October 8, 2021 by chrisa

[This is a repost of an article I wrote in 2001 on the University of Washington PINE license. Restored here for posterity.]

When Non-Free is “Free Enough”
by Chris Allegretta

The University of Washington’s Pine mailer. A popular piece of software, indeed, as is its editor component, Pico. So much so that most people turn a blind eye to its license: a license, I feel, that is as bad as anything that has ever come out of Redmond.

Virtually every major GNU/Linux distribution ships binaries of Pine and Pico with the notable exception of Debian. After all these programs are veritable mainstays of the Unix world. Ironically, according to the legal terms of the program, Debian may be the …