random technical notes

$ sudo apt update
$ sudo apt upgrade

Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) is a compatibility layer for running Linux binary executables (in ELF format) natively on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2019.

WSL provides a Linux-compatible kernel interface developed by Microsoft (containing no Linux kernel code), which can then run a GNU user space on top of it, such as that of Ubuntu, openSUSE, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Debian and Kali Linux. Such a user space might contain a Bash shell and command language, with native GNU/Linux command-line tools (sed, awk, etc.), programming language interpreters (Ruby, Python, etc.), and even graphical applications (using a X11 server at the host side). (wikipedia)

• MSDN: Install the Windows Subsystem for Linux
• How-To Geek: How to Install and Use the Linux Bash Shell on Windows 10

Snowden’s Beloved Tails OS Reaches v1.0 Milestone.

• Linux Command Line – nothing it’s impossible by command line!
• Очень полезные команды Linux на одном листе
• Очень полезные команды Linux НЕ на одном листе

The Low Level Virtual Machine (LLVM) is a compiler infrastructure, written in C++, which is designed for compile-time, link-time, run-time, and “idle-time” optimization of programs written in arbitrary programming languages. Originally implemented for C/C++, the language-independent design (and the success) of LLVM has since spawned a wide variety of front ends, including Objective-C, Fortran, Ada, Haskell, Java bytecode, Python, Ruby, ActionScript, GLSL, and others.

LLVM can provide the middle layers of a complete compiler system, taking intermediate form (IF) code from a compiler and outputting an optimized IF that can then be converted and linked into machine-dependent assembler code for a target platform. LLVM can accept the IF from the GCC toolchain, allowing it to be used with a wide array of existing compilers written for that project.

LLVM can also generate relocatable machine code at compile-time or link-time or even binary machine code at run-time.

LLVM supports a language-independent instruction set and type system. Each instruction is in static single assignment form (SSA), meaning that each variable (called a typed register) is assigned once and is frozen. This helps simplify the analysis of dependencies among variables. LLVM allows code to be compiled statically, as it is under the traditional GCC system, or left for late-compiling from the IF to machine code in a just-in-time compiler (JIT) in a fashion similar to Java. The type system consists of basic types such as integers or floats and five derived types: pointers, arrays, vectors, structures, and functions. A type construct in a concrete language can be represented by combining these basic types in LLVM. For example, a class in C++ can be represented by a combination of structures, functions and arrays of function pointers.

Additional links:

• Low Level Virtual Machine (wiki)
• Comparison of application virtual machines
• The LLVM Compiler Infrastructure (llvm.org) – the LLVM Project is a collection of modular and reusable compiler and toolchain technologies. Despite its name, LLVM has little to do with traditional virtual machines, though it does provide helpful libraries that can be used to build them.
• Getting Started: Building and Running Clang

UNetbootin allows you to create bootable Live USB drives for a variety of Linux distributions from Windows or Linux, without requiring you to burn a CD. You can either let it download one of the many distributions supported out-of-the-box for you, or supply your own Linux .iso file if you’ve already downloaded one or your preferred distribution isn’t on the list.

Android is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications, that uses a modified version of the Linux kernel. It was initially developed by Android Inc., a firm later purchased by Google, and lately by the Open Handset Alliance. It allows developers to write managed code in the Java language, controlling the device via Google-developed Java libraries. (wiki)

• LiveAndroid, a LiveCD for Android running on x86 platforms
• Hello Android
• Download Top Free Software for any Android phone, like All the People who visit Android Freeware!
• Android Operation System blog
• Android x86

Development:

• Android application developer site
• Android source code
• Introduction to Android development

VDI images of pre-installed “Open Source” Operating System distros. Pre-installed virtualbox images ready for you to explore and play with.

• Instantly run another operating system on your desktop in a window, on almost any computer.
• Implement full Linux functionality on an existing Windows Desktop or server.
• Windows XP Tutorial: 7 quick steps to using our VDI’s
• Need a specific Application? Find an Image using the Pre-Installed Applications Index
• A number of Virtual Machines are also available in OVF Appliance” format

Many people don’t think of their command prompt as a particularly useful thing, or even pay it much attention. To me, this is a bit of a shame, as a useful prompt can change the way you use the command line. Well I’ve scoured the Interwebs looking for the best, most useful, or sometimes most amusing bash prompts. Here, in no particular order, are the ones I’d be most likely to use on my computers.

More

Reports on running Linux on notebook or laptop computers.