/slackware/ - Slackware Linux

Currently my favourite video player is mpv.

Overview: mpv is a media player based on MPlayer and mplayer2. It supports a wide variety of video file formats, audio and video codecs, and subtitle types.

Links:

https://mpv.io/

https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv

I prefer to compile mpv myself instead of using a SlackBuild or downloading a pre-compiled package.

Installation instructions (read Generic Instructions): https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv-build

It's important to notice that you don't need to run ./install (read Generic Instructions). Just copy the binary to /user/local/bin or any other place of your choice (preferably inside a executable path).

mpv creates the directory $HOME/.config/mpv

The watch_later directory according to the documentation "Contains temporary config files needed for resuming playback of files with the watch later feature." Use Shift+q/Q to quit a video with resume playback. Play the file normally again and you'll notice it'll resume from when you quit. Quite handy.

You can edit the files in $HOME/.config/mpv to your taste, but here goes my mpv.conf (I have no GUI for mpv):

$ cat .config/mpv/mpv.conf

# Write your default config options here!

#

# Profile:

#profile=pseudo-gui

#

# Gui:

#player-operation-mode=pseudo-gui

#

#terminal=yes

#input-terminal=yes

# Video:

vPost too long. Click here to view the full text.

I use the Pale Moon Browser, and some time after updating to version 27.9.1 I got a warning about NoScript. I should have taken a screenshot, but now NoScript has been uninstalled. You can read more information here: https://forum.palemoon.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=17619&sid=c7f6d33ac4abb02a3344d2b17b5bfbb5

So keeping just uBlock Origin + hosts file (https://pgl.yoyo.org/adservers/) internet filtering wasn't enough for me. Javascript is a real pain, not as much as Adobe Flash (I know they're different), but I dislike both because of security issues.

I decided to look around and I found uMatrix (http://addons.palemoon.org/incompatible/ recommends version 1.1.4) from the same developer of uBlock Origin, and it is awesome.

Check this tutorial: https://www.electricmonk.nl/docs/umatrix_tutorial/umatrix_tutorial.html

uMatrix Wiki: https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix/wiki

Various Links:

https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/umatrix/

https://www.ghacks.net/2017/11/28/a-umatrix-guide-for-firefox/

It might take some time to get used to it, but it's worth learning.

The gHacks guide above recommends disabling/removing any other content blocker (NoScript, uBlock Origin, Adblock Plus etc) to avoid issues with uMatrix.Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

There are two commands that I use to update Slackware 14.2 packages on Stable.

First: $ sudo slackpkg update

Second: $ sudo slackpkg upgrade-all

The "update" will download the latest package lists from a Slackware mirror selected in /etc/slackpkg/mirrors.

The "upgrade-all" will prompt which packages will be updated, and the user can select/deselect at will.

This method will not install non existent packages, neither will it upgrade your installation to Current. Check slackpkg's man page for more information.

A few important things to notice:

1. To use sudo, you need to add your username to /etc/sudoers like this (you have to edit as root):

##

## User privilege specification

##

root ALL=(ALL) ALL

username ALL=(ALL) ALL

There is a thread about visudo, which is the proper way to edit /etc/sudoers in Slackware. Check it!

If you don't know your username, try: $ id

2. Read the files in /etc/slackpkg. They contain important information on how to configure slackpkg, selecting a mirror (you need only one) and blacklisting packages.

I'll explain here how I upgrade my kernel, using the official upgrade packages for Slackware 14.2. I used to upgrade my monolithic kernel using the ones provided by kernel.org, but some things always broke in one way or another, so I've been using only the official Slackware kernel upgrades now.

Before I begin, a few important things to consider:

I'll be focusing on an initrd kernel here. If you want a monolithic one, don't make an initrd, create the symbolic links to the proper *huge* kernel in /boot, edit /etc/lilo.conf properly and don't forget to run lilo.

Do not upgrade your kernel if you're unable to reboot as soon as possible, unless you're running a monolithic (non initrd) kernel. The reason for this is that once you upgrade, the old kernel modules are gone and a initrd kernel (loaded in memory) might request them and they won't be found, because you upgraded to a newer version. That breaks things, so unless you're using a monolithic kernel, reboot the new kernel once the upgrade procedures are done.

It's recommended that you use an initrd instead of a monolithic kernel. You can read more here: https://www.distributednetworks.com/configure-key-linux-components/module2/modular-monolithic-kernels.php

Make sure you haven't blacklisted the kernel packages in /etc/slackpkg/blacklist. If you have, slackpkg will not upgrade the kernel packages at all.

# /usr/share/mkinitrd/mkinitrd_command_generator.sh –longhelp, because it has useful information.

Also read /usr/doc/mkinitrd-1.4.10/README.initrd

I'll be using lilo, not grub.

Let's begin:

There has been a massive ChangeLog.txt update for Slackware Current.

Patrick explains the changes there.

Have fun!

http://slackware.mirrors.tds.net/slackware/slackware-current/ChangeLog.txt

As promised, here is the IPTables script that I use. Please note that this is only for IPv4.

It's designed to block internet connections while the VPN is disabled.

I've made some modifications of my own.

In /etc/rc.d/rc.inet2 there is a section left for rc.firewall where you can enable it.

I hid the –dport on purpose.

There is also /usr/doc/openvpn-2.4.6/sample-config-files/firewall.sh, for those that have upgraded to OpenVPN 2.4.6 and want a sample IPTables that's specific for OpenVPN.

Source: https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-create-a-vpn-killswitch-using-iptables-on-linux

$ cat /etc/rc.d/rc.firewall

#!/bin/sh

# Base Rules
# Before you configure iptables to allow any traffic you need to switch its default to disallow all traffic. Add these three rules to drop all traffic (IPv4 and IPv6) by default.
/usr/sbin/iptables -P INPUT DROP
/usr/sbin/iptables -P FORWARD DROP
/usr/sbin/iptables -P OUTPUT DROP

# Input
# It's most secure to only allow inbound traffic from established or related connections. Set that up next.
/usr/sbin/iptables -A INPUT -m conntrack --ctstate RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT

# Loopback and Ping
# Next, allow the loopback interface and ping.
# This assumes that your VPN connection is on tun0. Check that with ip a, if you're not sure. 
/usr/sbin/iptables -A OUTPUT -o lo -j ACCEPT
/usr/sbin/iptables -A OUTPUT -o -tun0 -p icmp -j ACCEPT

# LAN
# It doesn't make much sense to shut down or block your LAN traffic, especially on a home network, so allow that too.
/usr/sbin/iptables -A OUTPUT -d 192.168.0.0/24 -j ACCEPT
/usr/sbin/iptables -A OUTPUT -d 192.168.100.0/24 

Slackware Current and Stable OpenVPN packages have been upgraded to version 2.4.6.

This has brought issues not because of OpenVPN itself, but /etc/rc.d/rc.openvpn has changed and I had to adapt.

After the upgrade, I noticed that the OpenVPN process was closing somehow, and I would be "disconnected" from the internet. "Disconnected" because I have IPTables rules in place that only allow access to the internet through the VPN.

I triple checked the VPN .conf files and nothing worked. Next thing was to check if anything appeared in /var/log/, and indeed /var/log/syslog gave some clues:

Apr 28 00:01:29 compass openvpn[17181]: Error opening 'Auth' auth file: /etc/openvpn/credentials.txt: Permission denied (errno=13)

Apr 28 00:01:29 compass openvpn[17181]: ERROR: Linux route delete command failed: external program exited with error status: 2

Apr 28 00:01:29 compass last message repeated 3 times

Apr 28 00:01:29 compass openvpn[17181]: Linux ip addr del failed: external program exited with error status: 2

Apr 28 07:24:14 compass openvpn[15891]: WARNING: file '/etc/openvpn/credentials.txt' is group or others accessible

Apr 28 07:24:14 compass openvpn[15892]: WARNING: you are using user/group/chroot/setcon without persist-tun – this may cause restarts to fail

Apr 28 07:24:14 compass openvpn[15892]: WARNING: you are using user/group/chroot/setcon without persist-key – this may cause restarts to fail

Apr 28 07:24:15 compass openvpn[15892]: WARNING: 'link-mtu' is used inconsistently, local='link-mtu 1550', remote='link-mtu 1570'

Apr 28 07:24:15 compass openvpn[15892]: WARNING: 'cipher' is used inconsistently, local='cipher AES-256-GCM', remote='cipher AES-128-CBC'

Apr 28 07:24:15 compass openvpn[15892]: WARNING: 'auth' is used inconsistently, local='auth [null-digest]', remote='auth SHA256'

Apr 28 07:24:15 compass openvpn[15892]: WARNING: 'keysize' is used inconsistently, local='keysize 256', remote='keysize Post too long. Click here to view the full text.

So Patrick has decided to create extra/pure-alsa-system for those who have issues with PulseAudio, and prefer alsa instead.

Check the Slackware Current ChangeLog.txt below for more, but the screenshot is complete.

http://slackware.mirrors.tds.net/slackware/slackware-current/ChangeLog.txt

Here is how to copy/paste text to and from xterm.

First you need to enable "Select to Clipboard" in the VT Options menu. You can do so by holding Ctrl + Middle Mouse/Scroll button inside xterm. If you don't have the Middle Mouse/Scroll button but have it emulated by pressing both the Left + Right mouse buttons simultaneously, it should also work.

Once that is done, you can paste text you just copied (from Firefox for example) to xterm using Shift + Insert.

To paste text from xterm to Firefox, all you need to do is to select the text in xterm (use the Left Mouse button) and then paste (Ctrl + v) as you normally would in Firefox.

You can also use the Middle Mouse/Scroll button to paste text that you copied from xterm to itself. So you could copy text in xterm (select the text using the Left Mouse button) then paste using the Middle Mouse/Scroll button, or use Shift + Insert.

Don't forget to check the other xterm options, by holding Ctrl then using either the Left/Right/Middle Mouse buttons. There are quite a lot of options to the different menus.

My PS1.

To set it, do in a console/terminal:

1. Make a backup of your current PS1: echo $PS1

Save the text somewhere, or just open a new terminal emulator and do it there. It won't be saved.

2. export PS1='\[\e[m\n\e[1;30m\][$$:$PPID \j:\!\[\e[1;30m\]]\[\e[0;36m\] \[\e[1;30m\][\e[0;36m\]\@ \d\[\e[1;30m] \[\e[1;30m\][\[\e[1;34m\]\u@\H\[\e[1;30m\]:\[\e[0;37m\]${SSH_TTY} \[\e[0;32m\]+${SHLVL}\[\e[1;30m\]] \[\e[1;37m\]\w\[\e[0;37m\] \n($SHLVL:\!)\$ '

Feel free to also share yours!