Linux Magazine USA 256 2022 03.pdf

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Clean Up your
Photo Metadata
EE
FR D
DV
+
ISSUE 256 – MARCH 2022
Facial
Authenticate
with a glance
Host-INT:
Monitor
network traffic from
the data plane
Smart Contracts:
Tricks with the
Ethereum blockchain
W W W. L I N U X - M A G A Z I N E . C O M
Recognition
Light Painting with a
Raspberry Pi
PhotoPrism:
Use AI to
organize your photo collection
FOSSPicks
DISCOVER THE
OBSIDIAN KNOWLEDGE EDITOR
EDITORIAL
Welcome
TO THE COLORS
Dear Reader,
Users of the
colors.js
color conversion library were surprised
recently when their printers started to print “Liberty Liberty
Liberty…” and then began spewing random characters in an
infinite loop. The weird appearance of the printed page made
those users wonder if a vandal had broken into the source
code, but the truth that began to emerge was much stranger.
It turns out that the developer of the
colors.js
and
faker.js
libraries sabotaged the code himself. Marak Squires had ap-
parently become disillusioned with the way large companies
were using his code without contributing or providing
compensation. On November 2020, he wrote on the
faker.js
GitHub page, “Respectfully, I am no longer going to support
Fortune 500s (and other smaller-sized companies) with my
free work. There isn’t much else to say….Take this as an
opportunity to send me a six figure yearly contract or fork
the project and have someone else work on it.”
At the time, it wasn’t clear how the story would end. This
month, we all found out.
Although
colors.js
and
faker.js
are independent projects that
are largely overseen by a single volunteer, they have quite a
large footprint in the world. According to reports,
colors.js
receives more than 22 million downloads per week and is
integrated into many open source tools by commercial
vendors, including the Amazon Cloud Development kit.
This kind of story always makes us want to choose sides for
a proverbial “haves and have nots” or “business” versus
“everyone else” debate. However, it would not be accurate
to assume that the Free Software founders opposed com-
mercial uses. The four freedoms that underlie the Free Soft-
ware movement tolerate no restrictions on how the code
will be used (as long as it stays free), and the commentaries
at GNU.org make it clear that prohibiting commercial use is
just another limitation on freedom.
One of the reasons the early Free Software pioneers didn’t
care if someone else got rich was because they totally didn’t
believe that getting rich was all that important. They wanted
an identity for Free Software that was independent of wealth,
and to them, the best way to ensure that was not to restrict
wealth but to not care about it. Of course, they were young
back then. As volunteers get older, they start to think about a
mortgage and college tuition for their kids, and the idea of
contributing for the pure joy of it while a large corporation is
deriving value from the work must be quite unsettling.
I can see why this developer was ready to stop giving his
work away for free – especially with mega vendors like Ama-
zon using his code and not pitching in or compensating him.
However, the problem with this kind of dramatic exit is that it
plays into the hands of those who depict Free Software as a
playground for unruly anarchists who can’t be trusted with
real business. I can imagine there are Microsoft sales reps
out there right now scheming on how to work this episode
into their pitch.
Note that none of this has anything to do with Linux – at least
directly. The affected projects are based on JavaScript and
are therefore cross-platform, but in the long run, this kind of
theatrical protest is not a good look for the open source de-
velopment model, which means it isn’t good for the Linux
community.
Independent open source developers burn out all the time,
and, ideally, resources are available within the project for an
orderly transition. However, many projects are too small or
too fragmented to provide the needed continuity. What is
striking about this case is that Squires served notice all the
way back in 2020 that, unless a paycheck was on the way,
someone else would need to take over. Should we have
been listening? Perhaps it is time for the Linux Foundation or
another of the multimillion dollar organizations dedicated to
overseeing the Linux image to provide some direct outreach
and transition support for these small projects that give
Linux so much of its luster.
Joe Casad,
Editor in Chief
LINUX-MAGAZINE.COM | LINUXPROMAGAZINE.COM
ISSUE 256
MARCH 2022
3
MARCH 2022
ON THE COVER
24 Smart Contracts
The Ethereum digital currency is much more
extendable than Bitcoin, and much of this
power comes from a little understood feature
called smart contracts.
70 Light Painting
The art technique known as light painting
meets new possibilities with a Raspberry Pi
Pico and some clever programming.
30 Metadata Cleanup Tools
Recording the time and location of your photos is
fine if they just live on your phone, but if you're
posting them online, you might want to clean up.
90 PhotoPrism
What happens when you spice up your photo
archive with the powerful TensorFlow machine
learning engine?
48 Host-INT
Gain insights on network traffic flow – without
affecting performance.
NEWS
08
News
• Linux Mint 20.3 Now Available
• Linux Gets an Exciting New Firmware Feature
• elementary OS 6.1 Has Been Released
• Intel Releases Linux Patch for Alder Lake Thread
Director
• New Multiplatform Backdoor Malware Targets Linux,
macOS, and Windows
• WhiteSource Releases Free Log4j Detection Tool
IN-DEPTH
24
Ethereum and Smart Contracts
Build a custom program into the Ethereum blockchain.
30
Metadata Cleanup Tools
Several Linux tools let you remove photo metadata to
preserve your privacy.
36
Command Line – Debian Goodies
Debian Goodies helps you manage and troubleshoot
packages from the command line.
11
Kernel News
• A Butterfly Flaps Its Wings
40
Charly’s Column – DenyHosts
When it comes to warding off unwanted login tests on
SSH port 22, Charly likes to keep an ace or two up his
sleeve by relying on DenyHosts instead of Fail2ban.
COVER STORY
14
Howdy
Facial authentication is the smoothest and least intrusive
form of biometric security. We’ll help you get started with
the Howdy facial authentication app.
42
RISC-V
The open source RISC-V processor architecture is poised to
shake up the processor industry. Thanks to the Qemu
emulator, you can get to know RISC-V without waiting for
affordable hardware.
48
Packet Telemetry with Host-INT
REVIEW
20
Distro Walk – Haiku
This child of the proprietary BeOS offers a cohesive open
source operating system as an alternative to Linux.
Inband Network Telemetry and Host-INT can provide
valuable insights on network performance.
50
PipeWire
In the coming year, PipeWire will replace PulseAudio,
resulting in better audio on Linux.
4
MARCH 2022
ISSUE 256
LINUX-MAGAZINE.COM | LINUXPROMAGAZINE.COM
14
Facial
Recognition
Biometrics got a boost recently
with the arrival of Microsoft’s
Hello technology. Now the open
source world is catching up, with
an innovative tool appropriately
called Howdy. Facial authentication
might not be ready for the CIA yet,
but we’ll help you get started with
Howdy and explore the possibilities
of authenticating with a glance.
75
Welcome
This month in Linux Voice.
76
Doghouse – Out of Poverty
Hiring the best candidates for tech jobs and increasing
diversity and opportunities in the industry go hand-in-hand.
77
Fly-Pie
No matter whether you use Gnome or KDE, Windows
or macOS, menus always pop up from a bar. Fly-Pie
organizes a freely configurable menu in the form of a
pie chart instead.
IN-DEPTH
54
Programming Snapshot – GPS Analysis with Go
For running statistics on his recorded hiking trails, Mike
Schilli turns to Go to extract the GPS data while relying on
plotters and APIs for a bit of geoanalysis.
80
CopyQ
CopyQ extends the clipboard with practical everyday
functions while also catering to advanced needs.
84
FOSSPicks
This month Graham looks at Obsidian, lazygit, Tabby,
ReverseSSH, VCV Rack 2, Gamebuntu, and more!
60
Kaboxer
Use Docker containers to deploy applications that might
be difficult to package.
90
Tutorial – PhotoPrism
The combination of a polished, user-friendly interface
and an artificial intelligence engine makes organizing,
searching, and sharing photos a breeze.
MakerSpace
64
OpenPLC on a Raspberry Pi
Create automation projects with ladder logic, function
blocks, structured text, and Modbus TCP.
70
Light Painting
In the photographic method of light painting, you expose
a subject over an extended period of time while moving
the light sources. With a little technical support from a
Raspberry Pi Pico, you can achieve sophisticated results.
TWO TERRIFIC DISTROS
DOUBLE-SIDED DVD!
SEE PAGE 6 FOR DETAILS
LINUX-MAGAZINE.COM | LINUXPROMAGAZINE.COM
ISSUE 256
MARCH 2022
5

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