Chad McCullough

Linux and Unix user of 30+ years. Love technology of all sorts. Emacs fan. I build websites. Privacy and Security advocate. Former IT Security Analyst and Unix Hardware Engineer for DEC. Socialist/Green Party Member. Vegan for the animals and planet. Bike and Public Transport commuter. Safe Streets advocate. Cars ruin everything. Abolish the Death Penalty. Joined Mastodon in November of 2022.

#Linux #Emacs #FreeBSD #Privacy #Security #HTML #Debian #DebianLinux

Signal: cm1967.94
Personal Blog: https://chadmccullough.bearblog.dev/

Public Key

npub1um5mk9903whhede9l90mf8nhc6t0e798cdyc6hx9es3yczwtucdqvqul3f

NIP-05 Address

cmccullough_at_discuss.systems@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswd6dmzjhchtmukujljha5nemud9hulznuxjvdtnzucgjvp897vxsprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntexuppr

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

Author Public Key

npub1um5mk9903whhede9l90mf8nhc6t0e798cdyc6hx9es3yczwtucdqvqul3f

Show more details

Last Notes

2025-06-20 21:12:06 UTC

I love seeing stuff like this in my neighborhood.
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/717/748/050/030/744/original/48e2641e4e71927f.jpg

2025-06-20 18:59:29 UTC

I wrote about losing my best friend, yesterday.
https://chadmccullough.bearblog.dev/remembering-my-best-friend/

2025-06-20 12:57:05 UTC

- reply

Same! You have a new follower in me, as well.

2025-06-19 01:09:41 UTC

When I moved to this new instance, I said that I wasn't going to talk politics, but it's so fucking hard not to since our country is being run by a bunch of fucking losers. This includes all Republicans and Democrats. And so many people ask me why I gave up on the Democratic Party 30 years ago and became a Socialist. Gee, I wonder why? Absolutely fucking infuriating!

2025-06-16 23:45:52 UTC

“Microsoft has simply given us no other option,” Signal says as it blocks Windows Recall
https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/05/signal-resorts-to-weird-trick-to-block-windows-recall-in-desktop-app/

2025-06-16 01:29:40 UTC

I keep reading and hearing Americans say that we need a viable third-party option here in the US. We DO HAVE viable third-party options but Democrats and Republicans keep making it hard, if not impossible, for these third-party candidates to run and join in on debates. Democrats, especially, will say this and then continue to vote for corporate politicians.

2025-06-13 11:26:10 UTC

- reply

I spoke with them and their shared hosting plans only support 1 site. I have 4 sites that I will need to host. Have you used their VPS hosting?

2025-06-13 01:25:24 UTC

- reply

ICDSoft looks great! Thanks, again, for sharing this with me.

2025-06-13 01:22:31 UTC

- reply

Excellent! Thanks for sharing this!

2025-06-11 14:40:10 UTC

This is definitely a better Gavin Newsom than the one on the podcast.
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/665/246/349/691/740/original/4c9a12b6afcdfa1c.png

2025-06-10 14:46:40 UTC

- reply

I was on LinkedIn for a total of 6 months before deleting the account. It was worthless. Zero legit job offers or interest. Only spam and fake job offers.

2025-06-08 15:08:38 UTC

I was just told by a guy walking up our street with his wife, "I was going to tell you how much my wife and I like your gardens, but then I saw the pride flag."
My reply was a simple, "🖕".
That was rather liberating, if I'm being honest.

2025-06-06 21:49:19 UTC

This one is worth sharing a screenshot from @npub19na…nep3
😂
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/638/622/073/663/776/original/9ff37f7847fadfd0.png

2025-06-06 17:21:59 UTC

- reply

Thanks. I think I'm done. I can't put myself through this any longer.

2025-06-06 16:56:33 UTC

So, that position I applied for with that rather large Linux company? Yeah, just heard from them. "After reviewing your resume, your multiple years of Linux, Open Source, and hardware experience is impressive but, unfortunately, not the experience we are looking for."
30+ years of Linux, security, hardware and Open Source experience isn't what they're looking for when it comes to a Linux Technical Support Engineer position. It really seems that the only way to get a job in any Open Source company is to be known in the Open Source community and, sadly, I'm not well known.
That is it, folks. At the age of 58, I officially give up on the tech world. I have zero ideas what I will do now. For the past 30+ years, this is all I have ever known. Currently, my existence is the very definition of shitty life. Should be a great weekend ahead.

2025-06-06 14:54:39 UTC

I've been with Cynderhost Web Hosting for years, and during most of that time, I couldn't say enough good things about them. The price was right, my shared hosting sites were fast. And I mean, really fast. Lately, though, the hosting has gone down hill. Not sure if they are just focusing more on the higher tier hosting that is more expensive or the hosting just isn't as good as it used to be. My sites have been running much slower over the past few months. And I mean, noticeably slower. I've reached out to them multiple times and each time, they say they've done something in the background and my sites should now be faster. They're not. Listen, I know it's shared hosting and I shouldn't complain, but the sites used to be fast. What's changed?
Looks like I have to start looking for new hosting but cost is always the stopper. I'm unemployed and, quite frankly, broke. Unfortunately, the only way I can use hosting is to use shared hosting, which will probably just suck. I should just get used to it, I guess?
Ah, unemployment. I don't recommend it.
#webhosting #hosting

2025-06-05 13:44:38 UTC

Anyone know what happened to the @npub17j9…9p5j podcast? I know that podcasts will take breaks (and they need those breaks) but this has been a long break. Would love to see the podcast return.
#security #ubuntusecurity #ubuntu

2025-06-03 01:23:11 UTC

Anyone here using micro.blog? I've been wanting to give it a try but to be honest, I'm a bit confused as to how it actually works. The people that use it, love it. I just can't seem to wrap my brain around it.

2025-06-01 16:39:54 UTC

When this is all over, please give us a list of every university/college that caved to Trump on anything. I want to make sure I know which schools NOT to send my son to when he graduates high school.
Universities quietly negotiating with White House aide to try to avoid Harvard’s fate, source says
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/31/politics/universities-negotiate-trump-administration-harvard

2025-06-01 15:19:21 UTC

- reply

Whoa! Please, please, please, tell me this real. Wow!

2025-05-31 02:27:22 UTC

A few months back, I announced that I was leaving the @npub19rt…adh9 browser and going back to Firefox full time. The reasoning was that as a uBlock user, I was concerned that uBlock would stop working, at some point, with Vivaldi since it's Chromium based. Well, leaving Vivaldi was a mistake. I see that now. The folks at Mozilla are absolutely clueless as to what their users really want in a browser. They made the decision to end some services so they could focus on AI in Firefox, and this is only one issue of so many.
The small team at Vivaldi know and understand what users want in a browser and they are constantly building and adding these features all the time. Do I wish that Vivaldi was 100% Open Source? Of course! But I can look past this because the team at Vivaldi are awesome, the community is awesome, and they are building a browser that users want. It's really this simple. Oh, and with Vivaldi, Linux isn't a second-class citizen. For me, as a 30+ year user of Linux, this is hugely important. And for this reason, they deserve my support.
#vivaldi #firefox #linux

2025-05-29 19:59:29 UTC

I donated to @npub1rkw…5q62 again, and I think you should, too. Well, if you want to help fund and continue development on one of the best privacy and security-focused messengers out there, that is. 😀
#privacy #security
https://signal.org/donate/

2025-05-29 14:20:14 UTC

- reply

Yep! My hair is now all grey (head and beard).

2025-05-29 13:16:58 UTC

So, so sick of this crap. Here's an idea: Instead of burning the planet even more than we already are, maybe, just maybe, watch the video yourself?
Gemini can now watch Google Drive videos for you
https://www.theverge.com/news/676245/google-drive-gemini-video-summary-feature

2025-05-29 13:11:28 UTC

- reply

I really need to update mine. It was taken more than 10 years ago by my, then, 10 year old daughter. 😀

2025-05-25 19:34:32 UTC

From the @npub153a…2aq2 website. This is how you do cookies.
Always give the option to personalize or reject all. If you have to accept all cookies to continue, you're doing it wrong.
#privacy #security
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/570/139/307/893/527/original/82b488e6d8e3e600.png

2025-05-24 02:25:15 UTC

Serious question: Is there a search engine that is NOT using AI? Maybe @npub1kxe…ns4m?

2025-05-22 19:24:58 UTC

- reply

Very good question.

2025-05-21 12:54:05 UTC

My wife is a GIS Analyst/Developer but, sadly, stuck in ESRI land when it comes to the GIS software that she uses. Nothing wrong with ESRI, but it is proprietary software. She told me that the GIS community could use more Linux users and pointed me to @npub1960…q88s. Looking at their download page, they certainly treat Linux users as first class citizens.
#GIS #qgis #opensource
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/545/909/543/758/328/original/0343aca9983cd280.png

2025-05-21 12:39:18 UTC

I know that @npub1smf…28q2 Stream tracks just ahead of RHEL. Is anyone running this on their server? I'm thinking about moving away from Debian on the server and wondering if @npub1ax5…lujq would be a better choice or, maybe, take advantage of the RH Developer Program and install RHEL? I've not worked with servers in a while (many years) so this will be a good learning experience.
#redhat #rhel #AlmaLinux #centos

2025-05-19 18:31:46 UTC

I'm still running Debian on my small home server (that may change soon) but I have fully embraced @npub1hpw…cd0d on the desktop. Both my laptop and desktop are running the latest Fedora and have been for about 3 months. I may go with CentOS on the server soon. Just not sure how much I really want to tackle that project right now.
Why the change? Pretty simple: Community. The Fedora community is nothing short of awesome, and in the 30+ years that I've been running Linux, I've always said that community in an open source project is the most important part of the project.
#community #linux #fedora #redhat
UPDATE:
I feel that I need to add a bit more context to this post. A few people have commented asking what I think is wrong with Debian and why the change. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with Debian. It's an awesome Linux distribution with a great community. I've been running Linux for more than 30 years and the past 15 years, Debian has been running my hardware. I just want to try something new for a while. I still have Debian running on my server and another desktop that I do a lot of testing on. I will never completely stop using Debian.

2025-05-17 23:06:48 UTC

After canceling Amazon a month ago, I thought my Amazon Unlimited Music subscription would cancel, too. Not the case. I had to manually cancel the subscription. When they asked why I was canceling, these are the reasons to choose from. They left out "Because the founder is an asshole, Trump-supporting, billionaire piece of shit".
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/525/676/758/881/064/original/4a0a66f2626aa2c4.png

2025-05-16 16:01:52 UTC

Listen, if you're a company that provides a service that I use or subscribe to, and you decide to include AI usage in your service, for any reason, I'm canceling the service. No questions asked.
I canceled my Netflix service today. What will I decide to cancel tomorrow?
You can @ me all you want but I'm just not spending my money on any of this.

2025-05-16 15:58:57 UTC

- reply

Yep. Ridiculously bad.

2025-05-16 15:56:01 UTC

No, no, no.
Just, fucking, no.
https://infosec.exchange/@BleepingComputer/114518299606398891

2025-05-16 13:24:26 UTC

I really do love the idea of a worker-owned cooperative technical company. I wish I had thought of something like this years ago. As someone who has been in the tech industry for more than 30 years, I've seen the very little good and the lots of bad in the corporate tech world.
This is such a great idea, @npub1hd9…tkwc.
https://limeleaf.coop/about/

2025-05-14 03:27:55 UTC

Bring back forums and blogs, and websites built with HTML.
I want the return of the internet’s good old days.

2025-05-13 20:45:04 UTC

We canceled our Amazon membership, which I am very happy about, but that means I lose Amazon Prime Music and will need to find a new streaming service. Any recommendations? I'm staying away from Spotify.

2025-05-07 21:56:11 UTC

https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/468/779/924/503/686/original/a937f6baca382731.png

2025-05-06 02:18:28 UTC

Funny how lots of Republicans in my city want to kick all of the "immigrants" out of the country but sure spend a lot of time in the immigrant restaurants.
Fucking hypocrites.

2025-05-01 13:51:25 UTC

😍
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/432/899/754/577/890/original/b264cc1bf197801b.png

2025-04-29 01:21:39 UTC

- reply

Mike's post about this issue was thoughtful and very well written. Kev's post is, well, just a post blaming everyone else.

2025-04-28 01:15:28 UTC

https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/412/940/566/485/496/original/aec83343cb8fff04.png

2025-04-28 00:58:31 UTC

https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/412/873/880/369/203/original/01d673507fdf038a.png

2025-04-27 14:43:11 UTC

Over the past month, I've been teaching myself #PHP, with help from lots of videos, websites, and folks I follow here on Mastodon. I really don't understand all the negativity from other developers who don't use it. I mean, I understand those other developers use other languages, and they're obviously going to favor those languages that they are comfortable with using, but I still don't get the negativity.
Many of the comments I get from developers that don't use PHP go something like, "Why PHP? It's dead."
Man, I am really sick of that comment.

2025-04-27 13:30:09 UTC

100% correct.
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/410/167/072/284/196/original/73e9ee7963595e9d.png

2025-04-23 22:06:58 UTC

I don’t think there is anything better than Guinness on draft.
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/389/549/760/524/117/original/d9f25b82d2ad776f.jpeg

2025-04-23 13:03:27 UTC

- reply

Ah, now that makes sense. I'm running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS on this machine. Utilizing a HDMI cable for connectivity.

2025-04-23 12:51:39 UTC

I have monitor that supports 100Hz refresh rate but I'm only able to use 60 Hz. Is a somewhat higher refresh rate of a monitor something that is only useful if supported by the hardware of the computer? For example, the video card? I am running a Dell Optiplex that is, maybe, 8 or 9 years old, and thinking this might be the issue?

2025-04-20 00:33:22 UTC

Does someone want to tell this driver or should I?
https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/367/476/465/956/280/original/2591b5dc3677ce8b.jpg

2025-04-19 19:51:31 UTC

https://fd.discuss.systems/media_attachments/files/114/366/368/274/654/191/original/8af33a7b06f34b2a.png

2025-04-03 18:07:42 UTC

I've said this before, but I hope everyone remembers how these companies, organizations, and educational institutions bowed to Trump while he was in office, only to bring all of this back after he is gone. Personally, I won't forget.
https://mastodon.social/@taylorlorenz/114274955775553205

2025-04-03 13:53:14 UTC

After nearly a year of unemployment, zero companies interested in me...
https://infosec.exchange/@dbof/114274108155869334

2025-04-01 14:04:45 UTC

I've spent the past few weeks using @npub1hpw…cd0d and @npub1djg…3wvl Leap on my desktop, leaving Debian Stable on my laptop. And as much as I've enjoyed both Fedora and openSUSE, they just won't replace my Debian Stable install. I've been a Debian user for many years and have just gotten used to how it works.
I've said it before, but those of us in the Open Source community are extremely lucky to have such great options to choose from when it comes to distributions and software.
Please, if you can, support your favorite Open Source projects. Either monetarily or by volunteering. Open Source project developers and team members are some of the hardest working people you will ever meet.

2025-03-31 01:49:13 UTC

I've been running Debian for many, many years but have been giving both @npub1hpw…cd0d and @npub1djg…3wvl a go for the past few weeks. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience of both.
I've said this before, but will surely say it a million more times: We, in the Open Source community, have so many wonderful choices when it comes to Linux distributions and software, all being worked on by some of the hardest and most creative folks. I can't imagine what my technical life would be like if I hadn't found Linux (and Unix prior to that) more than 30 years ago. If you are able, either by volunteering or financially, give back to the projects of software that you are enjoying and making your life so much easier.