Firstly

Software freedom camp

An online mentorship programme focusing on diversity organized by Free Software Community of India and inspired by Free Software Camp and Outreachy.

@sfcamp@venera.social
https://camp.fsci.in/
https://venera.social/profile/sfcamp

Secondly

Youth Hacking For Freedom

If you like coding, tinkering, and having fun with software and if you are up for a challenge, we have something exciting for you: “Youth Hacking 4 Freedom” (YH4F), the FSFE’s hacking competition for young people from Europe!

https://yh4f.org/
This is being run by the Free Software Foundation Europe
https://fsfe.org/

Both of these are should be really good opportunities to learn and develop..

Invite link (to Qoto mastodon instance)

https://qoto.org/invite/eGdy4AHn

Note : The invite link to qoto should be fine generally for both opportunities.  If more are needed I can generate them, or people can simply join.

Hope this helps

Regards

Paul

Devon and Cornwall Linux user group meetings for September 2021

I am creating this post in order to consolidate previous meeting information in to one post.

DCGLUG virtual meeting (jitsi)

Day / Date: Saturday 18/9/2021

Time: From 12:00 Location:

Online – Meeting jit.si link

Please see meetings page for more info or ask on IRC / Mailing list.

DCGLUG Plymouth Physical meeting

Day / Date : Saturday 25/9/2021 2021
Time : 12:00
Location : Moments Cafe, Plymouth – Website

Please ask on e-mail discussion list for more information. We can also be found on #DCGLUG on the Libera.chat IRC network.

Due to recent events on Freenode.  The DCGLUG has recently joined the ​Libera.chat network.  You can access this server with any IRC client by connecting to irc.libera.chat:6697 (TLS) and joining #dcglug.

If you don’t have suitable client please use the web interface. We can help you from there, please enter a meaningful nickname.

If you need help please ask on the mailing list.

Recently I came across an add-on for Visual Studio 2013 named Cosmos, which lets you use C# or Visual Basic to develop a fully independent OS. I have been working on one now for a couple of weeks. Sadly, Cosmos is still in early development stages, but it is still possible to make basic graphical OS’s. This post uses C#, but it is just as easy to use Visual Basic. My current code is:

Source code

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using Sys = Cosmos.System;
using Cosmos.Hardware;
using Cosmos.Hardware.BlockDevice;
 
namespace CosmosOS
{
    public class Kernel : Sys.Kernel
    {
        protected override void BeforeRun()
        {
            while (true)
            {
                Run();
            }
        }
 
        protected override void Run()
        {
            string input = Console.ReadLine();
            string input1 = input.ToLower();
            if (input1 == "shutdown" || input1 == "quit" || input1 == "exit") Shutdown();
            else if (input1 == "reboot" || input1 == "restart" || input1 == "reload") Reboot();
 
            else Console.WriteLine("Command \"" + input1 + "\" not recognized!");
        public void Shutdown()
        {
            this.Stop();
            Cosmos.Core.Bootstrap.CPU.Halt();
        }
        public void Reboot()
        {
 
        }
        public static void WriteData(byte[] aData, ulong block)
        {
            if (BlockDevice.Devices.Count > 0)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < BlockDevice.Devices.Count; i++)
                {
                    var xDevice = BlockDevice.Devices[i];
                    if (xDevice is Partition)
                    {
                        xDevice.WriteBlock(block, 1, aData);
                    }
                }
 
            }
 
        }
        public static byte[] ReadData(ulong block)
        {
            byte[] aData = new byte[] { 1 };
            if (BlockDevice.Devices.Count > 0)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < BlockDevice.Devices.Count; i++)
                {
                    var xDevice = BlockDevice.Devices[i];
                    if (xDevice is Partition)
                    {
                        aData = xDevice.NewBlockArray(1);
                        xDevice.ReadBlock(block, 1, aData);
                    }
                }
 
            }
            return aData;
        }
    }
}

Lets go over some of this code.

Source code

protected override void BeforeRun()
        {
            while (true)
            {
                Run();
            }
        }

This Run function is looped by default anyway, but it loops slightly faster when this code is put in BeforeRun.

Source code

protected override void Run()
        {
            string input = Console.ReadLine();
            string input1 = input.ToLower();
            if (input1 == "shutdown" || input1 == "quit" || input1 == "exit") Shutdown();
            else if (input1 == "reboot" || input1 == "restart" || input1 == "reload") Reboot();
 
            else Console.WriteLine("Command \"" + input1 + "\" not recognized!");

This is fairly trivial code for a command-line OS, simple input.

Source code

public void Shutdown()
        {
            this.Stop();
            Cosmos.Core.Bootstrap.CPU.Halt();
        }
        public void Reboot()
        {
 
        }

This is my own shutdown code. I have yet to figure out reboot, though.

Source code

public static void WriteData(byte[] aData, ulong block)
        {
            if (BlockDevice.Devices.Count > 0)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < BlockDevice.Devices.Count; i++)
                {
                    var xDevice = BlockDevice.Devices[i];
                    if (xDevice is Partition)
                    {
                        xDevice.WriteBlock(block, 1, aData);
                    }
                }
 
            }
 
        }
        public static byte[] ReadData(ulong block)
        {
            byte[] aData = new byte[] { 1 };
            if (BlockDevice.Devices.Count > 0)
            {
                for (int i = 0; i < BlockDevice.Devices.Count; i++)
                {
                    var xDevice = BlockDevice.Devices[i];
                    if (xDevice is Partition)
                    {
                        aData = xDevice.NewBlockArray(1);
                        xDevice.ReadBlock(block, 1, aData);
                    }
                }
 
            }
            return aData;
        }

I got this code from a forum and modified it a little to make it work – it writes arrays of bytes to the hard disk. Sadly the built-in FAT fileystem can currently only read files, so you will have to make your own.

This is a fun tool to just play around with, although it is extremely limited at the moment.
http://www.nikeairmaxfreerun.com nike air max thea

DCGLUG virtual meeting (jitsi) Day / Date: Saturday 16/1/2021 Time: From 12:00 Location: Online – Meeting jit.si link

Meeting going ahead,  while it is Boxing day some members have confirmed they would like the meeting to go ahead.

DCGLUG virtual meeting (jitsi) Day / Date: Saturday 26/12/2020 Time: From 12:00 Location: Online – Meeting jit.si link

Meeting going ahead,  while it is Boxing day some members have confirmed they would like the meeting to go ahead.

Repl.it

Languages

Repl.it supports a wide range of development languages, which makes it a good option to learn and develop solutions.   Now supports multi user collaboration by default. This means that you can work with other developers on solutions and get help in real time.

You can discuss more on Twitter @dcglug and Friendica 

Above list created with LaTeX – Source code project can be viewed here.

Outreachy provides internships to work in Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Outreachy internships are open to applicants around the world. Interns work remotely, and are not required to move. Interns are paid a stipend of $5,500 USD for the three month internship. Interns have a $500 USD travel stipend to attend conferences or events.

Interns work with experienced mentors from FOSS communities. Outreachy internship projects may include programming, user experience, documentation, illustration, graphical design, or data science. Interns often find employment after their internship with Outreachy sponsors or in jobs that use the skills they learned during their internship.

Application window for internships running from December 19 to March 2019.  Is September and October 2019.

However please check the website for more information.

With Café Fandom closed again, possibly for good, we regrouped at the Crown and Anchor on Southside Street. Topics included:

• The National Museum of Computing : definitely worth a visit if you like retro computing.
• The Yalp Store : a way to install Google Play Store apps without having to install the Google Play Store (good if you have a de-googled Android phone (e.g. Lineage OS, Fairphone Open) but can’t avoid the odd closed-source app
• Raspberry Pi 4 – hot as the sun, non-compliant with USB C, and rare as hen’s teeth
• Debian Buster
• GDPR – has it improved things?
• Controlling your kid’s internet access
• Deep learning, picture classification
• Floppy drives orphaned by Linux kernel
• First experiences of Linux
• Emax (yes, Emax, although I did also have an Emacs t-shirt on…) and SCSCI2SD
• IT in Special Needs
• LAN gaming on Linux

From the August meeting, Plymouth LUG will move to the Moments Café.