Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 17)

 (from the Yup - That's Rose!!! department)

Hi everyone,

The streak continues - 17 years!!

So - I present to you - the Santa photo...

It's been a transitional year for the family.  I was let go by Indeed on April 1st - April Fools' Day.  (Heh - funny!)  I've been looking for a job since then.  Dana continues her volunteer work at the Seattle Aquarium, and has a new gig volunteering at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.  Rose has settled into her second year of High School - she's doing well!  This year she's been studying American Sign Language (ASL).  

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,
Paul

Haiku Writing - Moon Viewing 2023

 (from the Splish, Splish, Splish! department)

Hi everyone,

Dana, Rose & I attended the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing on Friday, Sept. 1st, 2023, at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle. 

This is a nice evening event where you can stroll around the Japanese Garden, see luminaria and lanterns, hear traditional Japanese music played on flute and Koto, and attend a real Japanese tea ceremony.

(More info here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2023/9/1/moon-viewing)

This year, all three of us participated in the tea ceremony.  Simply amazing!  Then - we got to make a wish and launch a small boat with a candle.  (Well - a battery powered candle - no fires for us!)

Because of the length of the tea ceremony, Dana & Rose missed the Haiku Contest this year.  I barely made it in time - I only had five minutes to create a Haiku masterpiece!  Needless to say - that didn't happen - but I did get an honorable mention!!  (1 of 12 they handed out this year.)

Here's the haiku I wrote:

Paul:

Tea ceremony -

Small round cake

Calls to the moon

Not bad for 5 minutes!

(You might notice that the haikus don't necessarily follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Modern haiku are less formal.)

And the moon?  It did show up later that evening, after the moon viewing was over.  Gorgeous moon tonight after all!

Cheers,
Paul

Fix for Tomb Raider (2013) on Arch Linux

 (from the Gaming On Modern Linux department)

Hi everyone,

Quick post here - I've been trying to run the original Feral Interactive port of Tomb Raider on Arch Linux.  It starts - then stops immediately.  

Looking at the Arch Gaming troubleshooting guide here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Steam/Game-specific_troubleshooting#Tomb_Raider_(2013) they mention trying to see if there are missing libraries.  The output of that command is:

$ ldd steamapps/common/Tomb\ Raider/bin/TombRaider | grep found
       libssl.so.1.0.0 => not found
       libicui18n.so.51 => not found
       libicuuc.so.51 => not found
       libicudata.so.51 => not found
       libCoreFoundation.so.476 => not found
       libvorbis.so.0 => not found
       libSDL2_image-2.0.so.0 => not found
       libcrypto.so.1.0.0 => not found
       libcef.so => not found
       libpdf.so => not found
       libfmodex.so => not found

The weird part?  All of these libraries are already present in .steam/steam/steamapps/common/Tomb Raider/lib/i686

I thought "That's weird". I looked at the debug output in Steam - and yes - it can't find those libs.  I messed around with a few different approaches - adding LD_LIBRARY_PATH to the startup options, etc. - but nothing seemed to work.  

In desperation - and just because I like to be weird - I tried this:  

$ cd ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Tomb\ Raider/lib
$ ls
i686
$ cp i686/* .
$ ls
i686       libCoreFoundation.so.476  libcurl.so.4  libicudata.so.51  libicuuc.so.51  libssl.so.1.0.0  libtcmalloc_minimal.so
libcef.so  libcrypto.so.1.0.0        libfmodex.so  libicui18n.so.51  libpdf.so       libsteam_api.so

And tried starting the game again.  It worked!

That wastes 152M of hard drive space though - so I deleted the files and decided to create a symbolic link to the files instead:

$ cd ~/.steam/steam/steamapps/common/Tomb\ Raider/lib

$ ls

i686

$ ln -s i686/* .

$ ls
i686       libCoreFoundation.so.476  libcurl.so.4  libicudata.so.51  libicuuc.so.51  libssl.so.1.0.0  libtcmalloc_minimal.so
libcef.so  libcrypto.so.1.0.0        libfmodex.so  libicui18n.so.51  libpdf.so       libsteam_api.so

Works just the same - and saves a ton of space!

So - the summary is - it should be loading the game libraries from the i686 subdirectory, but it doesn't seem to be able to find them.  Making them available one level up seems to solve the problem.

Cheers,

Paul

Switching Desktop Environments in Ubuntu 22.04

(from the Don't you have better things to do? department)

Introduction:

Hi everyone,

Much like many tech sector workers, I spend a lot of time on a Linux desktop lately.  I tend to prefer Enterprise or Long Term Support (LTS) editions of Linux - like Ubuntu 22.04 LTS - as opposed to the rolling update Linux versions like Arch.  They tend to be very stable, with most bugs ironed out so I can concentrate on the software being tested and not worry about tracking issues in the distribution. 

Now - I'm always in search of the perfect desktop experience.  I enjoy trying the latest Linux GUIs - Gnome, KDE, Xfce, etc.  Ubuntu allows you to install these simultaneously - switching between them when you login.  It used to work flawlessly - but since the desktops are becoming more customized - extra steps are needed to switch between them. 

This document will contain my notes for switching between Ubuntu Gnome/Gnome, Unity, and Xfce on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.  I'll leave the installing of these into a stock Ubuntu installation as an exercise for the user. (Hint:  there are great online guides like this one: How to Switch from GNOME to Unity in Ubuntu 18.04 and 17.10).  I'll also assume this is a stock Ubuntu installation with Ubuntu Gnome as the default environment.

Xfce4:

• Switch the Display Manager from GDM to LightDM via the sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 command, and selecting lightdm
• Change LightDM from the Unity greeter to lightdm-gtk greeter by editing /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and adding the line greeter-session=lightdm-gtk-greeter, commenting out the line greeter-session=unity-greeter
• If present, you'll have to uninstall gtk3-nocsd - it now interferes with Xfce4 menus, since they're starting to use client side decorations.  In Ubuntu the command is sudo apt remove gtk3-nocsd libgtk3-nocsd0
• If you have Unity installed - you may run into an issue where notifications are using the Unity handler instead of the Xfce handler.  The easiest way to make sure that Xfce notifications are used is to issue the following command, which just renames the Unity notifier and is easily undone: sudo mv /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.Notifications.service /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.Notifications.service.disabled
• You can test the default handler by using the notify-send command.  Xfce notifications should be clickable - they close you click on them.
• Once rebooted and logged into Xfce, you'll want to add an additional panel to the top bar - the "Indicator Plugin" - this will make sure Unity style notifications like Skype, Slack, etc. - are displayed in the top bar.  I put it next to the Status Tray Plugin for continuity.
• Don't forget to select Xfce Session from the LightDM login screen!
• UPDATE:  There may be an issue with XFCE panel notifications and something called ayatana-indicator-application.  Uninstalling this via apt made panel notifications work - however it looks like it's installed by default with Xubuntu.  Not sure what's going on - but I'm removing it for now.  See more information here: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=16436

Unity:

• Switch the Display Manager from GDM to LightDM via the sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 command, and selecting lightdm
• Make sure LightDM is set to the Unity greeter by editing /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf and insuring that the line greeter-session=unity-greeter is set.
• Make sure gtk3-nocsd is installed via the command sudo apt install gtk3-nocsd
• Install additional yaru icons with the sudo apt install yaru-theme-unity
• If you have Xfce installed - you may run into an issue where notifications are using the Xfce handler instead of the Unity handler.  The easiest way to make sure that Unity notifications are used is to issue the following command, which just renames the Xfce notifier and is easily undone: sudo mv /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.xfce.xfce4-notifyd.Notifications.service /usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.xfce.xfce4-notifyd.Notifications.service.disabled
• You can test the default handler by using the notify-send command.  Unity notifications should not be clickable - they should fade when you hover over them.
• Once rebooted and logged into Unity, you'll want to use Unity Tweak Tool to select the Yaru-dark Theme and Yaru-dark Icon to make it match the latest Unity builds.
• Don't forget to select Unity from the LightDM login screen!
• In addition, current Unity builds are using Nemo instead of Nautilus for default file handling. After locking Nemo to the Unity Launcher, you can switch to Nemo file handling by using the following command: xdg-mime default nemo.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search 
• You can revert back to Nautilus by using the following command: xdg-mime default nautilus.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
• NOTE:  If you've been experimenting with KDE desktops, for some reason, this kind of trashes the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file.  This shows up as a messed-up right click Unity Desktop menu, among other things.  The quick fix is to edit the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file, and set gtk-menu-images=false.  Logging out and logging back in should now have fixed your right click Unity Desktop menu.
• NOTE:  Electron apps have issues with Ubuntu AppIndicator Tray Icons.  There's a fix here: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1469305/unity-desktop-tray-icons-of-some-apps-not-showing-anymore-ubuntu-22-04

Ubuntu Gnome/Gnome:

• Switch the Display Manager from LightDM to GDM via the sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm3 command, and selecting gdm3
• Remove the additional yaru icons with the command sudo apt remove yaru-theme-unity
• If you switched to Nemo, be sure to switch back to Nautilus:  xdg-mime default nautilus.desktop inode/directory application/x-gnome-saved-search
• Once rebooted, and logged into Ubuntu Gnome or Gnome, you may need to reset your theme from Gnome Tweaks or the Settings control panel. 
• Don't forget to select Ubuntu or GNOME from the GDM login screen!

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 16)

(from the OMG - That's Rose??? department)

Hi everyone,

Well - we did it!  A 16 year streak!    

Without further ado...

It's been a busy year - Rose has started her first year at High School - Dana volunteers at the Seattle Aquarium - I'm doing more Java programming at work - and we're all still healthy!

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,
Paul

Merry Christmas from Santa and Rose (part 15)

(from the Look Ma - No Masks! department)

Hi everyone,

In these difficult times, it's more important than ever to try and maintain a semblance of normality.  

And - so - without further ado....

Don't worry - we're all fully vaccinated!  Everything was done quite safely.  And - check out Santa's cool "SC" belt buckle!  He was quite proud of it - and rightly so!

Happy Holidays and Season's Greetings from the Pietromonaco family (Dana, Rose & I).

Cheers,
Paul

Haiku Writing - Moon Viewing 2021

 (from the Splish, Splish! department)

Hi everyone,

Dana, Rose & I attended the Seattle Japanese Garden Moon Viewing on Friday, Sept. 10th, 2021 at the Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle.  This is the first time they've held the event since the pandemic started.

As stated in my previous blog entry, this is a "nice evening event where you can stroll around the Japanese Garden, see traditional Japanese music and dance being performed live, enjoy a Bento Box dinner, and see the moon in all of its glory."

(More info here: https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/events-calendar/2021/9/10/moon-viewing-01 )

This year, they scaled back a little - no Bento Box dinner sadly - but it was still wonderful.  The only slight disappointment was the lack of actual moon to view, due to clouds - similar to the last time.

As is our tradition, Dana, Rose & I took part in the Haiku writing contest.  This year, we were limited to one haiku each - so we made it count!

Here's the haiku we wrote:

Paul: 

The air is still -

Suddenly three birds launch

Searching for the moon

Dana:

We gather to see

Lady Luna hides her face

The clouds make her shy

Rose:

Oh, my muse and moon

Will thee return my friend?

I'll wait below stars

You might notice that the haikus don't necessarily follow the traditional 5-7-5 syllable pattern.  Modern haiku are less formal. 

As it turns out - we did even better this year than last year!  Dana got an honorable mention, and I came in 2nd place!!

We had a lot of fun Friday night - and writing haiku is always a highlight of our evening!

Cheers,
Paul