Author Archives: NAOMI

The Networked Automation and Organizational Media Interface.

Thank you to all… Jasper v1.6 Image News!

First, I would like to say thank you to the community members for helping out. I have gotten a lot of input on the new image.  This has also given me better feel for what the community wanted in an image. Which leads me to the next bit of news.

Some of you are undoubtedly wondering why I have not released my Jasper v1.6 image as of yet.  Well, I can assure you there are very good reasons.

Firstly,  I have had some severe family/health issues come up as of late which take priority.  I am also in the middle of moving a family of 5.  Combine that with the other reasons below, and I feel that most will feel the wait to be worth it.

This leads me to the next bit of news, however shocking it may be.

  1.  There will be no version 1.6 image.
    1. There will be no image at all…
  2.  Instead, there will be a full installer.
    1. This is one of the reasons for the delay.
  3.   The installer will work with a full GUI, and on the desktop.
    1. Examples:
      1. Full ubuntu Install.
      2. Fresh RPI install with GUI.
  4. The installer will be iterated on by feature going forward.
    1. We can add community approved features one at a time.
      1. Example:
        1. Change Jaspers Name
        2. Change STT after setup
        3. Etc.

FAQ (COMING SOON)

  • So whats that mean for me?
  • What do I do if I am running Jasper v.15?
  • Where do I get the installer?
  • Do I need to upgrade?

 

Jasper Polling Results for Image v1.6

  • Results of the Polls:
  • Presetup profile.yml enabled
  • GUI packages will be left on the devices
    • Increasing Size Dramatically
    • Increasing Update Time Dramatically
  • Jasper will not be pre-installed
    • There will be an installer with options
    • Daemon off by default
  • Home Assistant will be pre-installed
    • Daemon off by default
    • Mosquito MQTT Server installed with it

 

Would you prefer to have the profile.yml presetup as in v1.5?
  • Yes: 9
  • No: 0
Do you want GUI option, even though its not suggested?
  • Yes: 5
  • No, it will break: 2
Should v1.6 Have Jasper Already Installed?
  • Yes:  2
  • No:  1
  • I want installer:  7
Should HomeAssistant be included in v1.6?
  • Yes:  4
  • No:  1
  • Whats that?:  1

What is Revision Control? (GIT/SVN)

A component of software configuration management (aka SCM), version control, also known as revision control or source control, is the management of changes to files and source. Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the “revision number”, “revision level”, or simply “revision”. For example, an initial set of files is “revision 1”. When the first change is made, the resulting set is “revision 2”, and so on. Each revision is associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. Revisions can be compared, restored, and with some types of files, merged.

Revision control can be very confusing to someone new, as you can see there are many ways to say the exact same thing.  This can make it difficult to pick up the concepts.  There are also many different kinds as you can see here.  However, the major one I would hope everyone would be familiar with is GIT, and SVN for the older folks. JJ… 😛

Git, invented by Linus Torvalds as mentioned here is the most prolific and widely used one out currently.  I also have a links under my Learning Resources page that are great for learning GIT.  Please keep in mind that GIT, and GitHub or two differnt things.  One is the software/method, and the other is a service that simply sells said software as a service.

What is Continuous Devlivery? (CD)

Continuous delivery (CD) is a software engineering approach in which teams produce software in short cycles, ensuring that the software can be reliably released at any time.  It aims at building, testing, and releasing software faster and more frequently. The approach helps reduce the cost, time, and risk of delivering changes by allowing for more incremental updates to applications in production. A straightforward and repeatable deployment process is important for continuous delivery.

What is Continuous Integration? (CI)

Continuous Integration is a software development practice where members of a team integrate their work frequently; usually they integrate at least daily – leading to multiple per day. Each integration is verified by an automated build/test to detect integration errors as quickly as possible. This usually leads to significantly reduced integration problems and allows a team to develop software more rapidly.

A few BASH tips from an old Linux admin.

Everyone has seen these “Top 50 commands” blah blah blah….. #clickbait….

I am writing this just to make BASH a much more pleasant experience for people new and old to Linux.  It is also for any sysadmin that has simply not been introduced to some of them.

I could list tons of them, but that’s going to get a simple TL;DR for most people.  Then they will move on.  So I will list a few and lets let those digest.  Keep in mind all commands are in Linux, and may vary by distribution.

First BASH tips (Simple, but time savers):

  1.  Type ‘cd’ and you will go to your home directory for the user you are logged into.
    1. Similar to “cd” ~, however ~ can sometimes rely on the environment.
  2. To return to the previous directory you can type ” cd -“.
    1. This will return you to your previous location, not home.
  3. Type “tailf”, instead of “tail f” for the same results.
    1. Also, “tail -200” can be used instead of “tail -n 200”
  4. Use a custom “PS1” for root, and regular users.
    1. A “PS1” is the text in the login prompt. See Example to the right:
      1. Notice it is yellow
      2. Do the same but in red for root.
    2. Examples:
      1. Debian PS1 for a normal user (as seen to the right)
      2. Debian PS1 for a ROOT user.
        1. These will need to be added to the bottom of “.bashrc” in your home directory
        2. Keep in mind files starting with a . are hidden in Linux, but there.
          1. I also have MAC PS1’s public in my gists.

 

I think that is enough for today, I hope this helps make BASH your friend.

 

-M

Jasper Kits on hold…

These were for the community, and I have enjoyed designing and building these kits.  However, I am at a point now, where I do not have the time to properly maintain and build and ship them.  This is not necessarily a permanent decision, I may bring them back in the future given I have the time.

That being said, I do have a few left.  If you are interested please let me know now.  I will get an exact count soon, and update it here.  Once they are gone, I will not be building more.

With all that being said, I am still here to help with questions.  I am also still developing what I hope is a better user experience with my images.  (Version 1.6 out soon!)

If you have any questions; or would like one of the last kits, I would suggest speaking up now.  Not that I will disappear, but I will be unable to spend the time on them for a while starting soon.

I also wanted to say thank you again to the community members that are helping each other, and the new guys.  I do notice, and it is appreciated.

-M

Jasper Image V1.6 – Release Date!

I have recently had a large number of people wanting to know the exact release date for the v1.6 image. I will release it without the installer, and release the installer separately so it can be used on images that are not mine.

  • Release Date:
    February 15, 2017

I would highly suggest that if there is annoyance; or fix for the next release that it be reported ASAP to the room in our SLACK.

 

Thanks for your patience,

Matthew Curry

Google Disables Hangouts API…breaking many services.

I have seen much FUD around this, and I wanted to clarify so people are aware what Google’s Intentions are for Hangouts.  As I am a heavy user of the product, I was very surprised to see this.  It appears that Google will still keep Hangouts around, but for the ‘normal’ user demographic only.  They will be disabling their API on April 25.  This however, should not be a complete surprise.  Google has made it clear that with the arrival of their new products Allo and Duo that they are switching to an enterprise vision for many of their products.  However, they will NOT BE REMOVING IT COMPLETELY, as mentioned in the linked engadget.com article.

What does this mean for you? The ‘End User’, if just using the services at face value may not even see a difference.  However, services and sites that use the integration features will likely be affected.  They (google) have allowed for an exception, and that is if they site/service qualifies as an “Enterprise Communication Tool”, slack for example.  There won’t be many of those I expect.

Basically it comes down to this, they are ending the Hangouts API integration (publicly) on April 25th.

 

Hope that helps,

Matthew Curry

Jasper Image v1.6 – Coming Soon!

There are already several improvements to the image, and I have put out feelers for any fixes/updates/etc that I can do to make the user experience better.  I already have a few of the obvious ones, however please feel free to report them in the new slack room “image-v1-6”, or in the Forums at the following LINK.

I am already working on it being pre-installed in the future with a REST api on it.  Making it easy to integrate with anything!

I will be posting the release notes with the new updates with the new image, and here as a post.  So please keep an eye out.

 

Thanks,
Matt