This is not a review, it is simply a recommendation of an awesome application

I am both a Linux and (to somes surprise) a macOS user, and switch betweeen Fedora with Gnome as DE and macOS on a daily basis. Therefore, I try to setup both my Linux and macOS box to work in similar fashions and one thing I had been missing on macOS for a while was sending windows to one side of the screen like META + left/right-arrow under Gnome or sending a window to another display.

Now I wrote I had been missing it for a while, indicating that I have solved the problem. Well I have not solved the problem myself by coding, no, no. I found an application and this is Rectangle an application for macOS developed by Ryan Hanson. And to be honest this application solves all my needs on macOS and then some, in extension to do so much more. I have been using Rectangle since the May of 2019 and I honestly have loved it ever since.

It is highly configurable and allows you to record alternative key-bindings if you need it (I have not found the need). Additionally, it is very light on resource usage, a problem I have had with alternatives. Furhtermore, Rectangle is open source (github.com/rxhanson/Rectangle) which have allowed me to look through the code and though I have not been through all the code I have been through some, and I like what I see.

Therefore I whole heartly recommend Rectangle to any macOS user.

./Lars

In the Fedora community, there have been some confusions since this was seen by different users Slack drops Fedora support March 2022. However, this is a truth with modifications and sometimes the Fedora. The support is actually only being dropped for native RPM package for Fedora (and RedHat). Slack will still be available to be used through the browser just as it always has been.

What is all the fuss about then? There is still support right? Indeed, but some reason people prefer the desktop applications. This means that people have been in a slight panic, about what happens next. Well the answer is pretty easy… Use the Slack Flatpak instead. There is no reason to panic just use Flatpak.

Additionally, more and more distros, including Fedora, seems to be moving away from native packages, to systems such as Flatpak and Snap. SO moving to these tools is simply a good idea. But why the are moving to these at all? The reason is to ease the lives of maintainers. Currently making a (“proper”) release for every distribution is really time consuming, to you a deb package, RPM, what ever ArchLinux uses, and so on. With Flatpack or alternative, you need one release and it will (is supposed) to work across all distributions,

So that Slack drops the native RPM package doesn’t matter, they still support Flatpack and at the moment that is actually more important than a native package.

This is my take on it at least.

-Lars

I have been a bit silent with it, except for release information on Twitter and LinkedIN. But I would like to (more) publicly introduce QueryC++ or QueryCpp (which ever you prefer) which I released in version 1.1.0 last week.

The purpose of QueryC++ is to reduce the usage of std::string for having SQL commands exposed as raw text strings in C++.

Let us assume that we are working with PostgreSQL and use libpqxx for executing commands in the database. Then if we want to create a user table where the user has an id, a first name, and a last name. Afterwards we insert two users, using a single insert, using std::string it could look something like this:

#include <string>

#include <pqxx/pqxx>

int main(void)
{
    pqxx::connection con; // Assume setup
    std::string query = "CREATE TABLE user (id PRIMARY KEY SERIAL, first_name VARCHAR(255), last_name VARCHAR(255))";
    pqxx::work tx1(con);
    tx1.exec(query);
    tx1.commit();

    query = "INSERT INTO user(first_name, last_name) VALUES ('john', 'doe'), ('jane', 'doe')";
    
    pqxx::work tx2(con);
    tx2.exec(query);
    tx2.commit();
}

It is not bad, but it for sure is not pretty. First of all, if we want to make a change to the table, we need to find where in the “long” SQL string we need to change it and two, if we make a syntax error we have to redo it again.

Secondly, this is example is not difficult to read, but SQL can be if it becomes more complex.

Thirdly, when I write C++ I prefer to write C++ and not some other language embedded in strings. Which is the main reason I started QueryC++. So how would the above code look in QueryC++, well it will look like this:

#include <querycpp/querycpp.hpp>
#include <pqxx/pqxx>

int main(void)
{
    querycpp::column id("id", querycpp::type::postgres::numerical::SERIAL, 
                              {querycpp::constraints::PRIMARY});
    querycpp::column first_name("first_name", querycpp::type::common::string::VARCHAR, {"255"});
    querycpp::column last_name("last_name", querycpp::type::common::string::VARCHAR, {"255"});
    
    querycpp::table user_table("user", {id, first_name, last_name});
    
    querycpp::query user_query(user_table);
    
    pqxx::connection con; // Assume setup
    
    user_query.CREATE();
    
    pqxx::work tx1(con);
    tx1.exec(user_query.str());
    tx1.commit();
    
    // Clear the currently build query
    user_query.clear(); 
    
    std::vector<std::vector<std::string>> users;
    user.push_back({"John", "Doe"});
    user.push_back({"Jane", "Doe"});
    
    user_query.INSERT({first_name, last_name}, users);
    
    pqxx::work tx2(con);
    tx2.exec(user_query.str());
    tx.2.commit();
}

So what did QueryC++ give us besides more code?

• First it gave us individual columns, where we are able to handle constraints separately for each column.
• Then it gave us a table and a query object
• The ability to create the table
  • and neatly insert multiple elements into the table

All in all QueryC++ gave us a program that is easier to read, written in C++, and we work directly with objects. Additionally, if we want to change a specific column, we do not have to go hunting in a string, we do get compile time errors or even intellisense errors if we make a spelling mistake. From my perspective QueryC++ provides pretty good benefits.

FAQ

A few (already) frequently asked questions.

What is the license? It is BSD version 3, check the LICENSE file for more information.

Why are functions all caps? are you crazy? a) Yes I am crazy that should not come as a surprise and b) Even though I am only publicly know contributor to QueryC++. There are a few people who are “beta” testers. One of the main thing people requested was actually to have methods in all caps, to mirror how the write SQL in general. Additionally and also an excuse is that SQL keywords such as and are reserved in C++ and we “get around” this by having our functions in all caps.

Can I contribute to QueryC++? Yes you can and I am working on code style guide and setting up the general workflow. Be a bit patient, please!.

Can I make request? Yes, open an issue ticket and we/I will take a look. If we deem it a feature that should be in QueryC++ we will add it as soon as we get the change.

Who funds this? Technically Aarhus University Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, but “only” limited. I have been allowed to work on QueryC++ during work hours as I am using QueryC++ in my research and when I find something I need for my research that is missing, then I can added it.

Why waf first? I focus on waf as build system first, because it is the one I am use to and use myself. However, CMake should fully work now.

Why no Conan package? It is coming I SWEAR! Maybe even in version 1.2.0 but I am not promising that!

./Lars

For some reason people tend to assume I prefer Python over all other languages since I am an academic researcher. This has a) always been weird to me and b) it is not true.

One of the main reasons people think I prefer Python is the quick turn around from idea to “product”. Which apparently is preferable if your are researcher, that is true but language such as Ruby, Crystal, Java, and C# offers this as well, in my opinion and there for Python is not “better” compared to these languages on that note.

The second big assumption is that because I am researcher I must be using numpy, pandas, matplotlib and Jypyter Notebook. Well fun fact, I use none of them. I use to be a heavy user of numpy, matplotlib, and Jupyter notebooks. But as I did less and less data analysis, numpy fell out of my tool box. Matplotlib got replaced by pgfplots, and finally I replaced Jupyter Notebook with Emacs’s Org-mode. The later may sound weird to some, but most of my stuff is in org-mode already and I could easily enough replicate the behaviour I need. Finally, I have never done complex enough data analysis that Pandas was ever on my radar as an every day tool, though it may be in the future.

But may main reason for moving away from the tools, was actually not the tools, they are awesome! My main issue was Python. I have worked at companies, such as Chocolate Cloud Aps and is currently working for a company, that does most of the work in Python. Both through such jobs and my academic journey, I have come to the conclusion “I don’t really like Python”

./Lars

I got a new work laptop which is a Dell XPS 15”, which replaces my old Dell XPS 15”. Now back in 2018 when I got my old work laptop installing Linux was a bot of a troubleshooting paradise or hell, depending on how you look at it. I tried to install Fedora (I believe) 31 and Ubuntu 18.04 Unity and Mate versions, and both sucked to install. Fedoras installer would not even start properly and both Ubuntu’s was just a cluster f… of errors during the install process and afterwards, even after installing proprietary drivers (FUCK YOU NVIDIA). My supervisor found a GitHub README describing in detail how to install Ubuntu Mate and switch to Gnome 3, which seemed to work. Which did work and was an okay work around, however a firmware update from Dell broke my system and I could not fix the issue. After much Googling I conclude that I needed to reinstall my system and since I like Fedora more than Ubuntu I decide to try this again. I found a guide with over eight steps I needed to follow, where of 3 was just to get the install to boot. Anyways I succeed and ran with Fedora 31, upgrade to 32, and last 33 without any major issues, except for one time breaking Ethernet but that was an easy fix.

Now fast forward to 2021 I needed a new laptop and let me just touch on this. I did not need a new laptop because the Dell XPS is crap and broke, I need a new laptop because I literally (due to my research) wore out the SSD in the machine and did not want to bored with even trying to replace it (I have seen those YouTube videos).

So I got the newest Dell XPS 15” and my first worry was the USB-C only ports and an SD card reader. But unlike Apple, Dell actually includes a USB-C to USB-A and HDMI convert (much appreciated Dell), now here I had a small worry, would the XPS let me boot from a USB-A stick through the converter? Well I created the USB and plugged it in BEHOLD IT booted no problem what so ever. Then my problems started… When I go to the part of the install where I should choose installation disk, there was no options. What the heck! A little bit of searching the internet and I remember that Dell disable AHCI and opt for Intel’s Raid thingy instead. Reboot the laptop into BIOS disable stupid Intel Raid and enable AHCI. BOOM! I could now choose my disk and installed Fedora 34 and it worked, right?

Well almost, I ran dnf check-update it lets you check if any updates are available and what they are. I was a bit worried because there was a kernel update and two firmware updates from Dell. However, I installed all system upgrades and the only thing that was a problem was the second Dell update, which somehow killed external keyboard inputs. But that was a quick fix release came two days later and while it was not fixed I rolled back the update.

Now one thing I had big trouble with last time was NVIDIA drivers (fuck you NVIDIA), but someone have been really nice to “fix” this on Fedora by creating an auto installer: https://copr.fedorainfracloud.org/coprs/t0xic0der/nvidia-auto-installer-for-fedora/ which makes the whole process super easy.

I forgot one thing and that was to disable secure boot as this block usage of the NVIDIA driver so I had to do that. So all in all compared to last time very easy.

I did run into one lite weird issue I had to install Open Broadcast Software and after doing that, somehow secure boot was re-enabled. I am not fully sure what happened there.

-Lars