1---
 2date: '2019-09-27'
 3subtitle: Alpine Linux shenaningans and more
 4template: text.html
 5title: 'Weekly status update, 09/17--09/27'
 6url: '2019-09-27'
 7---
 8
 9It's a lazy Friday afternoon here; yet another off day this week thanks
10to my uni's fest. My last "weekly" update was 10 days ago, and a lot has
11happened since then. Let's get right into it!
12
13My switch to Alpine
14-------------------
15
16Previously, I ran Debian with Buster/Sid repos, and ever since this
17happened
18
19``` {.shell}
20$ dpkg --list | wc -l
213817
22
23# or something in that ballpark
24```
25
26I've been wanting to reduce my system's package count.
27
28Thus, I began my search for a smaller, simpler and lighter distro with a
29fairly sane package manager. I did come across Dylan Araps' [KISS
30Linux](https://getkiss.org) project, but it seemed a little too hands-on
31for me (and still relatively new). I finally settled on [Alpine
32Linux](https://alpinelinux.org). According to their website:
33
34> Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution
35> based on musl libc and busybox.
36
37The installation was a breeze, and I was quite surprised to see WiFi
38working OOTB. In the past week of my using this distro, the only major
39hassle I faced was getting my Minecraft launcher to run. The JRE isn't
40fully ported to `musl` yet.[^1] The solution to that is fairly trivial
41and I plan to write about it soon. (hint: it involves chroots)
42
43![rice](/static/img/rice-2019-09-27.png)
44
45Packaging for Alpine
46--------------------
47
48On a related note, I've been busy packaging some of the stuff I use for
49Alpine -- you can see my personal
50[aports](https://github.com/icyphox/aports) repository if you're
51interested. I'm currently working on packaging Nim too, so keep an eye
52out for that in the coming week.
53
54Talk selection at PyCon India!
55------------------------------
56
57Yes! My buddy Raghav ([@_vologue](https://twitter.com/\_vologue)) and I
58are going to be speaking at PyCon India about our recent smart lock
59security research. The conference is happening in Chennai, much to our
60convenience. If you're attending too, hit me up on Twitter and we can
61hang!
62
63Other
64-----
65
66That essentially sums up the *technical* stuff that I did. My Russian is
67going strong, my reading however, hasn't. I have *yet* to finish those
68books! This week, for sure.
69
70Musically, I've been experimenting. I tried a bit of hip-hop and
71chilltrap, and I think I like it? I still find myself coming back to
72metalcore/deathcore. Here's a list of artists I discovered (and liked)
73recently:
74
75-   [Before I Turn](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3uKGwcwGWA)
76-   生 Conform 死 (couldn't find any official YouTube video, check
77    Spotify)
78-   [Treehouse Burning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66eFK1ttdC4)
79-   [Lee McKinney](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-w3XM2PwOY)
80-   [Berried Alive](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUibXK7F3PM)
81    (rediscovered)
82
83That's it for now, I'll see you next week!
84
85[^1]: The [Portola Project](https://aboullaite.me/protola-alpine-java/)