• 4 Posts
  • 18 Comments
Joined 2 months ago
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Cake day: November 17th, 2024

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  • However, I was never able to have the server completely headless.

    Depending on what you mean by “completely headless” it may or may not be possible.

    Simplest solution: When you’re installing OS and setting up the system, you have a GPU and monitor for local access. Once you’ve configured ssh access, you no longer need the GPU or monitor. You could get by with a cheap “Just display something” graphics card and keep it permanently installed, only plugging in the monitor when something is not working right. This is what I used to do.

    Downside: If you ever need to perform an OS reinstall, debug boot issues, or change BIOS settings, you will need to reconnect the monitor.

    Medium tech solution: Install a cheap graphics card, and then connect your server with something like PiKVM or BliKVM. They can plug into your GPU and motherboard and provide a web interface to control your server physically. Everything from controlling physical power buttons to emulating a USB storage device is possible. You’ll be able to boot from cold start, install OS, and change BIOS settings without ever needing a physical monitor. This is what I do now.

    Downsides: Additional cost to buy the KVM hardware, plus now you have to remember to keep your KVM software updated. Anyone who controls the KVM has equivalent physical access to the server, so keep it secure and off the public internet.






  • Perforce

    We manage branches by taking an existing path on the perforce server, duplicating its contents, and then copying them to a differently named directory while registering that new path serverside.

    So on paper, I can tell my local client to map my files to that new remote path, and then trigger a sync. In my experience, the sync treats my branch jumping as pulling completely new files. It touches everything in my work directory. As far as our makefiles are concerned, this means everything has to rebuild.





  • I wouldn’t have done this, but I do kinda get it.

    We had a 100 person wedding. Friends, close family, and Aunts/Uncles (no cousins, extended relatives). There definitely were people interested in giving us gifts even though they weren’t invited. I told them basically the same thing as this card. It was annoying having to field those requests at the same time as prepping for the wedding, so I could see why someone would send this card preemptively.

    I feel like it would only be trashy if you were really expecting money from these people.


  • Actually, C++. An enormous codebase plus we build all dependencies from source. I asked my dev lead why we don’t have access to pre-compiled dependencies and he answered with a mix of embarrassment and “that’s just how it’s done”.

    A 4h build would be OK if I only needed to do it once. However, our source control system lacks even a basic conception of branches, so each new ticket requires destroying and regenerating your workspace.