Articles by Jonathan Terrasi

By now, I’ve had years of experience on different operating systems. It’s quite common for me to use multiple operating systems in one day. Of all of them, though, there’s only one that doesn’t feel like it’s holding my hand or keeping parts of the system locked behind the counter. That's a deliberate design choice that addresses certain use cases, which may feel reassuring to some. But that’s not my style...

A common sentiment that AI evangelists have expressed to me is their eagerness to outsource their day-to-day communications to it. I am not about to state that this is always a mistake. Certain missives are so rote and return so little for the invested effort that it’s hard to justify composing them from scratch. We’ve all sunk time into sending formulaic emails, which could have been better spent doing almost anything else...

With mobile usage now far outpacing desktop usage, the latter has an antiquated air about it to many. Mobile is the future, implying that desktop must be the past. It’s natural to expect a more secure future, having learned from past failures. Indeed, as noted in the preceding piece, mobile devices feature no shortage of security controls However...

In technical fields like information technology, definitions are fundamental. They are the building blocks for constructing useful applications and systems. Yet, despite this, it’s easy to assume a term’s definition and wield it confidently before discovering its true meaning. The two closely related cases that stand out to me are “security” and “privacy.”...

One of the most influential teachers I’ve had was my university music professor. One piece of wisdom particularly resonates with me: he asked, “How good would you be if you did everything your teacher told you to do?” His point was not that you should unquestioningly do what you’re told. Rather, he meant that after we’re familiar enough with a discipline, we know what yields improvement at it. We know what habits, procedures, and mindsets will make us better at what we do...

As readers of my previous desktop Linux DNS article will be able to attest, systemd’s management of DNS is complex. By putting time into comprehending its complexity, though, we can create nuanced DNS resolution behaviors for specialized use cases To pick back up, this installment will start by fleshing out how systemd-resolved routes queries. Fr...

When I went into writing this article, I thought I knew the route to the destination I intended to lead you to. But in retracing my steps to make sure I understood the way, I ended up way off course. Irked as I was at this gap in my knowledge, the exercise allowed me to produce the kind of piece I enjoy writing the most: one where I learn as much as you do, if not more...

Computers and information systems, while certainly a love of mine now, were not my first. I have always been an avid student of history and an observer of geopolitics. My bookshelf can readily attest to this My embrace of digital technology is really an extension of my reflection on geopolitical dynamics. When Edward Snowden arrived on the scene in...

Recently, an article crossed my path that made me smile. There's not much in tech these days that does that, so I took a moment to savor this rare sensation The piece by Jack Wallen on ZDNet pitched Linux as a refuge from the desktop OS security pitfalls of its competitors. I've held this viewpoint for a while. What impressed me about the article, ...

This month marks a year since I took on my current and most technical role of my career. I didn't intend to keep it a secret. Really, it just didn't factor much into my writing By this point, I'm implying it clearly has. The role has exposed me to a variety of computer systems created by various people over time. All of these systems have forced me...

As I occasionally do, lately, I was racking my brain for a fun Linux flight of fancy to take us on. Many pixels have been spilled on the subject of "Linux," or even just desktop Linux, with many more sure to follow. Even so, I strive for a unique perspective That's when I realized that the reason it's so challenging to think of something novel to s...

A friend of mine with decades of experience in tech made a wittily apt remark that I've been thinking about lately When discussing how to overcome a thorny technical hurdle that most desktop OSes would obstruct the user from addressing, he quipped that Linux was easily up to the task because "Linux is a real operating system."

When writing about digital technology, or any topic, is something you do, it takes time to accumulate credibility. Even if you put in the study time up front to know your stuff, building trust takes time I've been fortunate that, after years expanding my portfolio and the knowledge base under it, people come to me for advice on related subject matt...

Lately I've been thinking a lot about thinking. There are a couple of reasons for this First, doing it well is a prerequisite to developing any dependable expertise in any kind of computer science or engineering discipline. With the right mental toolset, you can bootstrap any of the subject matter knowledge you could possibly need....

The best thing about tech-related disciplines, to me, is that they are probably easier than any others to learn online. In fact, that's exactly how I built up the computer science foundation that supports my work. Without an internet full of resources, I wouldn't be where I am today Like many who share my path, I initially devoured every online res...

If you've run any operating system for any length of time, you will probably have encountered strange phenomena. When it comes to computers, strange is usually unwelcome. The longer you run any given OS installation without a reinstall, the more likely you are to see at least a few quirks. This can be anything from programs freezing, to your cooling fan suddenly revving up, to all manner of oddities...

Geopolitics may be something a lot of us are getting a crash course in these days, given recent events, but I've been an amateur student of the subject for a long time. By "long time," I mean prior to studying computer science. I took a class in high school in which we simulated geopolitical dynamics with tabletop RPG-style games. From then on, I was hooked on analyzing the world through the lens of converging interests, power, and human nature...

Over the years, writing about technology, I've produced many guides on how to do cool stuff (by my definition, at least) with your computer. But in all that time, I failed to devote any attention to how to approach those guides or any technical reference material. I assumed readers had the groundwork needed to use resources like mine As we all know...

People are freaking out about reports of NSO Group's Pegasus surveillance tool being used to spy on journalists, political dissidents, and other opponents of regimes worldwide. It's disheartening, and worth discussing. But why are we shocked? I'm an information security realist. With big-league stuff like nation-state surveillance, that means analy...

As much as I extol the variety that Linux offers, I've done a bad job of enjoying it. Sadly, playing with new distributions usually gets bested by competing priorities. Not today A browse through Linux reviews revealed one dearth in attention: Intel's Clear Linux*....