DEV Community: kevin

How I solve problem with freezing desktop on Debian with Gnome desktop

kevin — Sat, 10 Oct 2020 15:58:04 +0000

Background story

I migrated my old laptop Dell Inspiron 3421 to Debian 10 some days ago. I'll share the details on another post.

This Debian 10 runs with gnome-core, so it's using the Gnome desktop environment. At first, everything seems running smoothly.

I open a few Reddit tabs on its default browser, Firefox ESR. Nothing sluggish on this laptop with 2GB RAM. At this point, I don't install any packages other than those:

Upwork tracking app
htop. It is for monitoring the CPU and RAM usage.
Vim editor

Other packages were from the default packages from gnome-core: Calculator, Calendar, etc. I can't remove them without removing gnome-core and losing the desktop environment.

Why not using LXDE or another lighter DE?

I migrate from Lubuntu with LXDE to Debian. The main reason is there are several problems with that desktop environment. Yes, it's very light. However, it doesn't work well with my use cases.

Problem

The problem begins when I try to work with Google Sheet webpage. The laptop suddenly freezes.

I try to switch to the terminal and kill the process but no success. The desktop is frozen. Then, I leave it for around half-hour. Nothing changes.

In the end, I have no choice but to press the power button for some seconds. Yes, I need to force it to shut down.

Solution

After thinking for a while, I remember, one of my friends talking about the OOM mechanism. OOM is an abbreviation for Out-Of-Memory.

It's a mechanism of operating system to kill the process that eats up too much memory on the machine.

Then, I start to wonder why this Debian OOM mechanism doesn't kill the process and prevent the system from freezing. Perhaps, I need to explore more on this part in the future.

As for the solution to my current problem, I come up with these:

I disable the swap permanently. It is my personal preference. I hate to see my machine gets slow because it's starting to swap the data on RAM to disk.
Then, I install the earlyoom package: sudo apt install earlyoom

After that, I configure it by

opening the /etc/default/earlyoom
updating the EARLYOOM_ARGS with -r 30 -m 1
At last, I restart the earlyoom process.

You can read about the earlyoom configuration on their Github page.

Result

I verify the result by opening the same tab with Google Sheet on Firefox ESR. I set up the same situation that triggers the frozen system earlier.

Here's what I observe so far:

No more frozen desktop.
When out-of-memory is happening (well, the laptop only has 2GB of RAM), it kills the Firefox tab gracefully.

Verdicts

We all know 2GB of RAM isn't sufficient to run Debian with Gnome desktop smoothly. The documentation recommends 1GB to run Debian with a desktop. But, it mentions not to run with Gnome.

Yet, the steps I've done above are working well to deliver the result: no more frozen system without adding more RAM.

Still, I can't deny the ideal solution for the problem is adding one more RAM module to the empty slot on this laptop.

One more: though I do all of them on Debian, I am sure it's possible to use these solutions on another Linux distribution, as long as you can install the earlyoom package.

Originally published at how to prevent a frozen desktop on Linux

Other reasons which makes me happy with Cloudflare

kevin — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 15:28:32 +0000

It’s been some months since I put the Cloudflare in front of this blog. The results make me happy. Not only it puts a security layer by filtering the traffic that hits this blog, but it also gives me others. Firewall A firewall makes the job easier to block some countries or IP address. All I have to do… Continue reading »Other reasons which makes me happy with Cloudflare

How to block visitors from some countries on WordPress

kevin — Mon, 09 Sep 2019 14:51:27 +0000

There are some use cases that it makes sense to block visitors from particular countries because you don’t target them. Or, most of the visitors from those countries are mostly spambots. Or even worse, most of them are the source of your fake traffic or the unsolicited e-mails in your inbox? Or you want your… Continue reading »How to block visitors from some countries on WordPress

My story of setting up Let’s Encrypt SSL on SiteGround

kevin — Sun, 08 Sep 2019 10:49:04 +0000

This happens on the GrowBig account this weekend. Their documentation says the Let’s Encrypt SSL (without wildcard) should take effect immediately. Here’s the link to the doc which says it. It’s doesn’t work It’s doesn’t work in my case. The popup says the Let’s Encrypt SSL has successfully installed. But after waiting for almost 24… Continue reading »My story of setting up Let’s Encrypt SSL on SiteGround

My opinions about Google’s ‘Native Lazyload’ plugin for WordPress

kevin — Sat, 07 Sep 2019 12:56:02 +0000

Today, when I am exploring Reddit, I notice something interesting. It’s saying Google releases official ‘Native Lazyload’ plugin for WordPress. I follow the link and land on the plugin page there. The developer of the plugin is Google Yes. I confirmed there. One of the developers of the plugin is Google itself. The plugin is legit. Guess, it’s… Continue reading »My opinions about Google’s ‘Native Lazyload’ plugin for WordPress

Keeping WordPress up to date is really important

kevin — Thu, 05 Sep 2019 12:16:00 +0000

The WordPress team released 5.2.3 nine hours ago. Since I’ve set up this site’s WordPress to update automatically, I do not need to update it manually when the new version came. However, some folks I know used to delay or postpone the update for various reasons. Whatever the reasons (or excuses?) they have, leaving the… Continue reading »Keeping WordPress up to date is really important

Valuable things that make Gitpod.io service interesting

kevin — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 11:47:45 +0000

As I’ve told you on the previous post, I began to explore its valuable features after I got the Unlimited plan from Gitpod.io team. Here is the result of my exploration. Seamless Github integration This is the first feature I explore. I wonder how well it’s integrating to Github platform. I start with the registration process. After I click that Get… Continue reading »Valuable things that make Gitpod.io service interesting

Got nice surprises from Gitpod team

kevin — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 15:28:50 +0000

Gitpod is the only cloud IDE that integrates seamlessly with Github. At least that’s what I know when I am writing this. How I found Gitpod I found it almost a year ago. At that time, Amazon acquired Cloud9.io, the cloud IDE I used to work. I used its free plan since it’s already provided… Continue reading »Got nice surprises from Gitpod team

Problems that forced me to leave ProtonVPN for Mullvad

kevin — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 13:26:18 +0000

This purely based on my own experience with both VPN apps. Others may find it different because there are so many factors involved. Please keep in mind that Mullvad doesn’t have an affiliate program at the time I write this. This means I am not writing this to promote their service. The comparison may not… Continue reading »Problems that forced me to leave ProtonVPN for Mullvad

My experience with Gitpod Cloud IDE

kevin — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 12:32:17 +0000

An important note: Gitpod.io is not a service from GitHub. They were two separate companies.

As of now, it's still in public BETA (so no prices) - according to their official representative. Gitpod, which is said to extend GitHub, is an online integrated development environment (IDE). So basically, it's a cloud IDE.

Gitpod promises to provide the user with a fully working development environment. What? Another cloud IDE? Gitpod says that it doesn't aim at replacing desktop development because admit it, nothing beats the old school user interface.

Don't worry, Gitpod heard you on that one. What it's looking forward to doing now is to make GitHub more accessible through Gitpod. You don't have to maintain your projects using the dashboards. The Gitpod IDE safely stores any work you've done on GitHub.

So how has it done in terms of its ease of use, performance, and everything else you're looking for in an IDE?

Here's a brief look.

It has a very reasonable pricing range. It's true when they said that it's not too overwhelming. The interface is clean enough. The experience is just what I needed Issues and pull requests are the stars of the show.

It supports web applications like your other third-party extensions.

1. It has a very reasonable pricing range.

This is probably one thing that you will encounter before proceeding to the service itself. After signing up, Gitpod will now offer you a choice of plans, depending on your needs. The price ranges from USD 7 to 21 per user per monthly usage. However, what's good is that you can start small by choosing the free plan first and upgrading once you've decided on committing on using the app for a long time. If you are also working within a team, there is also a plan suited for your organization.

2. It's true when they said that it's not too overwhelming.

What's good about Gitpod is that it goes straight to the point. Creating a repository is as blunt as it could be. There is also a quick setup guide that you could use (just in case you are one of those people who has just started coding) which will help you launch initially your file. GitHub didn't forget their desktop users. If you've been using the desktop version for quite some time, you have the option to set up your file using GitHub instead.

3. The interface is clean enough.

I am the user who wants a clean user interface. By clean, I mean white background, few colors involved, and easy-to-read fonts. The buttons are located conveniently where they are supposed to go and some of it even has supporting instructions just in case you are not familiar with what it is supposed to do. The coding field shall also receive a thumbs up from me. If you're new to coding, its interface is much like what you can see in any blog hosting sites out there.

You can code using one window under the edit new file tab and have a live preview of what you have written will look like. If you compare it to most of the desktop apps, it's here in the interface which will differ big time. Gitpod doesn't have all the annoying dashboards that you usually get in a desktop version. Overall, the interface is pretty clean.

4. The experience is just what I needed.

Okay, so what will first ask you to do is to create a workspace. In my experience, it was a lot easier to start a new project with Gitpod than with other any cloud IDEs I have tried out wherein other information is needed such as Git information. So basically, Gitpod will give you a workspace that is ready to use so you won't have to go through any steps for configuration.

Don't worry, though. I know that as coders, we all have our different setups for each project that we do. Gitpod fully supports this by having a process to determine how will your workspace be configured.

It's not uniform for everyone but it will adjust based on what type of setup you'll need.

5. Issues and pull requests are the stars of the show.

I can say that issues and pull requests are one of the most used features on GitHub. With what I have experienced, I tried to start by working with an issue that has been provided on the Gitpod dashboard page.

I wasn't expecting it to be a clean slate or a fresh workspace but it was. There is already a set up that I could immediately use to code and test. So that's how it went for the issues requests part.

6. It supports web applications like your other third-party extensions.

So, it's on the cloud which means that it is stored over the Internet. But being in the cloud is more than just storage but you can work on your code while you are in a browser. This is completely logical because as programmers, we spend so much time on the internet so what better way to bring in your work while surfing the Net, right?

Like any other web party apps out there, Gitpod also supports your site through extensions. Gitpod says that they added this function for users to create a workspace with just one click of a button.

They added this because if you don't install the extension, you would have to type out a prefix any GitHub URL with Gitpod.io#. Skip the hassle and just add it on. It worked with my Chrome browser and it supports Firefox as well. No news for Microsoft Edge, Safari, and the likes.

I truly hope that first impressions do last because, at first glance, Gitpod has met my expectations and lived up to its claims. So far, I haven't seen any bumps and I looked up if people are experiencing problems when it comes to using it over the net... and so far I have found very minimal issues.

Yes, of course, any app will have issues but what's good with Gitpod is that it has a provided solution so you can resolve it right away. People who use Gitpod says that they use the Cloud IDE for editing, compiling and running the code while they are reviewing and it's a factor that should be attributed to the reason why it's running on the cloud.

Overall, with all of these features, Gitpod is sure worth the try.

Here are some screenshots I take from Gitpod IDE, trying to play with Rails sample application. Just click the image to see the larger version in a new tab.

Update

If you're going to use their paid service, you can use this coupon code: KEVINHQ

The coupon reduces the price of the subscription by 30% during the first three months of the subscription.

Source: A Review: Gitpod | Is it worth the try?

My experience using Twitter Ads without credit card

kevin — Thu, 22 Aug 2019 14:10:57 +0000

Years ago, I used Twitter Ads on my personal Twitter account. My purpose is just testing it. After using it for a while, I grow my followers there. Debit card During these periods, I used a VISA debit card as a payment method. After several successful payments, it declined the payment suddenly. Then, I contacted… Continue reading »My experience using Twitter Ads without credit card

Why you should use uBlock Origin just like me?

kevin — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 11:00:55 +0000

Browsing websites with intrusive ads is the worst experience. It’s even worse if those annoying ads are interfering you to read the content. All of us deserve a better browsing experience. This is where the ad-block software comes in-handy. The problem is there are many of them today. For a Chrome or Firefox, there are… Continue reading »Why you should use uBlock Origin just like me?