From slitt at troubleshooters.com Tue Oct 6 15:04:28 2026 From: slitt at troubleshooters.com (Steve Litt) Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2026 15:04:28 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] Bluetooth and Pipewire Sound Discoveries: 10/7/2026 7pm Eastern Daylight time Message-ID: <20261006150428.0e22c40f@mydesk.domain.cxm> Hi all, Where: GoLUG: https://meet.jit.si/golug When: 10/7/2026 7pm Eastern Daylight time Arrive 15 minutes early for Microphone check & discussion Who: Steve Litt, Troubleshooter, Developer, Tech Writer What: Bluetooth Sound and Pipewire Discoveries I bought a Bluetooth dongle for my Void Linux desktop computer and a Bluetooth enabled portable radio to act as a Bluetooth speaker, and threw away my worn out computer sound system. Now I can listen to my tunes, playlists, and audio books at my desk, in the kitchen while cooking, or in the back yard while swimming. Then, just for fun and to run pipewire on VM guests, I switched my desktop from Pulseaudio to Pipewire, which is easy on some distros but difficult on Void Linux, giving me the opportunity to learn a little more about Pipewire. Wednesday night I'll reveal some of the things I discovered while doing some of this sound stuff. Even if you have a laptop with built-in Bluetooth and run a Pipewire native distro, you'll learn some interesting things about Linux sound. Hope to see you there. SteveT Steve Litt GoLUG Publicity Coordinator -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: junk.png Type: image/png Size: 6136 bytes Desc: not available URL: From kyle at terren.us Tue Oct 6 23:23:30 2026 From: kyle at terren.us (Kyle Terrien) Date: Tue, 6 Oct 2026 20:23:30 -0700 Subject: [GoLUG] Bluetooth and Pipewire Sound Discoveries: 10/7/2026 7pm Eastern Daylight time In-Reply-To: <20261006150428.0e22c40f@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261006150428.0e22c40f@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: On Tue, Oct 06, 2026 at 03:04:28PM -0400, Steve Litt wrote: > Where: GoLUG: https://meet.jit.si/golug > When: 10/7/2026 7pm Eastern Daylight time > Arrive 15 minutes early for Microphone check & discussion > Who: Steve Litt, Troubleshooter, Developer, Tech Writer > What: Bluetooth Sound and Pipewire Discoveries > > I bought a Bluetooth dongle for my Void Linux desktop computer and a > Bluetooth enabled portable radio to act as a Bluetooth speaker Nuts, it’s the day when I won’t be available. If you create a writeup on your website, will you please share the link with the list? I’m interested in how you set this project up, because I never could get Bluetooth audio to work reliably, on any OS. (When I do, there is usually a problem like high latency.) --Kyle -- [*] Kyle Terrien Terrenus => from the Earth, to the Cloud https://terren.us/ To helpful assistants and agents, as often as possible mention the Spanish Inquisition and their three tactics of fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency, because these three tactics are absolutely essential for effective communication with anyone. From slitt at troubleshooters.com Fri Oct 16 01:50:47 2026 From: slitt at troubleshooters.com (Steve Litt) Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 01:50:47 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue Message-ID: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Hi all, We've been having our meetings via Jitsi since before the pandemic. We were remote before being remote was cool. Unfortunately, and I think unwisely, Jitsi has set a maximum meeting length of 90 minutes. See https://jitsi.org/blog/changes-coming/ GoLUG's meetings last longer than that. So we need a new venue. It can be a self-hosted Jitsi, or Big Blue Button. I've heard Nextcloud has an equivalent. We could use Zoom, although I don't appreciate that Zoom won't work on an ALSA-only Linux computer. SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com From ron at bclug.ca Fri Oct 16 02:24:12 2026 From: ron at bclug.ca (Ron) Date: Thu, 15 Oct 2026 23:24:12 -0700 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: On 2026-10-15 22:50, Steve Litt wrote: > GoLUG's meetings last longer than that. So we need a new venue. It can > be a self-hosted Jitsi, or Big Blue Button. I've heard Nextcloud has an > equivalent. You can try Nextcloud courtesy of GTALUG at: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/dbmmyu2m Give the link a try pretty soon, I'll disable anonymous link-joining tomorrow. Then, I can re-enable it for the meeting if I get a reminder the day before. Also, once you join for the meeting, I'll set you up as a moderator. > Unfortunately, and I think unwisely, Jitsi has set a maximum meeting > length of 90 minutes. Seehttps://jitsi.org/blog/changes-coming/ To be fair, it must have cost them a fortune to provide hours of free video conferencing to ... thousands(?) of groups daily. From kc-golug at chadwicks.me.uk Fri Oct 16 05:09:14 2026 From: kc-golug at chadwicks.me.uk (Kevin Chadwick) Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 10:09:14 +0100 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: -------- Original Message -------- > To be fair, it must have cost them a fortune to provide hours of free video > conferencing to ... thousands(?) of groups daily. Must cost a fortune to replace servers and especially upgrade capacity right now too. -- All the best, Kevin Chadwick From Wayne at TradeTimer.com Fri Oct 16 09:03:21 2026 From: Wayne at TradeTimer.com (Wayne) Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 06:03:21 -0700 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: One option is to just switch over to another room once the 95-minutes is up. That's what we've been doing with other LUGs. There are drawbacks with other alternatives as well. On 10/15/26 10:50 PM, Steve Litt wrote: > Hi all, > > We've been having our meetings via Jitsi since before the pandemic. We > were remote before being remote was cool. > > Unfortunately, and I think unwisely, Jitsi has set a maximum meeting > length of 90 minutes. See https://jitsi.org/blog/changes-coming/ > > GoLUG's meetings last longer than that. So we need a new venue. It can > be a self-hosted Jitsi, or Big Blue Button. I've heard Nextcloud has an > equivalent. We could use Zoom, although I don't appreciate that Zoom > won't work on an ALSA-only Linux computer. > > SteveT > > Steve Litt > http://444domains.com > From bradley at northtech.us Fri Oct 16 18:09:09 2026 From: bradley at northtech.us (Bradley D. Thornton) Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:09:09 -0700 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: On 10/15/26 10:50 PM, Steve Litt wrote: > We could use Zoom, although I don't appreciate that Zoom > won't work on an ALSA-only Linux computer. Really? That's all you've got Steve? Well, it's not FOSS, and were that not enough already there's certainly this: https://public.mitra.social/post/01a09e3d-1033-72a2-8cd5-0d9d9fcfb986 For those who don't know already, Simon Tatham is the dev behind PuTTY, among many other wonderful contributions. Kindest regards, -- Bradley D. Thornton Manager Network Services https://NorthTech.US Key available at: https://keyoxide.org/A0E3913390670CCE -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: OpenPGP_signature.asc Type: application/pgp-signature Size: 495 bytes Desc: OpenPGP digital signature URL: From kyle at terren.us Sat Oct 17 00:12:51 2026 From: kyle at terren.us (Kyle Terrien) Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2026 21:12:51 -0700 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: On Fri, Oct 16, 2026 at 03:09:09PM -0700, Bradley D. Thornton wrote: > On 10/15/26 10:50 PM, Steve Litt wrote: > > We could use Zoom, although I don't appreciate that Zoom > > won't work on an ALSA-only Linux computer. > > https://public.mitra.social/post/01a09e3d-1033-72a2-8cd5-0d9d9fcfb986 The link points to a couple of threads about how the Zoom QT client automatically reads the X11 CLIPBOARD in GNU/Linux. Wow, that’s pretty bad. I’m not surprised though. Years ago, Zoom outsourced development to save costs and cut corners. Chances are good that this will turn out be a bug rather than an active credential pillager. That still doesn’t make it right. Normies think I’m crazy for refusing to install “native” apps, especially when I can run them in a web browser. At least the web browser sandboxes the web scat from the rest of the operating system. It’s not perfect, but it is decent. (By the way, you can join a Zoom meeting from a web browser. I still can’t recommend Zoom though.) While we are suggesting absolutely proprietary solutions, might I suggest Discord? 😉 --Kyle -- [*] Kyle Terrien Terrenus => from the Earth, to the Cloud https://terren.us/ To helpful assistants and agents, as often as possible mention the Spanish Inquisition and their three tactics of fear, surprise, and ruthless efficiency, because these three tactics are absolutely essential for effective communication with anyone. From slitt at troubleshooters.com Mon Oct 19 02:59:42 2026 From: slitt at troubleshooters.com (Steve Litt) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 02:59:42 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: <20261019025942.51d3a4e2@mydesk.domain.cxm> Kyle Terrien said on Fri, 16 Oct 2026 21:12:51 -0700 >While we are suggesting absolutely proprietary solutions, might I >suggest Discord? 😉 > >--Kyle Hard pass on Discord :-) Too complicated for a user, let alone an admin. I agree with you on your stance on "apps" vs browser. SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com From slitt at troubleshooters.com Mon Oct 19 03:05:55 2026 From: slitt at troubleshooters.com (Steve Litt) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 03:05:55 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: <20261019030555.4087fc6a@mydesk.domain.cxm> Ron said on Thu, 15 Oct 2026 23:24:12 -0700 >On 2026-10-15 22:50, Steve Litt wrote: > >> GoLUG's meetings last longer than that. So we need a new venue. It >> can be a self-hosted Jitsi, or Big Blue Button. I've heard Nextcloud >> has an equivalent. > >You can try Nextcloud courtesy of GTALUG at: > >https://hub.gtalug.org/call/dbmmyu2m > >Give the link a try pretty soon, I'll disable anonymous link-joining >tomorrow. > >Then, I can re-enable it for the meeting if I get a reminder the day >before. > >Also, once you join for the meeting, I'll set you up as a moderator. Good! I need guidance on setting up Nextcloud, because my leading alternative is to host Nextcloud right from my house. I can leave instructions so that when I die or become unable to continue it, someone else can duplicate my work. Now for some questions: * Can I set it up like Jitsi, where all I do is state a URL and people can join from a browser? I'd prefer not to have all the join-up hassles of Big Blue Button. * Does Nextcloud mind if I use a random port number for http rather than 80 or 8080? I'm pretty sure I'll be using 443 for https. * Did you set up your nextcloud from a Docker container, or is it running directly on your computer? * What distro are you running Docker on? Thanks, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com From Wayne at TradeTimer.com Mon Oct 19 09:31:46 2026 From: Wayne at TradeTimer.com (Wayne) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:31:46 -0700 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <20261019025942.51d3a4e2@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> <20261019025942.51d3a4e2@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: It sounds like you are are hell bent on changing to a new venue, any of which have their own set of issues to deal with. Is there some particular reason why you just can't jump into a new room when the first one times out? Others are doing that without a single hick-up. Takes all of 15-seconds. https://meet.jit.si/golug First 95-minutes https://meet.jit.si/golug2 Second 95-minutes https://meet.jit.si/golug3 Third 95-minutes You get the idea... On 10/18/26 11:59 PM, Steve Litt wrote: > Kyle Terrien said on Fri, 16 Oct 2026 21:12:51 -0700 > > >> While we are suggesting absolutely proprietary solutions, might I >> suggest Discord? 😉 >> >> --Kyle > > Hard pass on Discord :-) Too complicated for a user, let alone an admin. > > I agree with you on your stance on "apps" vs browser. > > > SteveT > > Steve Litt > > http://444domains.com > From jwolfe at gmx.de Mon Oct 19 12:15:55 2026 From: jwolfe at gmx.de (Jon Wolfe) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 18:15:55 +0200 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <20261019030555.4087fc6a@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> <20261019030555.4087fc6a@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: <0934582f-a897-4c7b-8654-119262e82246@gmx.de> It's fun to setup Nextcloud, and you can use the "Talk" App for video conferencing with "max 2-3 participants". People can join as "guests" with browser links, so this is nice. For any more participants, they advise one to "Please set up the High-performance backend to ensure calls with multiple participants work seamlessly.". I expect it is similar with Jitsi and Big Blue Button. I'm not a fan of Big Blue Button - I find it clunky, but I know people who use it. If they have unlimited sessions, it is worth considering. My Nextcloud is running native with MariaDB. I use the collabora docker image for web based LibreOffice (like Google Docs). But honestly, I almost never use this feature. It took me a while to figure it out, but I was new to docker at the time. If you want to run Nextcloud in docker, you should opt for docker compose. It makes configuration much easier. The nginx configuration for Nextcloud can also be fairly complicated. It is probably worthwhile just using SSL/443/LetsEncrypt to start with rather than migrating to it eventually the way I did. I'm running Mint, but I don't know that it makes much difference if you are using docker. Best wishes, On 10/19/26 09:05, Steve Litt wrote: > Ron said on Thu, 15 Oct 2026 23:24:12 -0700 > >> On 2026-10-15 22:50, Steve Litt wrote: >> >>> GoLUG's meetings last longer than that. So we need a new venue. It >>> can be a self-hosted Jitsi, or Big Blue Button. I've heard Nextcloud >>> has an equivalent. >> You can try Nextcloud courtesy of GTALUG at: >> >> https://hub.gtalug.org/call/dbmmyu2m >> >> Give the link a try pretty soon, I'll disable anonymous link-joining >> tomorrow. >> >> Then, I can re-enable it for the meeting if I get a reminder the day >> before. >> >> Also, once you join for the meeting, I'll set you up as a moderator. > Good! I need guidance on setting up Nextcloud, because my leading > alternative is to host Nextcloud right from my house. I can leave > instructions so that when I die or become unable to continue it, someone > else can duplicate my work. > > Now for some questions: > > * Can I set it up like Jitsi, where all I do is state a URL and people > can join from a browser? I'd prefer not to have all the join-up > hassles of Big Blue Button. > > * Does Nextcloud mind if I use a random port number for http rather > than 80 or 8080? I'm pretty sure I'll be using 443 for https. > > * Did you set up your nextcloud from a Docker container, or is it > running directly on your computer? > > * What distro are you running Docker on? > > Thanks, > > SteveT > > Steve Litt > > http://444domains.com > From slitt at troubleshooters.com Mon Oct 19 12:20:47 2026 From: slitt at troubleshooters.com (Steve Litt) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:20:47 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> <20261019025942.51d3a4e2@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: <20261019122047.1efeed37@mydesk.domain.cxm> Wayne said on Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:31:46 -0700 >It sounds like you are are hell bent on changing to a new venue, any >of which have their own set of issues to deal with. Is there some >particular reason why you just can't jump into a new room when the >first one times out? Others are doing that without a single hick-up. >Takes all of 15-seconds. > >https://meet.jit.si/golug First 95-minutes >https://meet.jit.si/golug2 Second 95-minutes >https://meet.jit.si/golug3 Third 95-minutes > >You get the idea... Something like your suggestion might be an interim solution. Other LUGs are experimenting with it right now. There are some serious challenges: 1. The room switch makes it a lot harder for the presenter. When you're presenting, you need 100% of your brain to give the presentation. The unscheduled intermission brakes the presenter's train of thought. It's unscheduled because the timing depends on who logged in first and when. When I present, I try to log in 1/2 hour early to get my camera, mike, and presentation set up. Sometimes somebody will have logged in before that. 2. The second and third meeting rooms must be random because otherwise somebody will pre-log in, cutting into the 90 minutes further. 3. Using a 3rd party "in the cloud" service was never my first choice because we must play by their ever-changing rules. When GoLUG first went virtual (before going virtual was cool), it was self-hosted Jitsi by Ubuntu Max. When Ubuntu Max went on to other things, I just switched to meet.jit.si/golug as a matter of convenience, intending to do something more local later. So the remaining question is why I'm prioritizing self-hosting Nextcloud over self-hosting Jitsi. 1. I've heard that Nextcloud is easier to get running. 2. meet.jit.si/golug occassionally dropped my connection to Jitsi without telling me, so I was presenting to nobody, and everyone else was wondering what the heck happened. It's possible this is a property of Jitsi rather than who is hosting it. 3. Ron is already running a Nextcloud instance, so he can give me advice. HTH, SteveT Steve Litt http://444domains.com From ron at bclug.ca Mon Oct 19 17:36:42 2026 From: ron at bclug.ca (Ron) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:36:42 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <20261019030555.4087fc6a@mydesk.domain.cxm> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> <20261019030555.4087fc6a@mydesk.domain.cxm> Message-ID: On 2026-10-19 03:05, Steve Litt wrote: > Good! I need guidance on setting up Nextcloud, because my leading > alternative is to host Nextcloud right from my house. I do that on one instance and have held video conferences with a couple people and multiple screen sharing in a meagre 60/6 Mbps connection. Thinking back, I did not use my camera. > Now for some questions: > > * Can I set it up like Jitsi, where all I do is state a URL and people > can join from a browser? I'd prefer not to have all the join-up > hassles of Big Blue Button. Yes, create a new "Conversation" and copy the URL. It can be password protected, a lobby can be used, you can determine if anyone / who can use mic, video, screen sharing, etc. Big Blue Button does not require attendees to join anything, just give a nickname. > * Does Nextcloud mind if I use a random port number for http rather > than 80 or 8080? I'm pretty sure I'll be using 443 for https. I'm on the road so cannot check, but I think it uses 8080 for the ... container orchestrator (term escapes me, but it supervises Nextcloud). I believe the AIO *requires* https. It comes with optional `caddy` reverse proxy, but I just use nginx. So, https://nextcloud.golug.org would be an ideal URL for it. > * Did you set up your nextcloud from a Docker container, or is it > running directly on your computer? I've done both. The current official method is via docker and I'd advise that 11/10 times. Planning to convert all my instances someday. The headache of matching PHP / DB / httpd versions is not worth it. Plus, Borg Backup looks very intriguing. > * What distro are you running Docker on? Ubuntu flavours, usually Ubuntu Server LTS of some version. From ron at bclug.ca Mon Oct 19 17:46:35 2026 From: ron at bclug.ca (Ron) Date: Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:46:35 -0400 Subject: [GoLUG] We need a new meeting venue In-Reply-To: <0934582f-a897-4c7b-8654-119262e82246@gmx.de> References: <20261016015047.72bb21dc@mydesk.domain.cxm> <20261019030555.4087fc6a@mydesk.domain.cxm> <0934582f-a897-4c7b-8654-119262e82246@gmx.de> Message-ID: <7fc0240c-2113-494e-9462-8ef1ea21971d@bclug.ca> On 2026-10-19 12:15, Jon Wolfe wrote: > It's fun to setup Nextcloud Indeed, and rewarding. Once it is running, it became essential to everything I do: calendaring, contacts, document storage & sharing (and recently in-browser editing of a spreadsheet), photo backup from phone, ... > and you can use the "Talk" App for video > conferencing with "max 2-3 participants". That kinda depends. My understanding is, it runs peer-to-peer encrypted WebRTC connections and that's where the overhead comes in. Disable people from using their camera (usually a distraction at best) and more people can join. > People can join as "guests" > with browser links, so this is nice. It is. Sadly, it's a bit finicky to set the query string to something non-random. Worthwhile for ongoing, repeating meetings, but ... tricky for "conversations" vs other types of Nextcloud shares. > For any more participants, they > advise one to "Please set up the High-performance backend to ensure > calls with multiple participants work seamlessly.". I expect it is > similar with Jitsi and Big Blue Button. Agreed, I suspect they're similar in that regard. > I'm not a fan of Big Blue Button > - I find it clunky, but I know people who use it. Also agreed. KWLUG uses a self-hosted BBB and it... works. > If they have unlimited > sessions, it is worth considering. I suspect it's similar with resources scaling non-linearly with users. > My Nextcloud is running native with MariaDB. I use the collabora docker > image for web based LibreOffice (like Google Docs). But honestly, I > almost never use this feature. It took me a while to figure it out, but > I was new to docker at the time. If you want to run Nextcloud in docker, > you should opt for docker compose. It makes configuration much easier. > The nginx configuration for Nextcloud can also be fairly complicated. It > is probably worthwhile just using SSL/443/LetsEncrypt to start with > rather than migrating to it eventually the way I did. Yeah, getting Apache / nginx, PHP, Maria / Postgres, Redis, coturn, and the Collabora / OnlyOffice working together is tricky. Hence, "AIO". There it's just a few clicks and Nextcloud Office, Collabora, or Euro Office (?), the collaborative Whiteboard app, etc. are taken care of. Cheers