Control-Escape

How to Manage Dotfiles With Git (Best Practices Explained)

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 14:14:45 -0500

What are dotfiles and why manage them with git?

“Dotfiles” are configuration files for your user environment, typically stored in your home directory (~). They often start with a dot (.) to make them hidden by default in file listings. Examples include .bashrc, .zshrc, .gitconfig, and directories like .config/.

These files control the behavior of your shell, text editors, version control systems, and other applications. Because they define your working environment, having a consistent set of dotfiles across multiple machines can greatly enhance productivity.

Mastering Django Static Files for Production

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 12:15:00 -0500

One of the most challenging aspects of deploying Django applications to production is managing static files effectively. In this article, we will explore how to handle static files in Django using the built-in staticfiles app, third-party storage backends from django-storages, and best practices for serving static files in a production environment.

A Search Solution for Static Sites with Hugo and Pagefind

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 20:36:34 -0400

In 2025 I relaunched Control-Escape as a statically generated site built with Hugo. While pre-generated sites have many advantages, one of the drawbacks has traditionally been the difficulty of implementing a site search tool.

With no back end server process to conduct searches, an alternative approach must be used. One such approach is to run the search software in the user’s browser using JavaScript (shifted right). This requires building a search index at site build time (shifted left) and shipping that index as part of the site content.

7 Things Every Web Developer Must Know

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 25 Oct 2025 07:12:37 -0400

The web isn’t magic. It runs on a handful of simple, powerful ideas that every developer should understand — but too many skip them, trusting frameworks and libraries to handle the details.

That’s fine… until things break. Until your site slows down, your users can’t reach it, or your code becomes an unmaintainable mess.

This article is your roadmap back to the fundamentals. If you truly want to master web development — not just the flavor of the month — you must know these seven core technologies.

Installing Software on Linux

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 23 Aug 2025 10:52:56 -0400

One of the most difficult things to get used to in the Linux world is installing new software packages. In the world of Windows, every program comes with a Setup.exe program that asks you some very easy questions and takes care of the job for you. While Linux software can be almost that easy to install, you will sometimes find software that seems to fight every step of the way. I can't cover all the problems you might run into, but I'll try to give you the basics and a few pointers to help get you over the rough spots.

Docker First Impressions

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Docker has been around for many years now, and the ecosystem around “containers” has matured over that time. Unfortunately for me, I have not had the opportunity to work with the technology professionally, as my employers over that period have continued to use Virtual Machines for deployments. Now that I’m getting more serious about my side projects, though, it’s time for me to get into this area of technology. This article covers my first impressions after about a week of reading up and playing around.

Using uv to Manage Django Projects

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 18:23:34 -0400

uv is a tool from Astral.sh that helps you manage Python tools and development projects. For all the details you can read the docs, but here’s a quick lesson in what it can do and how it can help Python developers in the daily grind of developing Python software. We’ll walk through managing a hypothetical Django project.

Linux Command Line Basics

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 09:50:00 -0400

What is this "shell"?

The "shell" is another name for the command shell or command interpreter. This is the program that gives you a command prompt, accepts the commands you type there, and basically makes the computer do what you tell it to. In DOS the program that did this was command.com (unless you were a real technogeek and used 4dos or something). In Linux, the shell is the first program that starts when you log in, and it keeps running until you log out, waiting to do your bidding. Linux is able to use any of several different shells, but the default Linux shell is called bash and is the only one I will discuss.

Linux -- A Primer for the Impatient

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:49:22 -0400

If you’re coming to Linux from Windows and don’t want to slog through volumes of references and tutorials, this primer will get you started in just a short time. We’ll cover:

help commands to teach yourself just what you need
documentation sources for deeper dives
Basic similarities and differences between Windows and Linux
Command quick reference
How to shut down

Users and Groups

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:53:15 -0400

Linux puts a lot of power at your fingertips. That's the best reason to switch to Linux; it's also the most dangerous thing about the system. Linux controls how much power you can use on the computer based on your Login ID. It keeps a database of all users, and it keeps track of which user owns which files, and which users have permission to view, edit, and execute each file, folder or program. An ordinary user will not be able to do really dangerous things, like editing the user database, or deleting every file on the system.

Understanding Linux user permissions is crucial for managing a secure and efficient system. This article will delve into the essentials of Linux user and group permissions, covering key concepts and configurations.

Managing Linux Software with APT and dpkg

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 21:43:08 -0400

Managing software on a Linux system can seem daunting to newcomers, but tools like apt and dpkg make it straightforward and efficient. This tutorial will guide you through the basics of using apt and dpkg to manage software on Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu.

Django Settings: Three Things Conflated

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0400

If you work on a large Django project, there’s a good chance that you would describe your settings file as “a mess” (or perhaps you use harsher language). You may even have broken your settings out into a whole package with multiple files to try and keep things organized. We’re highly skilled and organized developers, how does this happen to us?

I believe part of the problem is that the “settings” bucket holds three different kinds of things without differentiating between them. If you make a clear distinction between these things in your own mind (and in your code), dealing with settings will become easier, if not easy.

Linux Training and Certification

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 22:27:10 -0400

⚠️ Warning

This page is outdated and is retained for historical purposes only.

Linux is an operating system ideal for self-study, since the source code and documentation are freely available. Sites like Control-Escape and the Linux Documentation Project are here to help new users learn for their own interests and at their own pace. However, many people find that they learn better in a more structured environment, prefer a guided study (perhaps because they don't have time to explore free-form), or want to further their career goals in addition to gaining some knowledge. Here is a collection of resources that can get you "officially" educated and even certified on Linux.

What is Linux?

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 17:58:24 -0400

Linux is Free/Libre Open Source Software. You can download a free copy of Linux and install it on your own computer. No password is required for access, and no registration is required after downloading. There are no "nag" screens begging you to pay for it. It is not crippled in any way, nor is it limited to any particular kind of use. You can use it at home, at school, in your business. You can install it as many times on as many computers as you like, and you can legally make copies of it and give them to friends and colleagues (or even sell copies if you wish).

A Little About The X Window System

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:16:21 -0400

⚠️ Warning

This page is outdated and is retained for historical purposes only.

Among other things, X provides programs with standard services to display themselves graphically. The concept of running graphical programs in a window should be familiar to everyone reading this. However, when you're in X, things will look a little strange. Your screen may look a lot like MS Windows, or nothing at all like it. Why?

Introducing The X Window System

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:16:21 -0400

⚠️ Warning

This page is outdated and is retained for historical purposes only.

The X Window System is the graphical interface for Linux (and I think every other variant of UNIX, too). A word of caution for users of MS Windows: unless you are looking for fight, don't ever call it "X Windows" around a UNIX person! Flame wars have raged for years over this. The proper term is "The X Window System." If you must shorten it, call it X11, or just X. They'll know what you mean. I will be using these terms interchangeably below.

Introducing WordPerfect 8 for Linux

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:16:21 -0400

⚠️ Warning

This page is outdated and is retained for historical purposes only.

ℹ️ Note

Corel no longer makes Wordperfect for Linux.

Networking Windows & Linux

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:13:56 -0400

Linux is able to access directories, files, and printers that are shared from MS Windows machines, and can act as a server for Windows clients, thanks to a software package called SaMBa. The latest version of SaMBa also allows Linux computers to participate in Windows NT domain-based networks.

SaMBa is an implementation of the SMB protocol, also called the NetBIOS or LanManager protocol. This is a networking protocol used by Windows. It ships with most of the major Linux distributions, and is available for many different operating systems.

Linux Installation, Step by Step

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:10:17 -0400

If you have come directly to this page hoping to install Linux without doing any more reading, I suggest that you reconsider. Without the proper knowledge and preparation, attempting to install any operating system (whether Linux or any other) can be a disaster. So before I launch into the resources for your step by step Linux installation, here are some things you should already have read:

Each Linux installation has its own setup utility, every one vastly different from all the others. This makes it very difficult if not impossible to write a step by step Linux installation manual. The closest thing in existence is the Linux Installation and Getting Started Guide, which should be included in HTML format with every Linux distribution, and is available online thanks to the Linux Documentation Project. This book contains a fairly good comparison of the major distributions and an outline of the installation process for each one. It also covers the basic technical concepts you need to understand during installation, and covers some issues of usability following your install. I highly recommend that new users at least skim through this book, and preferably absorb every word.

Configuring LILO, the Linux Loader

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 22:51:00 -0400

What is LILO?

LILO is the LInux LOader, the most popular boot loader for Linux. (For some background on boot loaders, see Choosing a Boot Loader) It is used to load Linux into memory and start the operating system. On a machine with multiple operating systems, LILO can be configured to boot the other systems as well.

Normally LILO is initially configured for you during the Linux installation process. However, you may find that default configuration is not correct, or you wish to customize it. And there may even come a time when you need to remove LILO from your computer. Here are some instructions that should help you on your quest.

Choosing a Boot Loader

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 21:57:51 -0400

Every operating system provides a tiny program called a boot loader whose job is to load the rest of the operating system into your computer's memory at boot time. It is typical of the Linux personality that it gives you a choice of boot loaders.

If you will be running Linux on a computer by itself, there is no need to read any further, you want to use LILO as your boot loader. You can skip ahead to the section about LILO. If you are planning for Linux to share your computer with Windows, DOS, or another operating system, your choice will involve a little more discrimination.

Partitions: Planning Your Linux Installation

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 18:18:16 -0400

This article will explain some of the terms involved with partitioning your hard drive, as well as some concepts you will need to understand before installing Linux, and will help you determine what partitions you need to create for Linux.

What is a partition?

Imagine your company is moving into a new building that is set up like a warehouse. There are no internal walls, it's just one big room for everybody to work in. Chances are, the first thing the boss is going to do is build himself an office (he wouldn't want to associate with you workers), so he'll have a partition set up, an internal wall to separate him from you. Next, each worker will get a cubicle in the big room with smaller partitions to separate you from the person next to you.

What is an Operating System?

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 10:51:23 -0400

Note: For the sake of clarity, many of these concepts have been over-simplified.

An operating system is a group of programs that help you operate your computer. It could be considered the "government" of your computer's internal society, the central program that tells the other programs what they may do and provides services they need. A computer might contain more than one operating system, but only one operating system at a time may be "in charge". The action of starting or loading the operating system is called "booting" the computer.

What is Free/Libre, Open Source Software?

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 10:03:10 -0400

In the simplest terms, open source software is software you can share. But it is more than just shareware. Open source means that the source code of the software is available to the users. To understand what this means, we'll need to take a little detour into how computer programs actually get made.

Managing Software with urpm

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:52:22 -0400

Mandriva's urpm ('User RPM') tackles several weaknesses of the lower-level rpm tool. It provides a system of automatically solving dependencies by offering to install or uninstall dependent packages. RPM only tells you which files are missing or which packages would be broken. It stores a full dependency set of any given location. RPM only stores data of locally installed packages. If configured, it fetches packages from the network upon installation, if they are newer than the packages on the installation media. It also allows easier and more extensive package queries, automated updates and more.

Adding File Systems to the Tree

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:51:53 -0400

To gain access to files on another device, you must first tell Linux where in the directory tree you would like those files to appear. This process is called mounting a file system. For example, you will frequently need to access files from CD-ROM. In order to do this, you must tell Linux, "Take the file system from this CD-ROM and make it appear under the directory /mnt." The directory given to Linux is called the mount point. In this case it is /mnt. The /mnt directory exists on all Linux systems, and it is intended specifically for use as a mount point for temporary media like floppy disks or CDROMs. It may be empty, or it may contain subdirectories for mounting individual devices.

The Linux (Virtual) File System

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:51:16 -0400

Probably the most important difference (from the user's perspective) between the DOS/Windows world and the Linux world is the organization and operation of the file system.

Some ideas will seem very familiar, and others will seem completely alien, but with a good understanding of the Linux file system, you have the skill to avoid some of the most common problems experienced by new Linux users.

Configuring Apache 2 on Debian, Ubuntu

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:50:22 -0400

The Debian distribution of Linux includes the Apache web server, both the venerable version 1 and the more modern version 2. The Debian maintainers have a peculiar way of arranging the configuration files for Apache 2.0 which is not documented in the standard Apache documentation. This introduction should help you get acclimated to the Debian way of configuring Apache 2.0.

Editing Files with Emacs

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:50:22 -0400

If you're going to use Linux, there simply is no avoiding emacs. You've probably heard of it, the powerful text editor that provokes wars between its devoted fans and fans of its more ancient but still omnipresent competitor vi. To those of us migrating to Linux from a more graphically oriented environment, both programs seem alien. You might think you can escape by using some other program, but you can't escape because every program you pick up tries to imitate emacs in some way.

Compiling Linux Software from Source Code

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:48:43 -0400

A computer program is a list of instructions given to a computer to make it perform a specific task or series of tasks. Computers do not understand English (we all wish that they did!), so programmers must communicate these instructions to the computer in a language the computer understands. Computers, however, can only operate on numbers, which makes a computer's language very difficult for humans to understand.

The solution to this problem is to create an intermediate language that both humans and computers can understand. These are called programming languages. Programmers create a list of instructions for the computer in a programming language such as C, Pascal, or Fortran. This list of instructions is known as “source code”. It is textual in nature, and readable to humans (who speak the language). Programmers do all their work in this source code, changing the instructions to fix bugs, add features, or alter the appearance of a program.

Managing Linux Software With yum and rpm

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:03:51 -0400

I have been planning to update this article to contain detailed information on configuring and using yum to manage Linux software. Sorry for the delay, but there are only so many hours in the day. For the moment, the best resource for learning about yum is the official documentation at Managing Software with yum. Meanwhile, here is some background on RPM, which is the technology underneath yum.

RPM is the Red Hat Package Manager. Red Hat invented the thing, so naturally you will find it in Red Hat Enterprise Linux as well as their less commercial Fedora distro. It is also supported by S.u.S.E. Software gets wrapped up into these RPM packages that you can download from the Internet. You use the rpm utility to install them, and it keeps track of version information and changes made by the install so the package can be uninstalled or upgraded later if you choose.

Where did the files go?

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:01:11 -0400

After you have installed your software, you may be left asking, Now what?

You are probably staring at a command prompt or a message saying your software package has been installed. But where did it go? How do you start the program? This is one of those mystical Linux moments when you realize that you are a fish and this is not the water you are used to.

If you are using a graphical desktop (KDE or Gnome), the good news is that your newly installed program probably also has a newly installed icon and entry in your programs menu. The bad news is that the menu is so large and poorly organized on most systems that you may not be able to find it.

Editing files with vi

vince@control-escape.com (Vince Veselosky) — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:18:06 -0500

The thing you have to understand about vi and its work-alike editors is modality. Most programs have just one mode, accepting input and placing it at the cursor. This is what you probably expect from a program. But vi has other modes. When you start vi, you'll be in "Normal" mode, which is really command mode. When you are in Normal mode, whatever you type is considered not to be input, but commands that vi will try to execute.