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It wasn't long ago that I decided to ditch my Ubuntu-based distros for openSUSE, finding LEAP 15 to be a steadier, more rock-solid flavor of Linux for my daily driver. The trouble is, I hadn't yet been introduced to Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), and that sound you hear is my heels clicking with joy.
LMDE 6 with the Cinnamon desktop.
I have a confession to make. As a software developer, I never thought much about security. It was about as important to me as the daily weather on Pluto. Admittedly, my work was mostly deployed in lab environments, but I never did much to look for CVEs, attack paths, and other security vulnerabilities.
As a developer, I made some presumptions:
I've been using different flavors of Ubuntu for years, including its upstream parent, Debian, and derivatives like Linux Mint, but the more-recent additions like the Snap package tool and the flakiness of Network Manager led me to make the switch once and for all. It's been a great move.
Though I have a Macbook for work, I've preferred Linux over Windows and macOS for my daily driver for the past 10 years. I do a mix of coding, writing, system testing, and a wide range of activities that make Linux fast and easy. When I need tools like VScode, bridge utilities for advanced network configurations, video-editing software, and plain old email, Linux is fast and comfortable.
When I was recently in the market for a desk, a popular app led me to a nice used one nearby and a new friendship with its previous owner, a recent college grad working in the tech industry who knew little to nothing about Linux.
Not that he wasn’t curious or alone. I’ve met many enthusiastic young tech workers like him over the years, most with degrees from major universities like his in North Carolina, who emerged with nothing but Windows experience. It’s not that Windows is bad, it’s just that today’s modern world is powered by Linux and companies are hungry for tech workers who understand it.
In this blog post, you’ll take a look at some practices that can help you get a running start with your Chef automation and the principle of Policy as Code. It’s intended for any IT professional or Chef newcomer.
This post is designed to be beginner-friendly. You don’t need any coding experience to follow along — just an interest in automation, and curiosity about how best to implement it with Chef. That said, let’s define some terms before we dive in:
In announcing the now-complete $1.2 billion megamerger between McAfee and FireEye last week, CEO Bryan Palma slipped in the comment that the way forward with security and modern system management is automation, saying,
"There's just no way that people can keep up, and we're seeing that. We've got nation-states now involved in making attacks, and that's very concerning because they obviously have very strong capabilities."