Useful Byobu Commands

Using the terminal in Linux is a must, but sometimes it is a little restricting (especially when logged in over an SSH session). Screen has been a longtime solution for these limitations, providing a terminal user some simple commands to switch among terminal sessions and easily keep sessions running in the background, but recently I have been using Byobu instead. Byobu is built on Screen as well as another solution called tmux.

Purging old kernels to make room on /boot

I've installed Linux on lots of laptops and desktops by now, and like most people I succumbed to the desire to make some custom decisions on how the system should be configured. One of the most basic decisions is the layout of the system across multiple partitions. There are some technical advantages to having a separate /boot partition, but (especially with Ubuntu, which is what I use) the /boot partition eventually fills up with old kernels and you are unable to perform the standard software updates because the drive doesn't have enough free space. There are a number of recommended ways to clear out these old kernels, but most involve lots of scripting or command line magic. Oddly, there is not a one-button solution within the software updater, where it would be incredibly convenient. But there is a simple command from the bikeshed package to handle this problem.

Using DB2 from Python

I have been searching on and off for several years to try and find a simple way to use Python for DB2 queries. Connecting to DB2 from Java is fairly simple--or at least straightforward, because nothing in Java is really that simple--but I have had trouble finding the information and steps for actually making Python speak to DB2. I have finally found the right combination of ingredients for the sauce, though, and it turns out to be extremely simple.