I’ve enrolled in Varmints University to learn compute. success very-smart

I haven’t used Windows as my primary OS in ten years. My professor wants to expose us to Linux. Cool.

The class is to submit assignments to the department’s Linux server, and remotely run a few commands on it.

Cool. I use rsync and ssh every day (the instructions involve Windows utilities like PuTTY and FileZilla, but whatever).

A VPN connection is required to connect to the department’s Linux server.

Cool. I use OpenVPN every day. Just give me the config details, chief!

Not so fast. A proprietary 2FA utility is required to connect to the uni VPN, and the IT department informed me by email that it runs on Windows and Mac only. ohnoes

So now, what would be the simplest part of this class is the most fucking complicated. Instead of just using my terminal, I have to have had to:

  1. Install VirtualBox
  2. Create a Windoze 11 VM
  3. Create a Microsoft account
  4. Install the 2FA utility on VM
  5. Install cygwin Linux utilities on VM
  6. Install rsync and ssh modules on Cygwin

Just to have a Linux terminal that does what this class requires! meow-tableflip

  • Blakey [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    12·
    6 days ago

    There’s no way to just use university computing resources to do the things that require a windows install? I didn’t even own a computer for the first couple of years of my degree (20/21) and just used the resources at school, but my degree is in biology so obviously not quite the same;)