About the author

Hi, I am James Cherti, a Senior Software and Infrastructure Specialist based in Toronto, Canada. With over 21 years in the tech industry, I have had the privilege of working on everything from software development to managing complex UNIX/Linux systems and building scalable architectures. Beyond my professional roles, giving back to the open-source community is one of my favorite parts of being a software developer. I am an active open source contributor and maintain a diverse portfolio of projects on GitHub (@jamescherti)… (Read more about James Cherti)

⭐ Highlighted Articles

• Emacs: A Technical Guide to Compiling Emacs for Performance on Linux and Unix systems
• Emacs: Essential Packages for Efficient Software Development and Text Editing
• Emacs: The Definitive Guide to Code Folding
• Emacs: Efficient Emacs startup and configuration with minimal-emacs.d
• Emacs: Maintaining proper indentation in indentation-sensitive programming languages
• Emacs: Highlighting Codetags Like TODO, FIXME, BUG, NOTE…
• Emacs: Toggling symbol highlighting with unique colors for each symbol using built-in functions
• Emacs: Customizing the Ellipsis “…” in outline-mode and outline-minor-mode to Use a More Visually Appealing Indicator for Folded Sections, Such as ” ▼”
• UNIX/Linux: Creating and Restoring a Gzip Compressed Disk Image with dd on UNIX/Linux
• UNIX/Linux: Installing Debian onto a separate partition without using the Debian installer
• Bash shell: Interactive Menu to Insert any String from the Tmux Scrollback Buffer Into the Shell Prompt
• Gentoo Linux: Unlocking a LUKS Encrypted LVM Root Partition at Boot Time using a Key File stored on an External USB Drive
• Gentoo Linux: How to Speed Up emerge ‐‐sync
• Arch Linux: Preserving the kernel modules of the currently running kernel during and after an upgrade
• Vim: Tango color scheme for Vim’s built-in Terminal
• Running Large Language Models locally with Ollama (compatible with Linux, macOS, and Windows)
• Git: Enhancing Git configuration ~/.gitconfig for performance, efficiency, data integrity, and workflow automation
• Ansible: ansible-role-tuned, an Ansible role which configures tuned
• Ansible: Installing and configuring Gitolite using Ansible for secure Git repository management
• Ansible: ansible-role-auto-upgrade – An Ansible role that automates upgrading Linux operating systems
• Ansible: ansible-role-apt – An Ansible role that manages the APT configuration and updates the /etc/apt/sources.list for Debian and Ubuntu systems
• Ansible: Reintegrating /etc/rc.local in Linux systems that use Systemd as their init system
• Python: A tool to Execute a Command in a new Tmux Window

🖽 Recent articles

• git-rexec: Find Git Repositories and Execute Commands Against Them, either Sequentially or in Parallel
  by James Cherti
  The git-rexec command-line tool that recursively locates Git repositories within a directory and executes commands against them, either sequentially or in parallel… Continue reading →
• Ansible-Cleanup: A CLI tool to find and remove unused playbooks, tasks, and variables
  by James Cherti
  Ansible-cleanup provides a command line tool to find and remove unused playbooks, tasks, group variables, and host variables. It maintains a clean codebase by recursively scanning your Ansible repository and listing files that are safe to delete. Continue reading →
• A Shell Script that Configures the GNOME Desktop Programmatically
  by James Cherti
  Related posts: A Shell Script that Automates XFCE Desktop Configuration Installing Arch Linux onto a separate partition from an existing Debian-based distribution (Ubuntu, Debian, Linux Mint…), without using the Arch Linux installation media Ansible-role-flatpak, an Ansible Role that Installs and Configures Flatpak Linux: Setting the default GDM login monitor in a multi-monitor setup using GNOME display settings … Continue reading →
• A Shell Script that Automates XFCE Desktop Configuration
  by James Cherti
  The jc-xfce-settings project provides the jc-xfce-settings.sh script, which holds James Cherti’s settings to customize the XFCE desktop environment, including window management, notifications, desktop behavior, keyboard settings, and more, to enhance the user experience. (The jc-xfce-settings.sh script was created with the help of watch-xfce-xfconf) Continue reading →
• Ansible-role-flatpak, an Ansible Role that Installs and Configures Flatpak
  by James Cherti
  The ansible-role-flatpak Ansible role installs and configures Flatpak, adds Flathub as a remote repository, and optionally manages Flatpak packages and updates. This role supports specific Linux distributions: Debian-based, Gentoo, and Arch Linux. Continue reading →
• Disabling XML-RPC in WordPress for Security and Performance
  by James Cherti
  When deploying WordPress in a production environment, every enabled feature should be evaluated for its security and performance implications. By default, WordPress prioritizes backward compatibility, which often results in legacy protocols remaining active on every request. XML-RPC is a legacy API protocol that allows external applications to interact with a WordPress installation over HTTP. Long before the … Continue reading →
• A Technical Guide to Compiling Emacs for Performance on Linux and Unix systems
  by James Cherti
  Most Linux distributions ship generic binaries compiled to run safely on a vast array of older hardware configurations. While this ensures broad compatibility, it sacrifices the speed that comes from using the specific, modern instruction sets of your processor. Building Emacs directly from source allows instructing the compiler to generate machine code targeted at your CPU architecture, … Continue reading →
• How Breaking Windows 30 Years Ago Turned Me Into a Software Developer and Linux Professional
  by James Cherti
  Every technology professional has an origin story. Mine began in 1995, centered around a Packard Bell corner computer running Windows 95. This beige chassis dominating the desk instantly transports me back to the very beginning of my career. I do not just see outdated hardware; I feel a profound nostalgia for the quiet, uninterrupted hours I spent … Continue reading →
• Easily Toggle an Emacs Terminal with a Single Keystroke using shell-pop (Recently Refactored)
  by James Cherti
  The shell-pop Emacs package provides on-demand access to a terminal buffer via a single, configurable key binding. It allows toggling a terminal window without disrupting the workspace layout, making it a useful tool for quick command-line tasks. NOTE: Kazuo Yagi, the shell-pop original author, appointed me as a co-maintainer of shell-pop Emacs package. I recently refactored shell-pop … Continue reading →
• Fixing Aqara Smart Hub M3 High Volume System Crashes and Reboots
  by James Cherti
  After purchasing an Aqara Smart Hub M3 to manage my smart home ecosystem, I configured its security features, set the internal alarm volume to 100 percent, and armed the system by switching it to Away mode to test the built-in 95dB loudspeaker. The moment the alarm triggered, the hub completely crashed and rebooted. My initial thought was … Continue reading →

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