On using FOSS software at Cornell

For those who may be unfamiliar, FOSS stands for "Free and Open Source Software".

Personally, I think it's better to use FOSS when you can and it does not hinder your usability or productivity too much. My approach is to gradually introduce more FOSS into my life and not be immediately radical.

Connecting to Cornell VPN

For students who may need to use the Cornell VPN to work off-campus, I recommend trying out openconnect instead of Cornell's recommended Cisco AnyConnect, which is proprietary.

I can describe some instructions on how to use on Mac and Linux, as that's what I have experience with, but I cannot confirm it works on Windows.

First, install openconnect with something like brew install opeconnect.

Then to connect, run it with sudo. I would run:

sudo openconnect cuvpn.cuvpn.cornell.edu

It should then prompt you for username and password. IT WILL ASK FOR YOUR PASSWORD TWICE. Make sure you:

  1. enter your netid for username
  2. enter your Cornell account's password for the first password prompt
  3. enter "push" for the second password prompt

Your Duo mobile should then receive a push, and you should be able to connect!

Notice: If you move around and connect to different WiFi, make sure you disconnect your openconnect instance.

External resources