Author: Bobby Rockers

Smart SUSE

Any of you who have started using OpenSuse regularly, are probably familiar with the SMART package manager. SMART is very similar to apt and yum (thankfully it closer to apt in both speed and intelligence.) The SMART link above points to a susewiki article telling you how to install and configure SMART. Suse uses yast (great for system configuration but god awful for package management) and as such it takes some work to get SMART running. The article is fairly straightforward; so I decided to make it easier to do by creating a shell script to do the work for you.

smart_install.sh simply needs to be downloaded, made executable (chmod 755 install_script.sh), and run from the command line as root (su -c ./smart_install.sh). Answer yes to any questions and your done. Here is what you will get: a working SMART setup, the default package repositories, a KDE service menu for any RPM packages, a system tray applet to monitor for package updates, and a working SMART GUI for installing new applications.

Currently the script works for Suse 10.2 on 64bit and 32bit systems. I will add more Suse versions if there seems to be interest.

Drink Up

I have added a section to VAULT Stuff. My wife and I like wine, but we have a tendancy to forget which ones we like and which ones we have had. I started using a program called Tellico to manage collection lists. One of the options it has is to generate reports and because KDE is network transparent (it saves files over ftp, ssh, smb, nfs, etc.. as if they were local) I can automatically save these reports to the website. Hope someone finds these useful… but if you don’t, I do.

Link Rhapsody

Here is a dump of my home computers bookmark folder.

  • Version Control with Subversion — The subversion… ahhh.. version… of the now infamous CVS bible “Open Source Development with CVS“. Sure to be a classic as well.
  • Writing Shell Scripts — A really handy online guide to writing bash scripts. Topics include command usage, programming, flow control, input/output, etc..
  • University Podcast Collection — a listing of all the free podcasts from major universities. Presented by Open Culture. Might as well get smarter while listening to your iPod.
  • 55 CSS Techniques — a great list of useful css tools for web development. Rounded corners, drop shadows, and no-image tabs; just to name a few
  • DTI Data — The industry leader for data recovery. No cheap, but easily the best. They also provide a couple limited free tools for personal data recovery. Don’t ask why I needed to post this link.
  • 99 Lisp Programs –because Lisp is so cool and examples are the best way to learn. Great for developers with no Lisp experience.
  • Web Pages that Suck — a list of the most common web design mistakes.
  • 202OK — Several thousand online books. Split out by subject.

Cleaning Up the Bookmarks Folder

Just a couple links for the day:

  • Linux Security Tools — is a list of some of the best security tools for Linux. The article also includes information on how to use the tools.
  • NRA-ILA FBI Study Results — breakdown of gun deaths, gun ownership, and the results of concealed weapons laws by the FBI for 2005. Reference material for gun control discussions.
  • 10 Steps to Security — article that breaks down how to perform your own security audit.
  • Subversion Manual — Red Been has the definitive guide to using, configuring, and managing Subversion, the VCS replacement for CVS.
  • Suse Server Configuration — A step by step tutorial on getting a functioning Suse Linux server running. When completed you should have MySQL, Apache, POP/IMAP, DNS, an FTP server, Webalizer, and more. In fact the system should be able to install a web-hosting control panel interface (i.e. cpanel or ISPConfig.)
  • SLES SDK Images — One of the HUGE complaints I have had about Suse Enterprise Linux is the lack of developers tools. Well, evidently Novell provides additional development tools via an “extra” DVD. It includes some other minor software packages like subversion, mod_Perl, and MySQL 5. Why this wasn’t shipped with the box (or for that matter even mentioned in the software documentation) will never be known, but it has proven useful.

At Least C# isn’t a copy of anything

Someone at Reddit posted this wonderful list of innovative Microsoft products.  When most people make positive comments about the software giant, they generally say things like “sure they are a monopoly but think of all the great technology they have created.”  While I have a great deal of respect for the company that Microsoft is, it is important to realize that, much like Dell, they almost NEVER creates innovative new technology.  In the last 5 years (post dot.com bust) computer start-ups and open source advocates have done more to advance cutting-edge information technology than Microsoft has done during the entire course of their existence.  This doesn’t make Microsoft a good company; it doesn’t make them a bad company.  It is just a fact of history.

Suse RPM #2

Quick link that I meant to post a long time ago.  Seemed relevant for some reason.

Suse has NOT made me happy lately.  I built my first Suse box at the new job, and then (not a day later) they go and make this agreement with Microsoft.  Why is it that Novell can never seem to learn from the failures in it’s own history, or the results of dealing with Microsoft in Linux’s history, OR the effects of this kind of deal in Microsoft’s history.  I need a new distribution.

It is finally done

So I finally finished Ulysses. I have been poking at it for the better part of 18 months; the longest time I have ever spent reading a single book. It’s not simply that it is an intellectually challenging book, but the book itself is something like a garden path sentence in that reading it straight through causes you to miss much of the underlying meaning.

Ulysses holds another distinction for me; it is the first book I have ever read the cliff notes for. I purchased the cliff notes because I desired to have a dialog about what I was reading. The cliff notes didn’t allow for the give-take of discussion but they did provide an additional view of some of the symbolism in the book.

So, what is my recommendation? I will never read the book again; but I am keeping my copy as it is an amazingly quotable book. I would NOT recommend it to most people but if 1) you enjoy total literary immersion and 2) you have a group of like-minded piers to discuss it with; then it could be an interesting cognitive exercise.

Overall, Ulysses is something of a mixed bag. Like puberty, I am glad I did it; but I wouldn’t want to have to do it again.