Praise the Mobile Portability

Where in the technologies world the ability to store data and applications meets the possibility to use them just anywhere? The mobile disk devices of course. And when it comes to have one on an affordable price the first thing one can think of is the USB memory device.
They are produced in many shapes from many vendors and fast become bigger and bigger in storage space.
What's more important and interesting than what USB disks are is how can they be used.
Well just take a look at some sites: Pegtop, PortablePython or PortableApps.
Especially the last one! It is a big one - an enormous impact on the world of mobile applications and the idea of carrying your digital personality with you everywhere. Even right now I'm writing this post using the portable version of Firefox (provided by PortableApps) while browsing the net. It is not just a set of solutions, it is a Platform.

The Applications Set
So if you decide to try it don't hesitate but download one of the three versions of the PortableApps suite. The menu is wonderful. It looks a bit familiar, because resembles the Windows' start menu (only placed on the right side of the screen). It also minimizes to the system tray where from it is accessible with a single click. One of the most useful features is its monitor of the free space available on the portable drive.
The applications available on the site are divided into categories and range from games and accessibility aids to "on the fly" development tools.

Development
Mentioning the latter group, the PHP web developers are given access to the robust solution XAMPP, which incorporates a database server (MySQL made portable - nice!), the programming language PHP (there is also an option to code in Perl) and the most popular free web server - Apache.
I'll leave the interesting tale of how to make some other development tools portable for another post, but I can not miss to mention the fine PortablePython platform, which includes the quite serious django web framework.
It is also possible for you to manage your projects if you are a C/C++|Java|Ruby developer - the powerful IDEs like NetBeans and eclipse are very easily made portable, and even accessible from the PA menu.

Extending beyond the PortableApps
Not only additional development tools can be added to the PA Suite, but any EXEcutable can be ported to the PA menu. You'll just have to place it properly on the USB drive - in the 'PortableApps' directory make another one for the application you will be accessing from the PA menu. Place your executable (and its supporting files - configurations, libraries, etc.) into that folder and you're almost done. Open the menu from the tray. From options choose 'Refresh App Icons' and an icon of your application should appear in the list on the left.
There are some drawbacks:

• the *.exe file should be placed exactly into the newly created directory and nowhere else (shortcuts won't work);
• and what's worse if there are other executables in the folder that you don't want to use (like uninstall.exe) they will show up in the menu. It looks ugly. So if you don't want them, you'll have to move them in a subfolder.

In my opinion such flaws are not so relevant. After all the PortableApps Suite is pretty self standardized and full of tools (just take a look at the bunch of apps available on their site - few things are missing and in time the list grows bigger). That's why it is so easy to make a regular (and not strictly tied to Windows internal libraries) application a portable one, available in the menu. It is enough to mimic the directory structure of the other portables. And if you're eager to investigate and experiment, you may also try some additional configurations (anything beyond that makes you a PortableApps.com Developer, right?).
In the near past I collected these little apps that work anywhere you place them and rarely are more than just an executable. These were small (mostly less than a MegaByte) and useful and sometimes very easy to lose them in the file system. Now finally they all found a home. And that home is everywhere where Windows lives.

Some portability beyond Windows
Well all this beauty cannot be accessed in Linux. Right?
Think again! I've used the PA Menu in Ubuntu Linux (with WINE installed of course). It is not as pretty as in the original case but it is useful after all. I haven't tried all the applications but at least the OpenOffice works :D Using the OpenOffice application from the PortableApps in Ubuntu or other Linux (if the distro comes with it) is generally stupid idea when you can use it natively - at least the performance will be better. But as long as portability is concerned, this is pretty much an achievement.
That's one of the aspects - even on Linux with WINE most of your portable Windows executables are useful.
The other aspect - did we all forget about JAVA? Yes, the predecessor of all this hype. The binaries that were expected to run even on toasters.
The thing is that the JAVA applications can not be ported in the PA Menu (at least not when there is no executable responsible for starting the JAR files). So what? They can be used after all. All the requirement is to have an appropriate JAVA Runtime Environment (or JRE) somewhere on the system. But wait! Although JAVA is very wide spread these days that doesn't make it omnipresent. And even if you find it on every system you poke your drive, how can you be sure that the version available will suffice? The answer to these questions is very simple - make your JAVA portable ;) Actually I made my USB drive a development environment for JAVA - I can execute, but also I can develop JAVA programs directly from the drive. That is very easy and is explained in some more details here.
And when we talk about JAVA the word everywhere is closest to the truth. On Linux and Windows I've used my "jarred" tools the same manner and they behave the same way.

So in this world of flexibility and unlimited possibilities for using applications and data all I can say is: Praise the portability and observe the horizon for the next generation.

За колегите: Упражнявайте базите данни!

Здравейте, на нашата "голяма" Група!

В чекмеджето на нашата обща пощенска кутия (softuerni_07@вие.знаете.къде) днес сложих едно архивче. Целта му е да улесни всички при упражненията по бази данни.
Работата е там, че ни преподават основите на езика SQL чрез MS-SQL сървър. Само инсталацията на това чудовище е около едно CD, да не говорим колко пространство ще заеме на твърдия диск. Е, нужно ли е да използваш балистична ракета за да убиеш комар? (Аналогията не е много добра, защото всъщност езика SQL е по-голямото и значимо нещо отколкото иснтрумента, в който се използва. Но това е друга тема.) Тогава как да си помогнем за упражненията? Как да започнем с изучаването на един от най-лесните, приятни и мощни езици? Тук ще дам три връзки, които предоставят само едно първоначално насочване:

1. SQLite - проектът. Сайтът на една наистина оригинална и все по-популярна идея.
2. SQLite в Wikipedia - нещата обяснени малко по-подробно.
3. SQL в W3Schools - едно много достъпно входно ниво за езика, с реална възможност за изпробване на наученото онлайн.

Що се отнася до файловете в архива:

1. sqlite3.exe - тази самостоятелна програмка е напълно достатъчна за да си направите и редактирате база данни от командната линия (DOS Prompt). Ако все пак не обичате черния екран с мигащата чертичка, можете да използвате другата програмка
2. SQLiteSpy.exe - това е графичната обвивка на горната програма - един малък, но достатъчно добър редактор, в който бързо се създават обектите на базата данни и се пишат заявките. Да, така е - всичко става много по-лесно, когато е визуално ориентирано.
3. SQLiteSpy.db3 и World.db3 - съотвтно пък са две примерни бази от данни. Да, тук базата данни е един единствен файл в *.db3 формат (от 3-та версия на SQLite).

По-простичко трудно би могло да бъде, особено като се има предвид, че SQLite покрива минимум CRUD принципа (какво представлява той можете да разберете отново от Wikipedia) заложен в SQL стандарта. Накратко казано този принцип е свързан с базовите операции, които използваме при работата си с обектите на базата данни:

• Create - това са операциите свързани със създаване на обекти и записи от данни (CREATE, INSERT).
• Read или Retrieve се отнася до операциите за извличане на данни (SELECT, JOIN, UNION).
• Update е свързан с операциите за обновяване на съществуващите данни в базата (ALTER, UPDATE).
• Delete има отношение към изтриването на обекти и данни (DROP, DELETE).

Тук не е включена само функционалността за възстановяване и конкурентен достъп до данните (чрез COMMIT / ROLLBACK блокове), но това са по-скоро допълнителни екстри на сървърите и се отнасят за групово изпълнение на останалите опреции по извличане и модификации на данни и обекти.
Надявам се, че SQLite ще ви е от полза при изучаването на базите от данни.

Lets speak some more Linux: Ubuntu-server

This post should be called: Ubuntu 7.10 Server edition or the struggle of a newbie with the console.

So the main question is - how to make things happen?

If you have less than moderate experience with the terminal it might be quite a test. And I would almost make a mistake - at first I panicked and took a wrong path but first things first...


Installing the server edition of the fine Ubuntu system is not much different from the variant with the alternate cd. You have this text mode installer, which asks you almost the same things. Almost. Lets point some situations:

* In the first place I shouldn't let it configure the network through the DHCP. Not a problem - fixable situation but cost me time to figure it out for I'm almost completely unfamiliar with the networking and stuff (ashamed).

* In the second place - the big advantage of the server edition is that it asks you to choose from and installs for you

• DNS server - lets you provide and use the DNS (Domain Name System) service.
• LAMP server - tool-chain for web developers, including Apache Web server, MySQL database server and PHP/Perl/Python programming languages, all these tuned for Linux.
• Mail Server - managing electronic mail is always useful.
• OpenSSH server - the free distribution of the server, which manages secure shell connections.
• PostgreSQL Server - powerful and robust object-relational database server.
• Print Server - manages the printers in the office and the jobs assigned to them.
• Samba file server - this one lets you have a seamless local network and file-sharing system along with Windows machines.

with just one after you've made your mind.
CAUTION! - at this version (7.10 - the Gutsy Gibbon) just skip the mail server. Installing it cost me reinstalling the system - after rebooting the new system, you end up sudo-less, which in Ubuntu means you have no eyes, you have no ears and you definitely have no fingers. This is a situation where you basically have only around two toes on the left foot. That's all. And if you can manage the whole system this way you must be quite a guru.

* I wont address here the issue of partitioning the hard drives (especially when speaking for software RAID), because it is an enormous and quite different subject (in my case the partitioning was already done and I just formatted the available partitions).

* If you're connected to Internet the ATP will want to configure itself. This process may substantially slow down at 40%, 60% or 80% or just take forever. I had once the last case - on the next morning I should start the installation again. Somewhere in the Ubuntu forums someone said it happens sometimes. An easy work-around is if you just unplug the PC from the network, so you'll just let the APT will configure itself later.

After installing the specialized servers (remember! NO Mail Server in Gutsy!) it is almost done. If there are no glitches and delays the whole installation may take around twenty minutes. Cool! :)

There. After the reboot you're already there - at your shiny terminal. Don't forget that in Ubuntu you have up to seven virtual terminals (accessible by pressing Ctrl-Alt + F1 to F7).
So what's first?
For a moment I didn't know what to do. But there are things that must be done: check your network for example

Getting to know the console of your distro is like slowly and inevitably falling in love. Its like raising a child (not that I have one but you know what I mean).

....

And the lost path of thoughts made this post unproperly finished. But as long as this whole blog is some sort of a draft I publish it in such state. If questioned, answeres will be sought and eventually provided.

Честит Рожден Ден!

Днес моят много-уважаван колега, Тошко достигна Христовата възраст! Айде, живот и здраве и като утроиш тези две тройки да се радваш на много правнуци ;)

И купонът си е купон, но работата си е работа и за това трябва да се захващам със следващия пост...

Много здраве и голяма веселба!

In Memorium: Heath Ledger

Една звезда угасна преди да достигнала най-големия си блясък!
Heath Ledger почина. Това как е станало не е от толкова голямо значение, колкото факта, че няма повече да ни радва с таланта си от екрана. Защото той беше наистина един много обещаващ актьор. Това личеше дори и в забавните му роли от "10 неща, които мразя в теб" и "Като рицарите". Дори противоречивия Холивуд забеляза наистина сериозното му превъплъщение за "Планианта Броукбек".
Аз да си призная съм голям BATMAN почитател и страшно се зарадвах, когато разбрах, кой ще играе ролята на Джокера в "The Dark Night" (отново на интересния Кристофър Нолан), бях много силно заинтригуван - определено очаквам вълнуващо изпълнение.
Това за съжаление е последния филм нa Heath.
А още нямаше 30.
Почивай в мир Heath и дано поне Господ се радва на играта ти там горе!

Lets speak some Linux: How to make an alias of a command

The first thing to mention is that almost all of my Linux experience comes from the realm of Ubuntu. This is very nice system. It appeared little strange to me the first time, because my first Linux was SuSE 9.3 ... but I'm gettin' off the topic (it's gonna be chaos I told you). About distributions I'll talk later.

So. Ubuntu. No root password, still nifty super-user access.
Now the aliases. Simply put the alias is just a Linux command. It is a way to define a replacement for other Linux command. Generally one uses it to ease their lives by replacing a more complex command (with usually a big set of parameters) with a much shorter representation.
If you google for the 'alias linux' a lots of nice and detailed resources will come up.
Nevertheless in a nutshell my comprehension of the subject - there are two basic ways for defining an alias:

* In a file. When logged in Ubuntu as a regular user in your environment (e.g. your user's home directory) there is a hidden file called .bashrc. This is a configuration file for your bash shell, so everything defined here applies to the terminal window you use with your account (if you sudo for example, the scope will change, and different configuration is applied). If you scroll down the file to line around 60-70 you will stumble upon lines which define some quick aliases. These are just simple examples but you can get the point. The syntax is:

$ alias alias_name='regular_linux_commad -with -options'
or just
$ alias ecl='/home/user/eclipse/eclipse'
if I want to run my eclipse IDE from the command line the fast way.

* On the console or inline. That's the quicker way - you just issue the command and the shell remembers it. Quicker but dirtier because the shell remembers your alias only for the current session. So if you want your alias to last for good (or at least for the lifetime of your Linux distribution or /home partition) after being defined only once, you'd better use the first way.
A thing about the above example - in aliases where you specify a path on a partition might appear traitorous, especially if you write relative paths in your alias - they become dependent on where you are at the moment. So if you ever use path in an alias, just make it absolute. Avoid the relative ones.
To summarize - the alias command defines aliases to complex commands and it's purpose is to simplify your experience with the shell. Put in other way the alias might be thought of as one-line shell script. That's a funny approach :D

That's for now. See you ;)

Честит Рожден Ден!

Днес баща ми има рожден ден (61). Честито, тате! Да си ми жив и много здрав още по две!

Може би тук е момента да ти кажа, колко много те обичам и че осъзнавам какво ти е било през последните шантави години. Всички преминахме през трудни периоди, но малко неща могат да се сравнят с това света ти внезапно да се преобърне с главата надолу.

За сега толкова. Темата ще е с продължение...