Monthly Archives: October 2006

Creating an Ubuntu repository mirror with apt-mirror

By | Published: October 24, 2006
apt-mirror is a handy tool for creating a replica (or 'mirror' if you will) of a Debian archive. This can be useful in a number of circumstances if you want to maintain your own archive. Having your own up to date archive means you have fast access to every package in the distro very quickly. Maybe you need it for installing a Debian-based distro onto lots of machines on a LAN. For example a system builder who installs Linux on many new computers and wants to improve the speed at which the systems are updated after a clean install. There are of course other tools that can achieve this including apt-catcher, apt-proxy and squid. These are in fact arguably better than the apt-mirror approach. But this is more fun :)
Posted in Advocacy, Linux, Ubuntu | 15 Comments

Ad-Hoc Palm TX Hotsync to Linux

By | Published: October 13, 2006
As previously mentioned I recently bought myself a Palm TX PDA. One of the important factors for me when choosing this PDA was the ability to HotSync to my Linux desktop and/or laptop. Using the gpilotd daemon and the GNOME Pilot Applet this is pretty easy. I have a wireless access point at home and therefore thought it would be nice to HotSync the Palm to my desktop over WiFi, rather than plug in a cable. The process of HotSyncing over wireless is pleasantly simple. My desktop has a fixed IP address (which is dished out by a DHCP server, but it always gets this address because the DHCP server knows the desktop MAC address). The Palm can be configured to obtain an IP address via DHCP or it can be given a static IP. I read the MAC address of the label on the back of my Palm and fed it to my DHCP server so that it would dish out a static IP to the PDA when it appears on the wireless LAN.
Posted in Linux, Palm, Ubuntu | 4 Comments

Some people are free software nuts.

By | Published: October 11, 2006
Whereas I'm just a little fruity. What I mean is there are those people who believe all software should be free, and that under no circumstances should one use non-free software for any reason whatsoever. Whilst in some ways that's an admirable position to hold, never using any software or hardware where the source code is not entirely free. Where "free" in this case means 'free to use, modify and re-distribute without any restriction'. Most software for the Linux platform that I choose to use on my desktop and laptop is free, so falls into this category. I am able to look at the source, modify it and redistribute that software. There are many devices and services that I use however that are non-free.
Posted in Advocacy, Linux | 3 Comments

That would be a power cable

By | Published: October 9, 2006
But no data loss! \o/ Linux
We are having our garden re-done. Nothing major, but we decided to get a local company in to do it. They're good guys but due to a minor miscommunication they managed to chew through the power line to the garage. What you see in the picture is the cable and the device that chewed it nearby. This caused all the power in the house and garage to short out and all my (no UPS) computers (except the laptops ;) ) to shutdown instantaneously.
Posted in Fun, Linux | 1 Comment

Clueless web designers are indeed everywhere

By | Published: October 7, 2006
After seeing Martin Brooks rant follwed by Rev. Simon Rumble detail issues he'd had with an online timesheet it reminded me of an experience I had. I recently finished a contract at a UK retail company. They have quite a number of consultants on site and use agencies to manage some aspects of paying and accounting for them. Spring have a company services page where consultants like myself can upload our timesheets. Luckily we don't have to go through the hoops that Simon detailed in his blog post, but the site is still shockingly badly written.
Posted in Rant | 2 Comments