Proven Corporation

Here is how to make a very simple web server with a very simple shell script on a GNU or Unix system such as OS X. I have found it to be ideal for quick tests and debugging sessions with AJAX code and tools like Python’s urllib2.

The idea is to run an infinite loop which calls socat to return static files to the browser.

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I love using EC2 for experimenting with software, which has included CouchDB recently. Slowly, I established a good procedure for running the Subversion HEAD on an EC2 Ubuntu 8.10 instance. So, I went ahead and posted it to the project’s wiki. If you have a spare $0.10 and want to take CouchDB for a spin without any hassle, check it out:

CouchDB: Getting started on Amazon EC2.

For several years, my policy about obtaining computing hardware in Thailand was simple: avoid domestic vendors completely. Being dependent upon the domestic Thai service industry and supply chain is both more costly and less predictable than simply ordering everything from overseas. While this policy is quite prudent, I am very happy to say that I have discovered an exception to this rule: a shop called Protocol over in the IT Mall in Fortune Tower (4th floor, 4P41 to be exact).

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Time was, when you wanted to experiment or test something on Ubuntu, you needed a fresh install (best-case—a snapshotted virtual system). Nowadays, I myself prefer the convenience and negligible cost of simply firing up an Alestic community machine images. Once I’ve completed my work (perhaps pushing changes to a remote Git repository), I simply terminate the instance and call it a day.

Here is a comprehensive procedure detailing exactly the steps required to get an Ubuntu desktop running in a few minutes’ time. The tools used are Elasticfox to manage EC2, NoMachine’s NX client for remote login, and command-line SSH for odds and ends.

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I am pleased to announce that Proven Corporation is now offering a new service for the software development ecosystem: Unix and Linux packaging professional services.

Is your team nearing completion of a Solaris, Linux, BSD, or cross-platform application? Have you formed a plan for distributing your software to your users in the smoothest way possible? Which distributions should you support, and on which architectures? Will your app need to integrate with system activities such as booting, logging, SMF, DBus, Network Manager, or GNOME/KDE/CDE sessions? What is the technical relationship between your software and open source software on the system? What is your strategy for supporting new Linux distributions (Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE release about twice per year)?

These are the questions which we solve for our customers.

More announcements are to follow, including case studies and upcoming free seminars in the Southeast Asia region.

I am pleased to announce the release of App Engine Console version 1.0beta3. Please see http://con.appspot.com/ for demos, documentation, and downloads.

App Engine Console is an interactive Python session running in the server, which you use from a web browser. Designed to be embedded within App Engine projects, the console assists developers with testing and debugging their code and data in both development and production settings.

New changes to App Engine Console:

• Support the SDK version 1.1.8
• Full support for Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Internet Explorer browsers
• Several bug fixes and unit tests

Thanks very much to everybody who has emailed me with bug reports, comments, and other feedback. Future plans for App Engine Console include persistent sessions, simultaneous sessions (i.e. “copiloting”), and autocompletion; and I am eager to hear ideas from other App Engine developers.

We have a new addition to the software section: Tomboy-Wordcount.

This is a plugin for the excellent Tomboy note taking application. This plugin allows you to quickly determine the number of lines, words, and characters in your note, much like the Unix wc command. Like Tomboy, this plugin is written in C# and runs on Mono.

Screenshot

This document explains HTML templating with the Sphinx documentation system. Sphinx is a tool for converting restructured text documentation into presentation formats like HTML or LaTeX.

Sphinx is used for Python documentation (compare old vs. new), but it is great for for any project in any language. Integrated wikis (like Trac) are nice; but I prefer to keep the documentation together with the source code. Sphinx is perfect for that. It also looks like a million bucks.

This document was tested on Fedora 8; however it is likely to work on all platforms that Python supports. Please contact me if you have questions or comments.

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Recently, I had to get MonoDevelop working on CentOS 5 for a project. Here is my blow-by-blow summary of how to get it working. The procedure is designed for CentOS 5, and it works on my Fedora 8 system as well. Since most of the activity is just compiling stuff from source, it should be pretty easy to follow on a different distribution. It’s just a matter of getting the correct packages installed in the preparation phase.

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We have a new addition to the software section: Bzr Notification.

This is a plugin for the Bazaar source code control system. It will pop up a small window when pushes and pulls have completed. This way, you do not need to wait around watching (slow) transactions over the network. Here is a screenshot of bzr_notification in action: