Running wview on PowerBook G4

 linux, weather  No Responses »
Jan 172011
 

Ever since I set up my Davis Vantage Vue weather station, I’ve used my Dell Inspiron Mini 1012 to get weather data from my console, into the computer, and out to the Internet. This weekend I decided to see if I could dust off my old 12″ PowerBook G4 and use it for the same purpose.

To complicate matters, I had recently removed OS X 10.4 and installed Ubuntu 10.10 on the PowerBook in an ill-fated attempt to give it new life. The PowerBook was a great computer in its time but, these days, PowerPC is a dying, if not already dead, architecture. Continue reading »

 Posted by Mike Christianson on 2011-01-17  Tagged with: , , ,

Generic socket server for testing

 commandline, cygwin, linux  No Responses »
Oct 272010
 

Here’s a useful one-liner for running a generic socket server. I came up with this socat-based alternative to writing my own for testing client output. It listens on port 4096, accepts TCP/IP connections, and prints input received to stdout.

socat TCP-L:4096,fork -

Socat is quite powerful, be sure to read more about what it can do.

2011-July-08: My coworker has a great post showing how socat can pipe data from a serial port to a socket!

 Posted by Mike Christianson on 2010-10-27  Tagged with: ,

Sun Java 6 on Ubuntu 10.04 10.10 and later

 java, linux  5 Responses »
Jul 222010
 

Post updated 2011 Jan 19: Given the opportunity to install 10.10, I have added different instructions for Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat).

Much to my surprise, but probably not those of the Open Source Ruling Class, Sun’s Java 6 has been removed from the Ubuntu Multiverse. Apparently the Ubuntu folks have started putting some weight behind their recommendations for switching to the “OpenJDK.” Fortunately, the official, “proprietary” Java is still available through another Ubuntu repository.

Ubuntu 10.10

To install Sun’s Java 6 JDK on Ubuntu 10.10, add the Sun Java6 Community PPA and install: 

add-apt-repository ppa:sun-java-community-team/sun-java6
apt-get update
apt-get install sun-java6-jdk
update-java-alternatives -s java-6-sun

Ubuntu 10.04

To make Sun’s Java 6 JDK available on Ubuntu 10.04 add the new repository like so:

add-apt-repository "deb http://archive.canonical.com/ lucid partner"
aptitude update
aptitude install sun-java6-jdk
update-java-alternatives -s java-6-sun
 Posted by Mike Christianson on 2010-07-22  Tagged with: , ,

Mount NTFS partitions at startup with fstab

 linux  No Responses »
Jul 082009
 

Yesterday I helped a coworker figure out the best way to have Linux mount an NTFS partition at startup. It was an interesting little problem because there are multiple solutions but only a single “correct” solution.

At first I questioned the need to do anything at all — my computer apparently mounts my NTFS drive on its own but I couldn’t remember how.

Before I found the ultimate solution, one approach my coworker attemped was to have gnome execute a script at login which used the mount command. This didn’t work; he forgot to use gksudo and anyway the script never seemed to run.

Then I remembered fstab and the rest is history. If you need to accomplish the same thing, be sure to read his fstab blog post.

 Posted by Mike Christianson on 2009-07-08  Tagged with: ,

Java 6 Update 10 is available

 java, linux  No Responses »
Nov 162008
 

Update 2010 Nov 03: Be sure to read my other post about installing Java on Ubuntu 10.04 and 10.10.

Java 6 Update 10 (aka Java 6u10) is now available for Linux and other platforms.  Sun has published release notes for this update.

I have been using 6u10 with great success since the Ubuntu 8.10 release candidate became available. Ubuntu 8.10 users can begin developing with the JDK using a couple simple commands.

aptitude install sun-java6-jdk && update-java-alternatives -s java-6-sun

Be sure to consider installing other useful Java packages, such as sun-java6-doc, along with the JDK.

aptitude search sun-java6
 Posted by Mike Christianson on 2008-11-16  Tagged with: , ,
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