FreeNAS 0.7 adds ZFS support

FreeNAS is a free Network Attached Storage (A Network fileserver) based on FreeBSD. It offers many features. It is a specialized system dedicated to storage, not a general purpose operating system. Therefore, it should be better quality then hosting a NAS on a general purpose operating system.

FreeNAS also offers the stability of FreeBSD, which is often superior then Linux.

FreeNAS now includes ZFS. However, this appears to be an older version of ZFS (ZFS v6 according to http://wiki.freebsd.org/ZFSTuningGuide ). This means we won't see the benefits of ZFS like deduplication. etc.

in reference to:

"FreeNAS 0.7 adds ZFS support"
- FreeNAS 0.7 adds ZFS support - The H Open Source: News and Features (view on Google Sidewiki)

sial.org - Great Sysadmin Resource.

A great resource for System Administrators. Jeremy writes many insightful articles for Unix, Linux & *BSD system administration, including Cfengine, syslog, kickstart, etc.

in reference to: Jeremy Mates’s Domain (view on Google Sidewiki)

RedHat/ CentOS - How to remove a package group

As a System Administrator, I often inherit Linux systems which were installed by someone else.

In some cases, these systems were installed with too many unnecessary packages -- there is no need to run Gnome and Xwindow on a webserver, for example.

The RedHat and CentOS installers allow you to install multiple related packages by using "Package Groups". A Package Group named "GNOME Desktop Environment" contains the dozens of RPMs and dependencies needed to install Gnome, including dependencies like the X window system.

With the worst cases, the former Sysadmin had no idea what they needed and simply selected all package in the installation GUI.

These packages need to be cleaned up.

Since this is a webserver and a headless machine, I can't exactly fire up Gnome to view and remove packages using the convenient GUI. This is a headless machine, so my tools are SSH and the commandline.

Luckily, the Yum package manager includes a way to remove the "Package Groups" from the commandline. "yum grouplist" will show all installed and available package groups. To remove all GNOME packages on your system, simply run 'yum groupremove "GNOME Desktop Environment"'.

This is explained more in the "Managing Software with yum" guide, provided at centos.org .

-= Stefan

in reference to:

"su -c 'yum groupremove "MySQL Database"'"
- Managing Software with yum (view on Google Sidewiki)

stefanco.com == Whisky Glass

According to search.msn.com, stefanco.com is the #2 result for Whisky Glass.

Drink up.

Life goes on: The Southern Decadence Parade in New Orleans, 2005. Post flood. 

New Berkeley Crime Maps online

The City of Berkeley used to have some crime maps on their website. They stopped updating the maps in 2003. The maps were input by hand, and it was a labor-intensive process. They Berkeley Police Department abandoned the Crime Maps in favor of the new Berkeley Police Bulletins system-- however the documents are incredibly cryptic and require much work to be useful to most people. The Police Department added a layer of complexity by taking a plain text document and stuffing it into a proprietary PDF document.

A fellow Berkeleyan created some new online crime maps. They are updated daily, using the same Berkeley Police Bulletins which are released once per day. The site features email alerts, so you can be notified if a particular street is mentioned in a crime report.

Here is the website:

http://www.incidentlog.com/lookup.pl?Src=56

Halloween 2005 ideas - Fireflies, floating ghosts

I'm working on a couple projects for Halloween. I like the spooky, ambient effects best, and I'm really not into anything gory --- gore is totally overrated and overused during Halloween.

Here are some of my ideas:

Fireflies:

I really like the effect of the Fireflies in Pirates of the Caribbean. They may not seem Halloweeny, but they can add a nice ambient atmosphere. The Fireflies are probably best when viewed at a distance.

I haven't actually tried this, but I've read of similar setups elsewhere. It will require some experimentation.

Partlist:
- 12v worth of batteries & battery holder
- 12v transformer
- Low voltage LEDs (White or Ultraviolet!!!)
- Plastic or paper for the blinders/wings, matte-black
- Thin gauge magnet wire (lightly insulated and painted matte-black)
- Springs
- A board to attach it too
- A fan

Solder the transformer, wire & LEDs together. Arrange the wires in a spring-like shape or attach them to the board with springs.

Put a blinder on the LEDs so the light is blocked from some angles and visible from other angles. This will make the fireflies appear to blink.

Put the setup in front of a fan. The blinders will act as wings and catch the draft provided by the fan. The spring on the wire will make the fireflies appear bob up and down.

Now you have wiggling, bobbing, blinking fireflies!

There are some other instructions here:
www.hiddenmickeys.org/Imagine...g/Imagineering.html
www.geocities.com/oooketchup/POTC_ff.htm

----

Ghosts:

This project is pretty simple & low-cost, but it's not well known. You can do a bunch of different stuff with ths idea.

Partlist:
- Thin fabric like gauze or muslin
- Blacklight
- some spray-on laundry detergent that contains "whiteners" (Phosphorous, etc).

Cut the fabric; spray the laundry detergent onto the fabric. Hold the fabric under the blacklight. The whiteners in the laundry detergent are actually chemicals like phosphorous or zinc sulfide that glow brilliantly under blacklight.

Use springs, string to hang them. A fan can make them bounce. Helium balloons can make them float around very well.

Quote: Is that 'cute' as in speech or ....

Is that 'cute' as in speech or 'cute' as in beer?

A Stefan Lasiewski original!!!

This one struck me during a discussion on Slashdot, which I've been reading for close to 8 years now (wow!).

The quote is a play on the Free Software analogy by the GNU foundation, where they discuss the odd dual-meanings of the word 'free' ('free' as in free speech vs 'free' as in free beer).

Quotes: Merging conflicts in Subversion is as easy as falling off a bike

I'm studying the Subversion Version Control System and ran across this humorous quote in Chapter 3:

Merging conflicts by hand can be quite intimidating the first time you attempt it, but with a little practice, it can become as easy as falling off a bike. (emphasis mine)

You would think they actually meant "as easy as riding a bike", but no ... I think they really did mean falling. Merging conflicts in files is tradionally the bane of all version control systems. I've seen developers throw their hands up in the air, give up, and run to the bar for a good beer when resolving conflicts in Clearcase & CVS.

We'll see if SVN is any better at handling conflicts.

How to secure a computer

The only truely secure computer is one which is switched off and disconnected from the network.

... and smashed with a sledgehammer, to ensure that the computer is never turned on again.

... and set on fire, to the temperature of 600F, which should be sufficient to destroy the magnetic bits in the hard drive.

... and then nuke it from orbit, it's the only way to be sure.