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• Notepad++'s pesky EOL Format switching -- how to remove the invisible (default?) keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+M, Ctrl+J

  - by AKE

  Notepad++ lets the user specify whether the end of lines (EOL) format for a file should be entirely in Windows, Unix, or Mac formats. Notepad++ also remember the last one encountered in a file and uses that EOL format when a new file is created. But Notepad++ seems to have some pesky default keyboard shortcuts built-in that can create MIXED format files, creating havoc with this otherwise quite reasonable situation. Specifically: - Ctrl+M puts a Mac style EOL, i.e. (0x0D only), - Ctrl+J puts a UNIX style EOL, i.e. (0x0A only), The hazard is that rapid typing and using the keyboard heavily with other shortcut commands could inadvertantly mean typing oone of these above, each time turning at least one line in the file into another EOL format. So my Question: How can I turn OFF these apparently built-in keyboard shortcuts. Please Note: I've already scanned through Settings > Shortcut Mapper and could not find Ctrl+M or Ctrl+J listed for EOL conversion. Thanks,

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• BASH_ENV ignored on solaris?

  - by Peeter Joot

  In my .bash_profile, executed for both my interactive and non-interactive logins are BASH_ENV=$HOME/.myinteractivestuff export BASH_ENV doing this for bash on Linux works fine, but on Solaris is not sourced: bash --version GNU bash, version 3.00.16(1)-release (sparc-sun-solaris2.10) Curiously, if I invoke screen within my login shell, BASH_ENV is then read. Are any restrictions on when $BASH_ENV is respected on Solaris? In my case I'm logging in with ssh using putty, but also tried unix to unix ssh, and telnet and see the same. Note that I know that my BASH_ENV variable assignment is being executed since I can echo this variable after login without any trouble (ie: ruling out the obvious possibility that my .bash_profile is also not being read).

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• Java Spotlight Episode 150: James Gosling on Java

  - by Roger Brinkley

  Interview with James Gosling, father of Java and Java Champion, on the history of Java, his work at Liquid Robotics, Netbeans, the future of Java and what he sees as the next revolutionary trend in the computer industry. Right-click or Control-click to download this MP3 file. You can also subscribe to the Java Spotlight Podcast Feed to get the latest podcast automatically. If you use iTunes you can open iTunes and subscribe with this link: Java Spotlight Podcast in iTunes. Show Notes Feature Interview James Gosling received a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Calgary, Canada in 1977. He received a PhD in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon University in 1983. The title of his thesis was "The Algebraic Manipulation of Constraints". He spent many years as a VP & Fellow at Sun Microsystems. He has built satellite data acquisition systems, a multiprocessor version of Unix, several compilers, mail systems and window managers. He has also built a WYSIWYG text editor, a constraint based drawing editor and a text editor called `Emacs' for Unix systems. At Sun his early activity was as lead engineer of the NeWS window system. He did the original design of the Java programming language and implemented its original compiler and virtual machine. He has been a contributor to the Real-Time Specification for Java, and a researcher at Sun labs where his primary interest was software development tools.     He then was the Chief Technology Officer of Sun's Developer Products Group and the CTO of Sun's Client Software Group. He briefly worked for Oracle after the acquisition of Sun. After a year off, he spent some time at Google and is now the chief software architect at Liquid Robotics where he spends his time writing software for the Waveglider, an autonomous ocean-going robot.

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• Cannot connect to postgresql on port 5432

  - by Assaf Lavie

  I installed the Bitnami Django stack which included PostgreSQL 8.4. When I run psql -U postgres I get the following error: psql: could not connect to server: No such file or directory Is the server running locally and accepting connections on Unix domain socket "/var/run/postgresql/.s.PGSQL.5432"? PG is definitely running and the pg_hba.conf file looks like this: # TYPE DATABASE USER CIDR-ADDRESS METHOD # "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only local all all md5 # IPv4 local connections: host all all 127.0.0.1/32 md5 # IPv6 local connections: host all all ::1/128 md5 What gives? "Proof" that pg is running: root@assaf-desktop:/home/assaf# ps axf | grep postgres 14338 ? S 0:00 /opt/djangostack-1.3-0/postgresql/bin/postgres -D /opt/djangostack-1.3-0/postgresql/data -p 5432 14347 ? Ss 0:00 \_ postgres: writer process 14348 ? Ss 0:00 \_ postgres: wal writer process 14349 ? Ss 0:00 \_ postgres: autovacuum launcher process 14350 ? Ss 0:00 \_ postgres: stats collector process 15139 pts/1 S+ 0:00 \_ grep --color=auto postgres root@assaf-desktop:/home/assaf# netstat -nltp | grep 5432 tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:5432 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN 14338/postgres tcp6 0 0 ::1:5432 :::* LISTEN 14338/postgres root@assaf-desktop:/home/assaf#

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• All New Oracle Linux Curriculum Now Available

  - by Antoinette O'Sullivan

  Develop your system administration skills with the all new Oracle Linux System Administration Curriculum. This curriculum includes key courses which will help you with any version of Linux: Unix and Linux Essentials: This 3 day course helps those new to Oracle Linux with the basic skills they need to interact comfortably and confidently with the operating system. Oracle Linux System Administration: This 5 day course teaches those who are comfortable with the basic skills how to: Install Oracle Linux Gain an understanding of the benefits of Oracle's Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel (UEK) Configure the kernel, install packages, and update the kernel of a running system Configure users and rights, create and manage file systems, configure networking, and manage system security Properly prepare a Linux environment for installation of Oracle Database. Both these hands-on instructor-led courses are available as: Live-Virtual Delivery: You can attend these classes from your desk, no travel necessary. In-Class Delivery: You can travel to a classroom to attend these classes across the world. Some events already on the schedule shown below.  Location  Date  Delivery Language  Unix and Linux Essentials      Johannesburg, South Africa  8 October 2012  English  Woodmead, South Africa  15 July 2013  English  Denver, Colorado, US  23 January 2013  English  Jakarta, Indonesia  13 November 2012  English  Singapore  22 October 2012  English  Sydney, Australia  4 February 2013  English  Brisbane, Australia  29 April 2013  English  Melbourne, Australia  29 January 2013  English  Oracle Linux System Administration      Gaborone, Botswana  22 April 2013  English  Vilvoorde, Belgium  15 October 2012  English  Melbourne, Australia  26 November 2012  English For more information on these classes or to express interest in additional events, go to http://oracle.com/education/linux  

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• Become an Oracle Solaris 11 Certified Implementation Specialist!

  - by uwes

  Have you heard about one of the newest certifications from Oracle, the Oracle Solaris 11 Certified Implementation Specialist? If you already have a background in Oracle Solaris, have some previous UNIX knowledge, or are working with or for an Oracle Partner that’s pursuing Oracle Solaris 11 Specialization, then you may be interested in the many different ways to gain this highly valued industry certification. An Oracle Certified Implementation Specialist is recognized as capable of installing, configuring, and implementing Oracle Solaris 11 on enterprise class SPARC and x86 systems. This certification is highly valued by Oracle customers and partners alike, since you will have obtained an updated skill set on the newest and most powerful operating system release from Oracle which will set your company apart. If you’ve already achieved an industry certification in Solaris then you’re just a few steps away from becoming an Oracle Solaris 11 Certified Implementation Specialist. Also, if you’re new to Oracle Solaris, we have a path for you too. Listed below are some of the many options Oracle offers in delivering training the way you need it to help you achieve your goal of being recognized as an Oracle Solaris 11 Implementation Specialist. Which path best describes you? New to UNIX but want/need to achieve Certified status? Training Paths: Oracle Certified Associate, Oracle Solaris 11 System Administrator Exam: 1Z0-821 – Oracle Solaris 11 System Administration Certified on an earlier version of Solaris and want full Administration Certification? Recommended Training class: Transition to Oracle Solaris 11 Exam: 1Z0-820 – Transition to Oracle Solaris 11 Certified on an earlier version of Solaris and want the partner based Implementation Certification? Recommended Training Path: OPN Guided Learning Path Exam: 1Z0-580 – Oracle Solaris 11 Installation and Configuration Essentials Get Started Today!

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• ubuntu 11.10 foreman error

  - by user1060759

  Like this post I am also trying to complete this heroku tutorial I have installed and used everything (node.js, npm, express) successfully until I got to Foreman. I installed Foreman by first installing Ruby: alex@ubuntu:~$ sudo apt-get install ruby1.9.1 then installing Foreman. I am a newbie to Unix so I "sudo" perhaps unnecessarily here, but I got confirmation in the terminal that it had installed but also some errors: alex@ubuntu:~/NodeHelloWorld$ sudo gem install foreman Invalid gemspec in [/var/lib/gems/1.8/specifications/foreman-0.26.1.gemspec]: invalid date format in specification: "2011-11-10 00:00:00.000000000Z" Invalid gemspec in [/var/lib/gems/1.8/specifications/term-ansicolor-1.0.7.gemspec]: invalid date format in specification: "2011-10-13 00:00:00.000000000Z" Invalid gemspec in [/var/lib/gems/1.8/specifications/foreman-0.26.1.gemspec]: invalid date format in specification: "2011-11-10 00:00:00.000000000Z" Invalid gemspec in [/var/lib/gems/1.8/specifications/term-ansicolor-1.0.7.gemspec]: invalid date format in specification: "2011-10-13 00:00:00.000000000Z" Successfully installed term-ansicolor-1.0.7 Successfully installed foreman-0.26.1 Then when I try to start foreman I get similar: alex@ubuntu:~/NodeHelloWorld$ foreman start Invalid gemspec in [/var/lib/gems/1.8/specifications/foreman-0.26.1.gemspec]: invalid date format in specification: "2011-11-10 00:00:00.000000000Z" Invalid gemspec in [/var/lib/gems/1.8/specifications/term-ansicolor-1.0.7.gemspec]: invalid date format in specification: "2011-10-13 00:00:00.000000000Z" /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:926:in `report_activate_error': Could not find RubyGem foreman (>= 0) (Gem::LoadError) from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:244:in `activate_dep' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:236:in `activate' from /usr/lib/ruby/vendor_ruby/1.8/rubygems.rb:1307:in `gem' from /usr/local/bin/foreman:18 Can anyone help me? I am a newbie to Unix after finally dumping windows as I found I could not get foreman-windows to work for me either I have found this post from someone with apparently the same issue. Does this mean my version of ruby could be wrong? I am running 1.9.1, though again new to ruby as well; alex@ubuntu:~/NodeHelloWorld$ ruby1.9.1 -v ruby 1.9.2p290 (2011-07-09 revision 32553) [i686-linux] Thanks

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• connecting to freenx server : configuration error

  - by Sandeep

  I am not able to pin point what is missing. I have configured freenx-server (useradd, passwd etc). However, server drops the connection after authentication. Please note my server is ubuntu 10.04 and client recent version. Below is the error log NX> 203 NXSSH running with pid: 6016 NX> 285 Enabling check on switch command NX> 285 Enabling skip of SSH config files NX> 285 Setting the preferred NX options NX> 200 Connected to address: 192.168.2.2 on port: 22 NX> 202 Authenticating user: nx NX> 208 Using auth method: publickey HELLO NXSERVER - Version 3.2.0-74-SVN OS (GPL, using backend: 3.5.0) NX> 105 hello NXCLIENT - Version 3.2.0 NX> 134 Accepted protocol: 3.2.0 NX> 105 SET SHELL_MODE SHELL NX> 105 SET AUTH_MODE PASSWORD NX> 105 login NX> 101 User: sandeep NX> 102 Password: NX> 103 Welcome to: ubuntu user: sandeep NX> 105 listsession --user="sandeep" --status="suspended,running" --geometry="1366x768x24+render" --type="unix-gnome" NX> 127 Sessions list of user 'sandeep' for reconnect: Display Type Session ID Options Depth Screen Status Session Name ------- ---------------- -------------------------------- -------- ----- -------------- ----------- ------------------------------ NX> 148 Server capacity: not reached for user: sandeep NX> 105 startsession --link="lan" --backingstore="1" --encryption="1" --cache="16M" --images="64M" --shmem="1" --shpix="1" --strict="0" --composite="1" --media="0" --session="t" --type="unix-gnome" --geometry="1366x768" --client="linux" --keyboard="pc105/us" --screeninfo="1366x768x24+render" ssh_exchange_identification: Connection closed by remote host NX> 280 Exiting on signal: 15

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• Error when running debuild on package source

  - by Chris Wilson

  I'm attempting to build the squeak-vm source but am getting an error every time I do so. The output is: dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -D -us -uc dpkg-buildpackage: export CFLAGS from dpkg-buildflags (origin: vendor): -g -O2 dpkg-buildpackage: export CPPFLAGS from dpkg-buildflags (origin: vendor): dpkg-buildpackage: export CXXFLAGS from dpkg-buildflags (origin: vendor): -g -O2 dpkg-buildpackage: export FFLAGS from dpkg-buildflags (origin: vendor): -g -O2 dpkg-buildpackage: export LDFLAGS from dpkg-buildflags (origin: vendor): -Wl,-Bsymbolic-functions dpkg-buildpackage: source package squeak-vm dpkg-buildpackage: source version 1:4.0.3.2202-2 dpkg-buildpackage: source changed by José L. Redrejo Rodríguez <[email protected]> dpkg-source --before-build squeak-vm-4.0.3.2202 dpkg-buildpackage: host architecture i386 fakeroot debian/rules clean dh_testdir dh_testroot rm -f build-stamp configure-stamp rm -f unix/cmake/config.sub unix/cmake/config.guess /usr/bin/make -f debian/rules unpatch make[1]: Entering directory `/home/notgary/Projects/squeak/squeak-vm-4.0.3.2202' QUILT_PATCHES=debian/patches \ quilt --quiltrc /dev/null pop -a -R || test $? = 2 Patch linex.patch does not remove cleanly (refresh it or enforce with -f) make[1]: *** [unpatch] Error 1 make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/notgary/Projects/squeak/squeak-vm-4.0.3.2202' make: *** [clean] Error 2 dpkg-buildpackage: error: fakeroot debian/rules clean gave error exit status 2 debuild: fatal error at line 1337: dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot -D -us -uc failed

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• Is there a shell-independent HUD-like menu search tool for Xfce/GNOME/Cinnamon?

  - by Redsandro

  The Ubuntu Heads-Up Display (HUD) - you love it or you hate it. Personally I rather like a classic desktop, so I use Xfce or GNOME-fork Cinnamon, and I'd like to keep those menu's where they are. But the HUD is pretty awesome when your menus are complex and you forgot where an option sits. This makes that search trick very interesting. I know the HUD is Unity specific. I am looking for a HUD-like tool to complement the menu in shells other than Unity. There is Appmenu Runner for KDE that does this. There is also appmenu-qt for KDE. Problem with the above is that it uses KDE libs, and it only works for KDE apps. This is Linux, there aught to be something like this for GNOME/GTK apps, right? Looking for any tool that can search the menus. I already use(d) Synapse, Kupfer and GNOME Do, but those are simply app-launchers (with some tricks). Something like that would suffice if only they included searching the menus for the currently focused application. The HUD allows users to activate menu items by typing part of the name. It uses a fuzzy search algorithm that will highlight partial matches. It can match menu items that are multiple layers deep in an application's menu hierarchy. The feature, which replaces traditional menu accelerators, is activated by pressing the alt key. Similar questions: Is there a way to search a menu bar in Debian? - Unix.StackExchange How can I access menu bar items alike hud (unity)? - Unix.StackExchange HUD in other window managers (especially xmonad) - AskUbuntu

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• How long can you be out of the MS market before it affects your career [closed]

  - by dave

  I've been working with .Net since it first came out and have done my best to use the latest and greatest things from Redmond. That being said, I've been working for the past year in the Python/Unix/Web world. In order to keep myself relevant in the MS world, I've been working part-time on a WPF project but I do not know how much longer that work will continue. So my question is: If I were to move totally to the Unix/Python/Web world, how long could I stay there before it starts getting hard to get another MS job? I am trying not to burn bridges in my career as I've found MS jobs pay better and tend to be more plentiful. PS: I like my Python job since it is something new and I get to work from home. It has provided a different view on coding that I've found useful. EDIT: I was out of the MS market for 12 months before attempting to get another MS job. No-one said "Gee you've been gone a while" but I did get a conspicuous lack of responses to job applications. My feeling is that the head-hunters do not bother to look beyond your last job. In the end, I got employment via my own network rather than the pimps. So, to answer my question: "not long, especially if you trust your career to head hunters."

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• Ubuntu 13.04 client cannot connect to Raspbian samba share

  - by envoyweb

  I have a client Ubuntu 13.04 machine trying to connect to a server running Raspbian with samba and samba-common-bin installed on the server I can see my share and when I try to login I get this error: Unable to access location: Failed to write windows share Cannot allocate memory. I have installed ntfs-3g for the usb hard drive that already auto mounts on the server so I never had to create a directory or edit fstab. Testparm on the server states the following: [global] workgroup = ENVOYWEB server string = %h server map to guest = Bad User obey pam restrictions = Yes pam password change = Yes passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* . unix password sync = Yes syslog = 0 log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m max log size = 1000 dns proxy = No usershare allow guests = Yes panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d idmap config * : backend = tdb [homes] comment = Home Directories valid users = %S create mask = 0700 directory mask = 0700 browseable = No [printers] comment = All Printers path = /var/spool/samba create mask = 0700 printable = Yes print ok = Yes browseable = No [print$] comment = Printer Drivers path = /var/lib/samba/printers [BigDude] comment = Sharing BigDude's Files path = /media/BigDude/ valid users = @users read only = No create mask = 0755 testparm on the client which is running ubuntu is as follows [global] workgroup = ENVOYWEB server string = %h server (Samba, Ubuntu) map to guest = Bad User obey pam restrictions = Yes pam password change = Yes passwd program = /usr/bin/passwd %u passwd chat = *Enter\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *Retype\snew\s*\spassword:* %n\n *password\supdated\ssuccessfully* . unix password sync = Yes syslog = 0 log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m max log size = 1000 dns proxy = No usershare allow guests = Yes panic action = /usr/share/samba/panic-action %d idmap config * : backend = tdb [printers] comment = All Printers path = /var/spool/samba create mask = 0700 printable = Yes print ok = Yes browseable = No [print$] comment = Printer Drivers path = /var/lib/samba/printers

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• SPARC Solaris Momentum

  - by Mike Mulkey-Oracle

  Following up on the Oracle Solaris 11.2 launch on April 29th, if you were able to watch the launch event, you saw Mark Hurd state that Oracle will be No. 1 in high-end computing systems "in a reasonable time frame”.  "This is not a 3-year vision," he continued.Well, According to IDC's latest 1QCY14 Tracker, Oracle has regained the #1 UNIX Shipments Marketshare! You can see the report and read about it here: Oracle regains the #1 UNIX Shipments Marketshare, but suffice to say that SPARC Solaris is making strong gains on the competition.  If you have seen the public roadmap through 2019 of Oracle's commitment to continue to deliver on this technology, you can see that Mark Hurd’s comment was not to be taken lightly.  We feel the systems tide turning in Oracle's direction and are working hard to show our partner community the value of being a part of the SPARC Solaris momentum.We are now planning for the Solaris 11.2 GA in late summer (11.2 beta is available now), as well as doing early preparations for Oracle OpenWorld 2014 on September 28th.  Stay tuned there!Here is a sampling of the coverage highlights around the Oracle Solaris 11.2 launch:“Solaris is still one of the most advanced platforms in the enterprise.” – ITBusinessEdge“Oracle is serious about clouds now, just as its customers are, whether they are building them in their own datacenters or planning to use public clouds.” – EnterpriseTech"Solaris is more about a layer of an integrated system than an operating system.” — ZDNet

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• Directory error when trying to create a new user

  - by Tom Brossman

  I added a second user 'shirley' in Settings - User Accounts, and set a password. The account type is Standard. In 11.04, this worked and I logged in and had a functioning desktop for this user. How is this done in 11.10? When I try to log in as this user I have this error: Nautilus could not create the required folder "/home/shirley/.config/nautilus". Before running Nautilus, please create the following folder, or set permissions such that Nautilus can create it. The only option then is to click OK, this dumps me out to full-screen Nautilus, like this: There is no launcher or visible way to start any programs. Print screen doesn't take a screengrab. The desktop is similar to this question but I get no terminal when I press CTRL+ALT+T. I have to press CTRL+ALT+F2 and restart from the terminal to get out of this. This answer is to install gnome-system-tools. Shouldn't I be able to add a second user with the default install? EDIT: I tried the deluser+adduser suggestion, there was no change after trying it. Here is what I got: tom@desktop:~$ sudo deluser shirley [sudo] password for tom: Removing user `shirley' ... Warning: group `shirley' has no more members. Done tom@desktop:~$ sudo adduser shirley Adding user `shirley' ... Adding new group `shirley' (1001) Adding new user shirley' (1001) with groupshirley' The home directory '/home/shirley' already exists. Not copying from `/etc/skel'. Enter new UNIX password: Retype new UNIX password: passwd: password updated successfully Changing user information for shirley Enter the new value, or press ENTER for the default Full Name []: Room Number []: Work Phone []: Home Phone []: Other []: Is the information correct? [Y/n] y What has gone so wrong with simply adding a second user? Am I the only one having this problem? I'd reinstall if that fixed things, but this is a fresh install only a few days old.

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• Any good reason open files in text mode?

  - by Tinctorius

  (Almost-)POSIX-compliant operating systems and Windows are known to distinguish between 'binary mode' and 'text mode' file I/O. While the former mode doesn't transform any data between the actual file or stream and the application, the latter 'translates' the contents to some standard format in a platform-specific manner: line endings are transparently translated to '\n' in C, and some platforms (CP/M, DOS and Windows) cut off a file when a byte with value 0x1A is found. These transformations seem a little useless to me. People share files between computers with different operating systems. Text mode would cause some data to be handled differently across some platforms, so when this matters, one would probably use binary mode instead. As an example: while Windows uses the sequence CR LF to end a line in text mode, UNIX text mode will not treat CR as part of the line ending sequence. Applications would have to filter that noise themselves. Older Mac versions only use CR in text mode as line endings, so neither UNIX nor Windows would understand its files. If this matters, a portable application would probably implement the parsing by itself instead of using text mode. Implementing newline interpretation in the parser might also remove some overhead of using text mode, as buffers would need to be rewritten (and possibly resized) before returning to the application, while this may be less efficient than when it would happen in the application instead. So, my question is: is there any good reason to still rely on the host OS to translate line endings and file truncation?

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• Ubuntu Slow - What architecture does the Windows Installer install?

  - by Benjamin Yep

  I feel absolutely limited by using Windows, and I need to switch to a Unix environment. I once installed Red Hat on my lappie (screen + external monitor setup; 4GB ram; x64; runs fast) and it worked fine, but I saw that the computer cluster that is the birthplace of my unix knowledge switched to Ubuntu, so naturally I follow. To the point. When I installed Ubuntu onto my machine via the Windows Installer, it ran quite slow. Opening Firefox takes about 8-9 seconds, it freezes up often, unable to handle its own background processes. I saw in a thread that, perhaps, it is running slow because the Windows Installer is installing an x64 version. Of course, my computer has had no performance issues in the past(except that time with the trojans but you know, know one is perfect ;) ) Anyways, I uninstalled Ubuntu, freeing up the max allocated memory it took up, and continue to be sad, trapped in my MS world with only a buggy Cygwin, any assistance is greatly appreciated! :) Thanks ~Ben

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• How should I determine if a user is logged in graphically while lightdm is running?

  - by Jack

  I want to know if someone is logged into a local X-session. In the past I looked at the output of ck-list-sessions. The output looked something like this: Session12: unix-user = '[redacted]' realname = '[redacted]' seat = 'Seat1' session-type = '' active = TRUE x11-display = ':0' x11-display-device = '/dev/tty8' display-device = '' remote-host-name = '' is-local = TRUE on-since = '2012-10-22T18:17:55.553236Z' login-session-id = '4294967295' If no one was logged in, there was no output. I checked if someone was logged in with ck_result" string => execresult("/usr/bin/ck-list-sessions | /bin/grep x11 | /usr/bin/cut --delimiter=\\' -f 2 | /usr/bin/wc -w This no longer works, because lightdm greeter looks like a logged in user Session12: unix-user = '[redacted]' realname = 'Light Display Manager' seat = 'Seat1' session-type = 'LoginWindow' active = TRUE x11-display = ':0' x11-display-device = '/dev/tty8' display-device = '' remote-host-name = '' is-local = TRUE on-since = '2012-10-22T22:17:55.553236Z' login-session-id = '4294967295' I guess I could check session-type, but I don't know how to do that and check x11-display in one-liner. I then need to write my own script, but at that point I thought I would check if anyone else has already done the work or if there is a way to get ConsoleKit to tell me what I want (or if I should be using a different tool)?

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• Using Ubuntu isn't worth it for me, Windows works best.

  - by user72475

  Welcome to Ubuntu and the lack of support( 12.04 LOS ). If I say Ubuntu 12.04 is a so so broken OS, I will get flamed. But if I ask for help, I can here the crickets chirruping. Unix/Linux user have an attitude and really don't like to share info. Because if they help everyone, they wouldn't have anyone to call a noob. Then their moms basement wouldn't be the same without being able to flame Ubuntu noobs. I am going back to windows I don't have to spend all day trying to get a single app or option to work. Sure Ubuntu is fun to tinker with but it is not a professional consumer OS. Windows is a better consumer based os, I don't need server software(Unix) that's been broken and hacked to be used like windows(Ubuntu). All the time I have wasted trying to get Ubuntu to work CORRECTLY cost me more the Windows 7 ultimate by far. HOW MUCH IS YOUR TIME WORTH. If you are unemployed and have all night to set in your moms basement and flame noobs then Ubuntu is for you. If you want to use an external monitor on your notebook or download Adobe reader use Windows 7. When are we going to stop complaining about corporate giants like Microsoft and admit they have great products. Gave it a shot, did work for me, I have better things to do with my time. bye Ubuntu

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• Any good reason to open files in text mode?

  - by Tinctorius

  (Almost-)POSIX-compliant operating systems and Windows are known to distinguish between 'binary mode' and 'text mode' file I/O. While the former mode doesn't transform any data between the actual file or stream and the application, the latter 'translates' the contents to some standard format in a platform-specific manner: line endings are transparently translated to '\n' in C, and some platforms (CP/M, DOS and Windows) cut off a file when a byte with value 0x1A is found. These transformations seem a little useless to me. People share files between computers with different operating systems. Text mode would cause some data to be handled differently across some platforms, so when this matters, one would probably use binary mode instead. As an example: while Windows uses the sequence CR LF to end a line in text mode, UNIX text mode will not treat CR as part of the line ending sequence. Applications would have to filter that noise themselves. Older Mac versions only use CR in text mode as line endings, so neither UNIX nor Windows would understand its files. If this matters, a portable application would probably implement the parsing by itself instead of using text mode. Implementing newline interpretation in the parser might also remove some overhead of using text mode, as buffers would need to be rewritten (and possibly resized) before returning to the application, while this may be less efficient than when it would happen in the application instead. So, my question is: is there any good reason to still rely on the host OS to translate line endings and file truncation?

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• how to recover lost partitions data

  - by TheJoester

  I have a 2TB SATA drive that was being used as file storage on my UBUNTU computer. I was re-imaging my windows box so I used that drive to back up some files to it. I did this by taking the drive from my windows PC and putting it in my UBUNTU PC, mounted it and copied the files over. After the windows refresh I thought it would be easier to take the 2 TB drive and dock it in the external dock my Windows case has built in. Anyway it would recognize in BIOS but windows would not see it (because it was EXT3 or EXT4) so when I went into the disk manager it advised me the drive needed to be initialized. Me not thinking I initialized it as a GUID Partition table. Now it sees it as a blank drive, even in UBUNTU. I have done nothing else to write or change the drive. I was wondering if there is a qay to repair the old partitioning and get access to my files back? many thanks! EDIT: I followed the instructions in the link @kniwor sent me. I used the command sudo gpart -W /dev/sda /dev/sda and here was the result: Guessed primary partition table: Primary partition(1) type: 007(0x07)(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX) size: 0mb #s(1) s(2861671176-2861671176) chs: (1023/254/63)-(1023/254/63)d (178130/202/1)-(178130/202/1)r Primary partition(2) type: 007(0x07)(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX) size: 0mb #s(1) s(3484550160-3484550160) chs: (1023/254/63)-(1023/254/63)d (216903/55/1)-(216903/55/1)r Primary partition(3) type: 000(0x00)(unused) size: 0mb #s(0) s(0-0) chs: (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)d (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)r Primary partition(4) type: 000(0x00)(unused) size: 0mb #s(0) s(0-0) chs: (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)d (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)r Not sure it found what I wanted. suggestions?

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• C# development with Mono and MonoDevelop

  - by developerit

  In the past two years, I have been developing .NET from my MacBook by running Windows XP into VM Ware and more recently into Virtual Box from OS X. This way, I could install Visual Studio and be able to work seamlessly. But, this way of working has a major down side: it kills the battery of my laptop… I can easiely last for 3 hours if I stay in OS X, but can only last 45 min when XP is running. Recently, I gave MonoDevelop a try for developing Developer IT‘s tools and web site. While being way less complete then Visual Studio, it provides essentials tools when it comes to developping software. It works well with solutions and projects files created from Visual Studio, it has Intellisence (word completion), it can compile your code and can even target your .NET app to linux or unix. This tools can save me a lot of time and batteries! Although I could not only work with MonoDevelop, I find it way better than a simple text editor like Smultron. Thanks to Novell, we can now bring Microsoft technology to OS X.

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• Three Steps to Becoming an Expert Oracle Linux System Administrator

  - by Antoinette O'Sullivan

  Oracle provides a complete system administration curriculum to take you from your initial experience of Unix to being an expert Oracle Linux system administrator. You can take these live instructor-led courses from your own desk through live-virtual events or by traveling to an education center through in-class events. Step 1: Unix and Linux Essentials This 3-day course is designed for users and administrators who are new to Oracle Linux. It will help you develop the basic UNIX skills needed to interact comfortably and confidently with the operating system. Below is a sample of the in-class events already on the schedule.  Location  Date  Delivery Language  Vivoorde, Belgium  28 October 2013  English  Berlin, Germany  15 July 2013  German  Utrecht, Netherlands  19 August 2013  Dutch  Bucarest, Romania  12 August 2013  Romanian  Ankara, Turkey  6 January 2013  Turkish  Nairobi, Kenya  5 August 2013  English  Kaduna, Nigeria  15 July 2013  English   Woodmead, South Africa  15 July 2013  English   Jakarta, Indonesia  23 September 2013  English  Petaling Jaya, Malaysia  22 July 2013  English  Makati City, Philippines  3 July 2013  English  Bangkok, Thailand  20 November 2013  English  Auckland, New Zealand  5 August 2013  English  Melbourne, Australia  12 August 2013  English  Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Canada  3 September 2013  English  San Francisco and San Jose, CA, United States  15 July 2013  English  Reston, VA, United States  7 August 2013  English  Edison, NJ, and King of Prussia, PA, United States  3 September 2013  English  Denver, CO, United States  25 September 2013  English  Cambridge, MA, and Roseville MN, United States  6 November 2013  English  Phoenix, AZ, and Sacramento, CA, United States  25 November 2013  English Step 2: Oracle Linux System Administration Through this 5-day course, become a knowledgeable Oracle Linux system administrator, learning how to install Oracle Linux and the benefits of Oracle's Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel and Ksplice. Below is a sample of in-class events already on the schedule.  Location  Date  Delivery Language  Vienna, Austria  1 July 2013  German  Vivoorde, Belgium  18 November 2013  English  Zagreb, Croatia  16 September 2013  Croatian  London, England  3 September 2013  English  Manchester, England  9 September 2013  English  Paris, France  29 July 2013  French  Budapest, Hungary  8 July 2013  Hungarian  Utrecht, Netherland  2 September 2013  Dutch  Warsaw, Poland  15 July 2013  Polish  Bucharest, Romania  2 December 2013  Romanian  Ankara, Turkey  7 October 2013  Turkish  Istanbul, Turkey  9 September 2013  Turkish  Nairobi, Kenya  12 August 2013  English  Petaling Jaya, Malaysia  29 July 2013  English  Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  21 October 2013  English  Makati City, Philippines  8 July 2013  English  Singapore  24 July 2013  English  Bangkok, Thailand  26 July 2013  English  Canberra, Australia  19 August 2013  English  Melbourne, Australia  16 September 2013  English   Sydney, Australia 19 August 2013   English   Mississauga, Canada  26 August 2013  English  Ottawa, Canada  4 November 2013  English  Phoenix, AZ, United States  7 October 2013  English  Belmont, CA, United States  23 September 2013  English  Irvine, CA, United States  18 November 2013  English  Sacramento, CA, United States  19 August 2013  English  San Francisco, CA, United States  15 July 2013  English  Denver, CO, United States  19 August 2013  English  Schaumburg, IL, United States  26 August 2013  English  Indianapolis, IN, United States  14 October 2013  English  Columbia, MD, United States  30 September 2013  English  Roseville, MN, United States  19 August 2013  English  St Louis, MO, United States  7 October 2013  English  Edison, NJ, United States  28 October 2013  English  Beaverton, OR, United States  12 August 2013  English  Pittsburg, PA, United States 9 December 2013   English  Reston, VA, United States 12 August 2013   English  Brookfield, WI, United States 30 September 2013   English  Sao Paolo, Brazil 15 July 2013   Brazilian Portugese Step 3: Oracle Linux Advanced System Administration This new 3-day course is ideal for administrators who want to learn about managing resources and file systems while developing troubleshooting and advanced storage administration skills. You will learn about Linux Containers, Cgroups, btrfs, DTrace and more. Below is a sample of in-class events already on the schedule.  Location  Date  Delivery Language  Melbourne, Australia  9 October 2013  English  Roseville, MN, United States  3 September 2013  English To register for or learn more about these courses, go to http://oracle.com/education/linux. Watch this video to learn more about Oracle's operating system training.

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• Linux Kernel not upgraded (from Ubuntu 12.04 to 12.10) - can't remove old kernels and can't install new apps

  - by Tony Breyal

  Question: How do I remove old kernel images which refuse to be removed? Context: Yesterday I upgraded Ubuntu from 12.04 to 12.10. However, the linux kernel has not upgraded from 3.2 to 3.5 as I would have expected. $ uname -r 3.2.0-32-generic $ uname -a Linux tony-b 3.2.0-32-generic #51-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 26 21:33:09 UTC 2012 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux $ cat /proc/version Linux version 3.2.0-32-generic (buildd@batsu) (gcc version 4.6.3 (Ubuntu/Linaro 4.6.3-1ubuntu5) ) #51-Ubuntu SMP Wed Sep 26 21:33:09 UTC 2012 Not sure why that happened there. I wanted to install Audacity (v2.0.1-1_amd64) to edit a lecture audio file. When trying this operation through Ubuntu Software Center, it says that to install audacity, four items will need to be removed: linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic So I click "Install Anyway" but it fails with the following output: installArchives() failed: (Reading database ... (Reading database ... 5% (Reading database ... 10% (Reading database ... 15% (Reading database ... 20% (Reading database ... 25% (Reading database ... 30% (Reading database ... 35% (Reading database ... 40% (Reading database ... 45% (Reading database ... 50% (Reading database ... 55% (Reading database ... 60% (Reading database ... 65% (Reading database ... 70% (Reading database ... 75% (Reading database ... 80% (Reading database ... 85% (Reading database ... 90% (Reading database ... 95% (Reading database ... 100% (Reading database ... 259675 files and directories currently installed.) Removing linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-27-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-27-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-27-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-27-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-27-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already Removing linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-29-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-29-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-29-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already Removing linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-30-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-30-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-30-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-30-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-30-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already Removing linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-31-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-31-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-31-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-31-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-31-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports is reached already Errors were encountered while processing: linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic Error in function: Setting up grub-pc (2.00-7ubuntu11) ... /usr/sbin/grub-bios-setup: warning: Sector 32 is already in use by the program `FlexNet'; avoiding it. This software may cause boot or other problems in future. Please ask its authors not to store data in the boot track. Installation finished. No error reported. Generating grub.cfg ... dpkg: error processing grub-pc (--configure): subprocess installed post-installation script returned error exit status 1 It seems I need to remove the old linux images somehow. I have tried this through (1) Synaptic, (2) Ubuntu Tweak, and (3) Computer Janitor. The first two fail, whilst Computer Janitor won't even open. The output from Synaptic is: E: linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic: subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 E: linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic: subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 E: linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic: subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 E: linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic: subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 How do I remove these old images? Thank you kindly in advance for any help on this matter. P.S. Further information: $ dpkg --list | grep linux-image rH linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic 3.2.0-27.43 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rH linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic 3.2.0-29.46 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rH linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic 3.2.0-30.48 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP rH linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic 3.2.0-31.50 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP ii linux-image-3.2.0-32-generic 3.2.0-32.51 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.2.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP ii linux-image-3.5.0-17-generic 3.5.0-17.28 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.5.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP ii linux-image-extra-3.5.0-17-generic 3.5.0-17.28 amd64 Linux kernel image for version 3.5.0 on 64 bit x86 SMP ii linux-image-generic 3.5.0.17.19 amd64 Generic Linux kernel image But trying to remove using the command line fails too e.g.: $ sudo apt-get purge linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done The following packages will be REMOVED linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic 0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 4 to remove and 1 not upgraded. 5 not fully installed or removed. After this operation, 597 MB disk space will be freed. Do you want to continue [Y/n]? Y (Reading database ... 259675 files and directories currently installed.) Removing linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-27-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-27-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-27-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-27-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-27-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached Removing linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-29-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-29-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-29-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-29-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached Removing linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-30-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-30-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-30-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-30-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-30-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached Removing linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic ... Examining /etc/kernel/postrm.d . run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/initramfs-tools 3.2.0-31-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-31-generic update-initramfs: Deleting /boot/initrd.img-3.2.0-31-generic run-parts: executing /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub 3.2.0-31-generic /boot/vmlinuz-3.2.0-31-generic Generating grub.cfg ... run-parts: /etc/kernel/postrm.d/zz-update-grub exited with return code 1 Failed to process /etc/kernel/postrm.d at /var/lib/dpkg/info/linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic.postrm line 328. dpkg: error processing linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic (--remove): subprocess installed post-removal script returned error exit status 1 No apport report written because MaxReports has already been reached Errors were encountered while processing: linux-image-3.2.0-27-generic linux-image-3.2.0-29-generic linux-image-3.2.0-30-generic linux-image-3.2.0-31-generic E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

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• Path is too long

  - by kaleidoscope

  Bugged by the irritating "Path is too long after being fully qualified" error while running in the Development Fabric? The solution is pretty funny and not so obvious unfortunately. The culprit here is not your app, but the Development Fabric. The DevFab accumulates a lot of temporary junk comprising of local storage locations, cached binaries, configuration, diagnostics information and cached compiled web site content files over its lifetime. They are typically stored at C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\dftmp. The Azure Tools will periodically clean this up, but some time you have to play janitor and take the law in your hands ;). The csrun.exe has quite a few tricks up its sleeve. One of them is the ability to clean the development fabric's temporary junk accumulated over time. You can do this by  running the Azure command prompt with elevated privileges and running csrun.exe /devfabric:shutdown and then csrun.exe /devfabric:clean If the problem still persists then the application directory structure could indeed be too long. A workaround to this is changing the Development Fabric temporary directory to point to a shorter path. The temporary directory path can be addressed by an environment variable _CSRUN_STATE_DIRECTORY. You can try setting its value to something like "C:\WA" or "C:\A" this will reduce some 25+ characters from your path. Do not forget to close Visual Studio and expressly shutdown the dev fab with csrun.exe /devfabric:shutdown (Under elevated privileges of course). Source: http://geekswithblogs.net/IUnknown/archive/2010/02/03/no-more-path-is-too-long.aspx  :D   Sarang, K

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• Exitus Acta Probat: The Post-Processing Module

  - by Phil Factor

  Sometimes, one has to make certain ethical compromises to ensure the success of a corporate IT project. Exitus Acta Probat (literally 'the result validates the deeds' meaning that the ends justify the means)It was a while back, whilst working as a Technical Architect for a well-known international company, that I was given the task of designing the architecture of a rather specialized accounting system. We'd tried an off-the-shelf (OTS) Windows-based solution which crashed with dispiriting regularity, and didn't quite do what the business required. After a great deal of research and planning, we commissioned a Unux-based system that used X-terminals for the desktops of  the participating staff. X terminals are now obsolete, but were then hot stuff; stripped-down Unix workstations that provided client GUIs for networked applications long before the days of AJAX, Flash, Air and DHTML. I've never known a project go so smoothly: I'd been initially rather nervous about going the Unix route, believing then that  Unix programmers were excitable creatures who were prone to  indulge in role-play enactments of elves and wizards at the weekend, but the programmers I met from the company that did the work seemed to be rather donnish, earnest, people who quickly grasped our requirements and were faultlessly professional in their work.After thinking lofty thoughts for a while, there was considerable pummeling of keyboards by our suppliers, and a beautiful robust application was delivered to us ahead of dates.Soon, the department who had commissioned the work received shiny new X Terminals to replace their rather depressing lavatory-beige PCs. I modestly hung around as the application was commissioned and deployed to the department in order to receive the plaudits. They didn't come. Something was very wrong with the project. I couldn't put my finger on the problem, and the users weren't doing any more than desperately and futilely searching the application to find a fault with it.Many times in my life, I've come up against a predicament like this: The roll-out of an application goes wrong and you are hearing nothing that helps you to discern the cause but nit-*** noise. There is a limit to the emotional heat you can pack into a complaint about text being in the wrong font, or an input form being slightly cramped, but they tried their best. The answer is, of course, one that every IT executive should have tattooed prominently where they can read it in emergencies: In Vino Veritas (literally, 'in wine the truth', alcohol loosens the tongue. A roman proverb) It was time to slap the wallet and get the department down the pub with the tab in my name. It was an eye-watering investment, but hedged with an over-confident IT director who relished my discomfort. To cut a long story short, The real reason gushed out with the third round. We had deprived them of their PCs, which had been good for very little from the pure business perspective, but had provided them with many hours of happiness playing computer-based minesweeper and solitaire. There is no more agreeable way of passing away the interminable hours of wage-slavery than minesweeper or solitaire, and the employees had applauded the munificence of their employer who had provided them with the means to play it. I had, unthinkingly, deprived them of it.I held an emergency meeting with our suppliers the following day. I came over big with the notion that it was in their interests to provide a solution. They played it cool, probably knowing that it was my head on the block, not theirs. In the end, they came up with a compromise. they would temporarily descend from their lofty, cerebral stamping grounds  in order to write a server-based Minesweeper and Solitaire game for X Terminals, and install it in a concealed place within the system. We'd have to pay for it, though. I groaned. How could we do that? "Could we call it a 'post-processing module?" suggested their account executive.And so it came to pass. The application was a resounding success. Every now and then, the staff were able to indulge in some 'post-processing', with what turned out to be a very fine implementation of both minesweeper and solitaire. There were several refinements: A single click in a 'boss' button turned the games into what looked just like a financial spreadsheet.  They even threw in a multi-user version of Battleships. The extra payment for the post-processing module went through the change-control process without anyone untoward noticing, and peace once more descended. Only one thing niggles. Those games were good. Do they still survive, somewhere in a Linux library? If so, I'd like to claim a small part in their production.

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