Linux


::

Kubuntu 9.04 WiFi Problem Solved

Saturday, April 11, 2009

I just upgraded to the latest beta version of Kubuntu 9.04 and after a reboot found that my wireless no longer worked. I believe this is because Kubuntu no longer uses the KNetworkManager app to configure wifi connections. If you’re having a similar issue try these steps:

  1. Right-click on the Task Manager bar and select Panel Options->Add Widgets…
  2. In the search type network
    kubuntu_904_add_widget_screenshot
  3. Click on Network Management
  4. Click the Add Widget button
  5. Click the Close button
  6. In the Task Manager bar you should now see a new icon for the Network Management widget
    kubuntu_905_network_management_widget_in_taskbar_screenshot
  7. Right-click the Network Management widget and select Manage Connections…
  8. Click the Wireless tab
  9. Click the Add button
  10. Scan for your network and put in the proper settings for your wifi network
  11. Click the OK button once your wifi network settings are in place
  12. Click the OK button to close the Network Management widget

Note: You may be nagged for your KWallet password now when your computer boots. This is because the Network Management widget is using KWallet to store the wifi password. If anyone knows how to get around this, please feel free to share. :)

Topics: Linux | 16 Comments »

How to Schedule a Ruby on Rails Rake Task Via Cron

Saturday, August 23, 2008

If you ever want to run a Rails Rake task on a schedule via cron, here is the entry you need to make in crontab:

*/5 * * * * cd /var/www/apps/rails_app/ && /usr/local/bin/rake RAILS_ENV=production rake_task:goes_here

The above snippet will run the given Rails Rake task using the production environment every 5 minutes. Note that you need to first change the directory path to your rails app and then call the rake task. This may all be common knowledge but it was new to me.

Topics: Linux | No Comments »

Benevolent Dictators

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Benevolent DictatorsYesterday I read a short white paper about some experiences with developing open source software for the Department of Defense (DoD.) It was a good read and relevant considering that we (Gestalt) have been pushing more and more of our software for the DoD coming out of the Joplin, MO office to the open source community. One of the points made in the paper was that successful open source projects need a benevolent dictator. I’ve always believed this to be true, but then I read Josh Berkus’ post on The Myth of The Benevolent Dictator and am not so sure now.

Josh Berkus is a lead developer for PostgreSQL. While MySQL often gets the glory, PostgreSQL has quietly earned respect by hardcore database people. I’m one of those people who has a lot of respect for the PostgreSQL project as a whole, so when one of the lead developers expresses a strong opinion I’m prone to listen. (Plus, the guy has one of the best first names ever.) Josh’s main point is that it’s too easy to say that successful open source projects need to have a benevolent dictator. There are all sorts of models that have succeeded. PostgreSQL is a democracy. Debian is a chaotic democracy. Apache is a bureaucracy. MySQL is a company. Java is a mixed bag of everything. But, it’s more fun to look to the benevolent dictator for quotes and it’s more convenient to sum up the success of open source project leadership in two words.

There has to be clear leadership for any software project, open source or not. I think the important thing to keep in mind is that open source software has been successful with various models of project leadership. The benevolent dictator is one model that has worked for Linux and others, but it is only one of many.

I realize this conclusion will likely disappoint one of my Gestalt comrades who sometimes fancies himself a benevolent dictator, but it had to happen sooner or later. At least he’ll always have “The Lovinator”, which is something that is ALL his and likely always will be. Dictate away!

Topics: Linux, Open Source | No Comments »

VirtualBox 1.4 is great (plus a fix for Vista guest networking)

Saturday, July 21, 2007

I was sceptical that VirtualBox, an open source desktop virtualization software package, could be a viable alternative to VMWare and Parallels. I’m happy to report that my early experiences with it have been fantastic. The biggest issue I had was with my Microsoft Vista Home Premium guest OS (i.e. an OS running inside of VirtualBox) not having a driver out-of-the-box for the network adapter VirtualBox and most of the other virtualization solutions use. Oh the irony. Windows has the driver problems, not Linux this time around. Ha!

I documented my issue and solution to the network driver problem on the VirtualBox issue tracker site. In order to get the word out just a bit more through the search engines, I’m posting my problem and solution here.

My setup:

Everything went fine until I tried to get networking on Vista working. I learned quickly that there are issues with Vista not supporting (out-of-the-box) the network card VirtualBox emulates (AMD PCnet Ethernet card.) The answer to this is to install the “Guest Additions”, go through the Windows “New Hardware Wizard” and point it to the CD drive, which should be an ISO image of drivers from the “Guest Addition” installer. However, when I followed this process Vista would go to install the driver and then freeze about 10 seconds into the install. The only thing I could do then was do a hard reset from the VirtualBox “File” menu. After trying numerous potential workarounds, I stumbled upon the solution:

  1. Go to VirtualBox and select the “Network” link under the “Details” tab for your Vista VM image
  2. In the Network Details tab select the appropriate network adapter (eth1 in my case) and then make sure you have these settings:
    1. Check “Enable Network Adapter”
    2. Select “Not attached” for the “Attached to” menu
    3. Check OFF the “Connected” checkbox
    4. Click OK to save the changes
  3. Start up Vista
  4. After you login, go to the VirtualBox “Devices” menu and select “Mount CD/DVD-ROM”->”CD/DVD-ROM Image”
  5. Select “VBoxAdditions.iso” and click “Select”
  6. From the “Start menu” right-click on “Computer” and select “Manage”
  7. Click on “Device Manager” to see all the devices
  8. Right click on your computer’s name in the “Device Manager” and select “Scan for hardware changes”
  9. You should be prompted to install a driver for your network controller
  10. When prompted, tell Windows to look for the driver on your CD driver under the “AMD_PCnet” directory on the drive
  11. Vista should successfully install the driver
  12. Shutdown Vista from the “Start Menu”
  13. Perform steps 1 & 2 (different sub-steps for 2 are below)
    1. Check “Enable Ethernet Adapter”
    2. Select “NAT” for the “Attached to” menu
    3. Check ON the “Connected” checkbox
    4. Click OK to save the changes
  14. Start up Vista and you should now have network connectivity

If you’ve had this problem with Vista as a guest OS using VirtualBox and these steps helped or didn’t help, please feel free to leave a comment.

Topics: Linux | 2 Comments »

::