This is one of the links from my list of things to blog. It has been a while, but I came across this link and thought it was worthy of remembering:
Author: digitaleagle
Gnome 2.24 Released
I just saw this post which linked to the Gnome 2.24 Release Notes. It looks exciting. I like the time tracking tool. Several other features looked very exciting too.
Open Source Hosting Sites
I just found out that Sun is starting a new site to host Open Source code. So, I thought I would take this opportunity to list out the repositories of Open Source Code:
Then, I found that Wikipedia has an excellent comparison of the sites.
Introduction to Gnome-RDP
Gnome-RDP is a great tool for the linux desktop if you make remote connections to other PCs on a routine basis. It supports RDP, SSH, and VNC connections. Once you set up the connections, it stores the settings in a database. Then, you can easily connect to them with just a simple click.
Here are some screenshots so that you can see what it does and what it looks like before you use it.
Troubleshooting: RoadNav Map Download Error
I had an error today trying to download maps for Arkansas. I wish I could provide a fix, but all I can do at this point is raise awareness to the error.
The error read:
Error reading http://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/stategaz/AL_DECI.zip (An error occurred during negotiation).
I did find a bug open on the issue:
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/index.php?func=detail&aid=1683731&group_id=119594&atid=684486
Testing the SVN checkout
svn co https://roadnav.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/roadnav roadnav
When I ran ./configure, I got an error message about wxWindows. It said “checking for wxconfig… no”. I found that I needed to install libwxgtk2.6-dev (apt-get install libwxgtk2.6-dev). I also installed the 2.8 version. I don’t know which it used.
Here is how I compiled it — libroadnav first.
cd $HOME/bin/roadnav/libroadnav/trunck
./configure –prefix=$HOME/bin/roadnav
make
make install
Now just roadnav
cd $HOME/bin/roadnav/roadav/trunk
./configure –with-libroadnav=$HOME/bin/roadnav –prefix=$HOME/bin/roadnav
make
make install
Images in Thunderbird Signatures
Today, we were asked to include an image in our email signature. So, I had to do some quick digging around to make it work.
It really wasn’t hard at all. You just place the image somewhere on your hard drive. In your signature html file, use the absolute url to the path — something like: file://path/to/file.png.
Resources
WebDav and fstab
We have a webdav enabled web site that I wanted to connect to on a regular basis. I wanted it to mount on my filesystem as opposed to just using it in nautilus so that I could use meld to copy files to it.
So, I added a line to the end of /etc/fstab (sudo gvim /etc/fstab):
https://mywebsite/~docs /dir/to/mount/on davfs user,noauto,rw 0 0
Then, I added the following line to /etc/davfs2/secrets:
https://mywebsite/~docs myusername mypassword
Originally, I had just the unsecure http:// url. But, it gave me this error:
/sbin/mount.davfs: Mounting failed.
401 Unauthorized
I fixed it by changing the urls to https://.
When I mounted it as root, it worked fine. But, when I mounted it as my regular user, I got this message:
/sbin/mount.davfs: program is not setuid root
To fix it, I had to run this command:
sudo chmod u+s /sbin/mount.davfs
Then, I changed the file /etc/davfs2/davfs2.conf. I changed the dav_group setting. For me, I found a line that said “dav_group staff”. I replaced staff with my username, which is my default group. The thread I read mentioned using the users group.
Resources
Writing Eclipse Plugins
I found an excellent article about writing Eclipse plugins and publishing them on SourceForge. I hope to work on a project like this soon.
Oracle on Eclipse
I saw the new release today of Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse.
I found this quote on Oracle’s website:
Eclipse is one of several open source communities (Apache, PHP, and Glassfish are other examples) in which Oracle invests significant development resources. A Strategic Developer and Board Member of the Eclipse Foundation, Oracle is a leading participant in the Eclipse Web Tools Platform and Technology projects.
It is just interesting to me since I work with Oracle’s PeopleSoft software. I waiting for Eclipse to be used with PeopleSoft!
Jasper Reports
I have found Jasper Reports to be a great tool for allowing printing from Java-based applications. I am using the iReports tool to create the reports in a GUI mode much like Crystal Reports. Then, with a few lines of Java, I can display the report to view the report and allow him to print.
Right now, I am trying to figure out how to display totals on the page. I found this nice article explaining the basics:
Open Source Reporting with JasperReports and iReports (Totals on Page 3)