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nfs: read-only-filesystem

Just another thing learned:

The two line -- in /etc/exports -- have different meaning 

/share 192.168.0.1 (rw)
/share 192.168.0.1(rw)

The first one gives read only to 192.168.0.1, and rw to any other hosts, while the second is gives read-write permissions to 192.168.0.1.

(So, whitespaces do matter. In NFS.)

  (More)

online ebook about autotools

The FSM posted the ebook as an article series: 

http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/books/autotools_a_guide_to_autoconf_automake_libtool

BTW: If you like it better "in paper", the ISBN for the paper version is 1593272065. (Or at least in Germany amazon it is "gonna be", as it is not yet available)

Eclipse Galileo (3.5.x) keeps crashing on closing dialogs

A Current problem with Eclipse is  that it keeps crashing when closing diaglog. At least under Gnome eclipse was barly usable and some features, like installing new plugins, was not possible.

The reason seems to deep inside, somehow related to libpango -- at least the backtrace indicated this -- (See Bugreport)

But there is a work around:

Disable Gnome's "Assitive Technologies" (Gnome's menu bar -> System -> Preferences -> Assitive Technologies), log out and in.

In my case it worked afterwards.

Bzr2Git -- make a git repositpry out of a bazaar one

I have used bazaar on my Thecus for my private projects. At that time, git was not available on Windows platforms.

However, during the development of solarpowerlog,  I learned that is not longer true, and after some time of usage I decided to finally switch everything to git. (bzr also showed some "hangs" on my thecus when commiting which were really annoying....

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Ebook on git

git is a quite complex version control system, which is very powerful but hard for starters.

I use it SCMs for at least 8 years now, starting with CVS at the university for my thesis, and in professional context with the propieraty MKS for 5 years.  But git is still different, and going beyond basics is not trivial. Therefore I am currently looking for a ebook on git, to deepen my knowledge on it.

I found  two:

The git community book explains everything, but is still hard. 

But I just realized, that there is a ebook in debian's repository, which is quite nice to read: the debian package is "gitmagic" and can be downloaded also here, including some translations.

Compacting a Virtualbox image

My Laptop is on the move: I finally decided to reinstall it as a consequence from a self-inflicted filesystem crash. But this is also a good chance to switch filesystems. This was also already on my list for some time.

While coping all data to a safe place, I tried to figure out how to compact the Virtual Box image I use once in a while -- as its containing XP guest bloated during its lifetime. So when doing the autumn cleanup, why I shouldnt also try to clean up that to?

Disclaimer: The instructions are conserving space very aggressivly. You should not follow them if you are unsure what you are doing.  Repeat: No safety pins attached! It may explode right into your face! You did backup, right?

With some help of google, here are the instructions to shrink a vdi, the image containing the guest Windows XP:

1. Merge all snapshots (optional, but for best results you should do it).Note: Click the topmost "parent" snapshot and use "discard snapshot" to actually merge all together.....)

2. Start the Guest XP and clean it up:

• Remove all unused programs.
• To see space-hogs, use a tool like WinDirStat. If you see that there are programms you need seldom but takes lots of space, consider "compressing" it (Can be enabled on the files property dialog, "advanced settings")
• Remove all Service-Pack and Windows Update folder (In the Windows directory, something like $NTServicePackUninstall$ or $NTUninstallKB<number>) Check Google for detailed instructions. 
• Empty the trash can
• Disable suspend-2-disk (hibernate) and virtual memory
• reboot the guest
• Defrag the guests' drive. Do it twice.
• Use nullfile (get it here) to fill unused sector with "easy to compress" zeros.
• Turn on again virtual memory and hibernation support. 
• Turn off the guest OS

Now, the vdi is ready to be compressed. 

Start a shell and execute this command to complete the operation:

VBoxManage modifyhd <path-to-your-VDI> compact
(for me its: VBoxManage modifyhd /home/tobi/.VirtualBox/VDI/WindowsXP.vdi compact)

Beware: This takes some time. So do not use it if you are in a hurry or on battery power ;-)

Einmalnummer.de dead.

"Einmalnummer.de" was a project that helpes Webmasters to ensure their privacy: In Germany you have to put a phone number on your site (or you might get sued). And "Einmalnummer" (translated one-time number) was perfect to protect your privacy, as no call center was able to use that number that fast.

But these times are gone: It seems that a governmental agency (the one responsible to regulate telecommunication -- The Bundesnetzagentur) had objections against the services....