Archives for May, 2011
FluxBB username mods
May 26, 2011 (about 11 months ago)
I like FluxBB, I like it a lot. It has clean, easily hackable code and an active community, but best of all, it has huge potential. This potential is evident by how the FluxBB developers have tightly integrated their own forums into the rest of their website. The integration is seamless and very slick.
Having been thoroughly impressed by the FluxBB website, I spent some time over the last couple of nights playing around with the FluxBB codebase, trying to familiarise myself with how it works. While I was experimenting with it, I wrote a couple of simple modifications for the user registrations system. I submitted the mods to the FluxBB mods repository and they got accepted. I am not sure they will be overly useful to most FluxBB administrators, but I have been looking at how it is possible to integrate the forums into services running on the host machine and I thought the modifications would come in handy.
The first mod adds a list of reserved usernames, which is used to validate the usernames of new registrations. I thought this would be useful to stop users from registering names such as ‘root’, ‘administrator’, ‘www-data’ etc. See FluxBB reserved usernames for more details.
The second mod tries to ensure users only register names that are safe to integrate into system services, such as mail servers. See FluxBB safe usernames for more details.
In totally unrelated news, there is something really rather exciting happening in Lincoln, UK. I cannot divulge any details at the moment, other than that I am really hoping to be a part of it. Exciting times ahead, possibly. :)
Hello from France
May 17, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
Lately, I have been quite busy applying for new jobs. Applying for new positions can be a time-consuming pastime, preparing a CV, writing covering letters and completing application forms requires some degree of concentration, and perseverance. So, whilst checking my mail and taking a much needed break from the form-filling, I was delighted to find a message that made me smile:
SUBJECT: hello from france
Hello Philip,
Just a quick word to say thanks for #!. What you’ve achieved is amazing.
This is how I got round to using it…
I’m a reasonably competent amateur user who mainly writes articles, takes photos, prepares slideshows, sends emails and surfs the web. I was sick of defragmenting and cleaning all the family’s Windows machines every Sunday morning (more paranoia than necessity I imagine, but still time consuming). Over the past 4 years I’ve progressed through various versions of Ubuntu and Mint, and played with a lot more. I’m writing this on Debian LXDE (quite nice but won’t use it much). I’ve only managed to get my daughter to use Linux all the time, but I’ve installed Debian for my father-in-law’s “surfing” PC.
I like (old) Gnome, but it was getting slower on my 5 year-old machine and Open Office was taking forever to open (quick launcher doesn’t work well with Gnome, you have to switch it off if you want to shut down the computer). So I’m really enjoying the speed and stability of Statler, and I also like customizing the menu and removing unwanted packages whenever I want.
The theme is refreshingly clean and beautiful, but if I’m honest I’d really prefer a lighter one for the browser start page.
My processor is a single core AMD 64, but 32-bit Statler feels more robust (difficult for a non-dev to explain why) and it gives no error messages during startup.
Apart from that I give English lessons, promote bicycles / alternative transport and don’t have a TV (last one broke 22 years ago). I am a town councilor in Albi (SW France, recently added to UNESCO world-heritage list).
As you may have realized, I find that life is more interesting when you do something a little different from other people.
Anyway, I really liked the new interview. Best of luck with whatever projects you have, they are bound to be good.
Best wishes, Steve
PS If by any chance you chat to Steve Lawson or Dan, please tell them that I miss their distro reviews. Maybe they’ve just stopped hopping and settled for Statler…
:)
Steve made my night with his message and it gave me a nice little moral boost. I guess like anyone who spends a lot of time sat in front of a terminal, I sometimes feel quite disconnected from the world, and messages like Steve’s help to reconnect. I always find it interesting to read about other peoples experience with CrunchBang, but more so when the person provides a little insight into their own life (such as Steve’s interest in alternative transport and his 22 year freedom break from the idiot-box).
So, if anyone is out there and they are wondering how they can contribute to their favourite project, whether it be a Linux distro, application, podcast or whatever, I would encourage them to send a nice message like Steve’s. It is a simple thing to do, but if the project developers are anything like me, I am sure they would really appreciate it!
P.S. Somewhat obviously, I am not actually fishing for anyone to send me more messages, but developers of other projects! ;)
CrunchBang interview with Darth Wound
May 13, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
A while ago, I was contacted by Darth Wound with regards to answering some questions for an interview about CrunchBang. Now, being asked to do interviews about CrunchBang is not unusual, I must receive several a month at the moment, but I know Darth Wound through the excellent work he is doing with the French CrunchBang forums, so I was more than happy to try and answer his questions.
Darth Wound has published the interview in French on #!-FR, so I thought it might be a good idea to post it here, in English.
DW: Hi Philip :) please could you introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Philip Newborough (aka corenominal). I live in Lincoln, UK. I am a geek.
DW: So, you are the founder of CrunchBang Linux, could you tell us why did you do this distro, what were your motivations (problems on other distros?)?
When I first started working on CrunchBang, I was using Ubuntu, but with Openbox built from a minimal Ubuntu installation CD. My Ubuntu install differed quite dramatically from the standard Ubuntu GNOME, KDE and Xfce versions that were available at the time, so I thought it might be fun to try and create an installable image based around the Openbox Window Manager.
DW: Why Ubuntu-based, and now, Debian-based? Same question about Openbox and Xfce.
CrunchBang was originally based on Ubuntu because that is what I was using at the time; however, I have now switched CrunchBang to Debian because it is easier to work with — Ubuntu has a mission and the Ubuntu developers sometimes make additional changes to some Debian packages specifically so that Ubuntu can accomplish its mission. These changes can lead to problems for anyone like myself who is trying to work with the modified packages, but does not necessarily want to follow the same mission path as Ubuntu. Therefore, removing Ubuntu from the equation seemed like the logical thing to do.
I am really happy that I made the switch and I am pleased with how the latest Debian based CrunchBang has developed.
Regarding Openbox and Xfce, I really love both. I am currently spending more time in Xfce than Openbox, but in a few months time I could be using Openbox more than Xfce. Both are fantastic and I cannot decide which one I prefer, hence the 2 versions of CrunchBang. :)
DW: How (technically) did you do this? Any inspiration from another distro/OS/something else?
I use the Debian Live build scripts to create the CrunchBang images. The Debian Live project is simply fantastic. It is highly flexible and provides infinite possibilities for customising Debian in any way desired — the Debian Live developers should be applauded for creating and maintaining such an invaluable resource. More information about the project can be found at: http://live.debian.net/
Regarding inspiration, when I first started using Openbox, before the first CrunchBang release, I was heavily inspired by the Openbox guide on Urukrama’s blog. See: http://urukrama.wordpress.com/openbox-guide/
DW: Could you define the “crunchbang spirit”? Do you know that you are an underground prophet of minimalism? :D
I am not sure there is a “crunchbang spirit”, but if I had to describe such a thing, I would probably say that it is to explore, experiment and create, and to have lots of fun whilst doing it! :)
“underground prophet of minimalism”, *chuckles*.
DW: Except for CrunchBang, what are your favorites distros, and why?
I like them all, but I am really fond of Puppy Linux. There is something about Puppy which really appeals to me and I think it encapsulates the Linux spirit. SliTaz and Tiny Core Linux also fall into the same category. Mostly though, I just love the Debian project.
DW: The latest release of CBL is dated on February, is another release planned soon? Or any ideas for new features/packages/something else…?
As you are probably aware, Statler, the latest CrunchBang release, is based on Debian Squeeze, which is stable. At the moment, I am not planning on developing Statler any further, but I may push out some point releases with updated packages.
The next development release of CrunchBang will be named Waldorf and it will be based on Debian Wheezy, the current Debian testing branch. I have a few ideas I am working on for Waldorf, but nothing concrete yet. Mostly, I would like to work on improving the Xfce desktop experience, which I somewhat neglected in Statler.
DW: A lot of members of both communities were surprised about your choice of Google Chrome, and not Chromium (or Iceweasel). Could you answer to them?
I am a pragmatist and I try to use the best software for the job, which at the time was Google Chrome. At the moment, I am still using Chrome, but I also have Firefox 4 installed and I can be found using both. I think we are really lucky to have the choice of using lots of awesome browsers under Linux.
DW: I’ve heard about another of your projects, “Whird”. Could you tell us more about it?
Whird is just a little pet project that I like to tinker at in my spare time. It is software for creating websites and it is written in PHP. I am developing it for my own use, it runs my blog and a few other sites. It is quite flexible/hackable, but it is also very rough around the edges and so I do not think that I would recommend anyone uses it in its current form, unless they are really comfortable with experiencing breakages and problems.
At some point in the future, I am thinking about using Whird for the CrunchBang project, as the CrunchBang website is in dire need of some love and attention — it would also serve as a really good test for Whird.
DW: Have you got any other project for “geeks”?
Not that I can think of, or at least not anything I can talk about just yet. I have a few projects in the pipeline (doesn’t everyone?), but they are a long way from being realised.
DW: Could you give us a screenshot of your actual desktop?
Sure thing, see:
Clean: http://muppy.org/1y
Dirty: http://muppy.org/1x
^ Xfce 4.6 environment on my main desktop machine.
DW: What do you do when you’re not on your computer?
Mostly spend time relaxing with my family. My wife (Becky (aka bobobex)) and I love walking in the countryside with our dog (Daisy (aka wonderdog)) and geocaching. I also enjoy listening to music, watching movies (mostly zombie based) and drawing/doodling.
DW: And, in order to conclude, have you got something particular to tell to the francophone (french speaking) community?
Thank you for embracing CrunchBang. I am of the opinion that the single best thing about CrunchBang is the community that has grown-up around the project. I have met lots of interesting new friends through the project and it never ceases to amaze me just how friendly, kind and welcoming the community is. For example, just this morning I was chatting on Skype with a good friend from France, Arpinux, who I would never have had the pleasure of talking with if it were not for CrunchBang.
Without the community, CrunchBang would not exist. You rock!
P.S. I wish I knew how to converse in French!
DW: Thanks Philip, and may the force stay with you!
My pleasure, and may you live long and prosper! :)
Au revoir mon ami,
— Philip
Random Muppy, feeling lucky?
May 8, 2011 (about 1 year ago)
I have been using Muppy for my personal URL shortening needs for a couple of months now. As URL shortening services go, Muppy is nothing special, but I have found it a useful replacement for the ur1.ca service, which I was previously using. I mainly use my Muppy instance in 2 distinct ways:
- By way of a Whird hook which sends a dent to my Identi.ca account whenever I post an entry on my blog.
- By way of a WWW browser bookmarklet, which I use for linking to content that I find amusing/interesting.
Anyhow, it occurred to me that it might be fun to be able click a button/link and have my WWW browser directed to a random URL from Muppy’s database. So, this morning I coded the new feature and pushed up a new revision. Then I remembered that I had forgotten to actually put a link to the new feature within Muppy’s default output, doh, so I pushed up another quick revision.
Are you feeling lucky, punk? If so, visit muppy.org, and click on the “Feeling Lucky?” link to have your WWW browser directed to a random URL from my personal Muppy database.
Note, if you are really feeling bored or crazy enough to actually want to do this, you should be aware that you could end-up back here (which might be somewhat confusing), or you could end-up somewhere cool, or somewhere not safe for work!