Bare minimun Emacs

Installed these today on a couple of servers where I was really struggling with that damn vi thingy...

sudo rpm -ivh emacs-common-21.4-20.el5.i386.rpm \
emacs-nox-21.4-20.el5.i386.rpm

This is all it takes, about 12 MB of space.

A magnificent update

Well, well, well...
Take a look at who got an update, no other than the mighty mighty Emacs!
This shitty and totally exhausting day got a bit of a reward in the end, it seems, not, after the install, Emacs launches even faster on my Thinkpad.

(BTW, this is totally a Pro Emacs blog, if you haven't noticed yet...)

Lucid on a VM

Installed Lucid on a VM on Tango to give it a spin.

I think Tango is getting really old, and with a small share of hardware problems nowadays... The CD ROM hardly works, to begin with...

The VirtualMachine on Tango is 3 GB in size and 512 of RAM, and the whole thing it was simply SWAP time fest..

The only thing I like about summer

And even so, maybe...

The current state of my plants, my pride & joy, they are passing thru a really good state right now, specially if you compare it to the barren wasteland that the balcony used to be (link 1, link 2 & link 3)

Option-less Global Menu

I'm a great fan of Global Menu, not only for the Os X root (bah, the Apple root really) but also because it saves a lot of screen real state, something that in my experience, you can never have enough of it.

Now, I've noticed that right after you install it (or after disabling and enabling once again after the initial installation) it offers no options at all, just like on the screenshot above.

The solution I'm using at the moment, far from perfect, is to logout, and back in right after enabling it, it fixes the whole thing in a jiffy.

19" of Gnome glory!

Attached my trusty and old Samsung monitor, a SyncMaster 920NW, to the Thinkpad.

Everything worked like a charm, right from the get go... I'm using it as the main monitor, switching off the Thinkpad's own LCD.
Yep, the Thinkpad's keyboard it is a incredible pleasure to use, but the poor little beast gets unbearably hot for my taste.

Of course, I'm still using the AlunDark Metacity theme...

More on the AlunDark theme

I really like this Window Manager, it seems sharp and thin at the same time, with almost, almost, no borders at all.
One thing, tho, the title bars are dark, so I found easier to work with light colored wallpapers on this one (the same goes for the upper Gnome Panel).
I don't like at the GTK theme that comes with the download, way too dark, and, on top of that, by default all the Panel fonts are bold.

SU Mystery Theater (19)

Turned on Thor today, and installed updates... So far, so good.
The huge monitor is a blessing, but the thing is slooooooow, even compared with the Thinkpad T43, which it is not a speed demon herself...

Window shopping on a rainy Sunday

New Metacity theme glory!
AlunDark

Nice, clean, subtle ;)

Advertising everywhere

It is not enough with the pre-previews, now they are adding advertising to the freaking DVD as well... And this is not a freebie, it is a totally legit rented DVD from Blockbuster...
I remember during my holidays, I noticed that the wakeup call in the hotel was sponsored, Ok, I sort of dig that... But this is ridiculous.

Good bye summer

May you rot in hell...

Pretty busy lately, but I couldn't let this go by unnoticed...

Today the summer is officially dead, over, finito, and to celebrate the occasion, we're having a rainy -thunderstormy, actually- day in Bs As.

Install MRTG on CentOS

Installed this morning on a remote server, it already had a basic setup of Apache up & running.

# rpm --test -ivh mrtg-2.14.5-2.i386.rpm 
warning: mrtg-2.14.5-2.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID e8562897
error: Failed dependencies:
 perl-Socket6 is needed by mrtg-2.14.5-2.i386
 perl-IO-Socket-INET6 is needed by mrtg-2.14.5-2.i386
# rpm --test -ivh mrtg-2.14.5-2.i386.rpm perl-Socket6-0.19-3.fc6.i386.rpm perl-IO-Socket-INET6-2.51-2.fc6.noarch.rpm 
warning: mrtg-2.14.5-2.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID e8562897
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]

Tron Legacy

I can't effing wait to see this one...

Haven't been to a theater in years (I'm a effing disaster socially wise) missed "The Road" (link 1 link 2) at the cinema in the US during my holidays, and I'm not sure that they are going to show it on cinemas around here...

But this one, I won't missed it, not in a million years.

70 High Resolution Photos from Tron Legacy

Installing Virtualbox on a headless server

Had to install VirtualBox in a jiffy on a server, a totally quick and dirty thing to get a couple of things tested. The CentOS server in question did not had an internet connection, so all the RPM packages I wgeted are downloaded to another box, and rsynced to the CentOS server for installation.

Here are the steps I took...
The CentOS server was running:

CentOS release 4.2 (Final)
Linux centosserver.something.something 2.6.9-22.0.2.ELsmp #1 SMP Tue Jan 17 07:10:04 CST 2006 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux

First off, the VirtualBox dependency:

# rpm -ivh xorg-x11-Mesa-libGLU-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm SDL-1.2.7-8.i386.rpm 
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
   1:SDL                    ########################################### [ 50%]
   2:xorg-x11-Mesa-libGLU   ########################################### [100%]

And then, the VirtualBox package itself:

# rpm -ivh VirtualBox-3.1-3.1.4_57640_rhel4-1.i386.rpm 
warning: only V3 signatures can be verified, skipping V4 signature
Preparing...                ########################################### [100%]
   1:VirtualBox-3.1         ########################################### [100%]
warning: only V3 signatures can be verified, skipping V4 signature

Creating group 'vboxusers'. VM users must be member of that group!

No precompiled module for this kernel found -- trying to build one. Messages
emitted during module compilation will be logged to /var/log/vbox-install.log.

Success!

Add a regular user to the vboxuser group:
usermod -G vboxusers regular.user.who.can.use.virtualbox

The test does not work at all (as expected, actually):

$ VirtualBox &
[1] 31929
$ Failed to open the X11 display!

So, onto to install a X11 working environment:

# rpm --test -ivh xorg-x11-tools-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-xauth-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm 
error: Failed dependencies:
        xorg-x11 is needed by xorg-x11-tools-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
    Suggested resolutions:
        xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm

# rpm --test -ivh xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm
error: Failed dependencies:
        /usr/X11R6/bin/mkfontdir is needed by xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
        /usr/X11R6/bin/xauth is needed by xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
        /usr/sbin/chkfontpath is needed by xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
        base-fonts is needed by xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
        xinitrc is needed by xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
        xorg-x11-xfs = 6.8.2-1.EL.13.20 is needed by xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
    Suggested resolutions:
        chkfontpath-1.10.0-2.i386.rpm
        fonts-xorg-base-6.8.1.1-1.EL.1.noarch.rpm
        xinitrc-4.0.14-1.noarch.rpm
        xorg-x11-font-utils-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm
        xorg-x11-xfs-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm

wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/chkfontpath-1.10.0-2.i386.rpm && \
wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/fonts-xorg-base-6.8.1.1-1.EL.1.noarch.rpm && \
wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/xinitrc-4.0.14-1.noarch.rpm && \
wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/xorg-x11-font-utils-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm && \
wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/xorg-x11-xfs-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm

chkfontpath-1.10.0-2.i386.rpm fonts-xorg-base-6.8.1.1-1.EL.1.noarch.rpm xinitrc-4.0.14-1.noarch.rpm xorg-x11-font-utils-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-xfs-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm 

# rpm --test -ivh chkfontpath-1.10.0-2.i386.rpm fonts-xorg-base-6.8.1.1-1.EL.1.noarch.rpm xinitrc-4.0.14-1.noarch.rpm xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-font-utils-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm  xorg-x11-tools-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-xauth-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-xfs-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm 
error: Failed dependencies:
        switchdesk >= 3.7 is needed by xinitrc-4.0.14-1.noarch
        /usr/bin/ttmkfdir is needed by xorg-x11-xfs-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386
    Suggested resolutions:
        switchdesk-4.0.6-3.noarch.rpm
        ttmkfdir-3.0.9-14.1.EL.i386.rpm


wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/switchdesk-4.0.6-3.noarch.rpm && \
wget http://vault.centos.org/4.2/os/i386/CentOS/RPMS/ttmkfdir-3.0.9-14.1.EL.i386.rpm

# rpm -ivh chkfontpath-1.10.0-2.i386.rpm fonts-xorg-base-6.8.1.1-1.EL.1.noarch.rpm xinitrc-4.0.14-1.noarch.rpm xorg-x11-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-font-utils-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm  xorg-x11-tools-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-xauth-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm xorg-x11-xfs-6.8.2-1.EL.13.20.i386.rpm switchdesk-4.0.6-3.noarch.rpm ttmkfdir-3.0.9-14.1.EL.i386.rpmPreparing...                ########################################### [100%]
   1:xorg-x11-font-utils    ########################################### [ 10%]
   2:ttmkfdir               ########################################### [ 20%]
   3:xorg-x11-xfs           ########################################### [ 30%]
   4:chkfontpath            ########################################### [ 40%]
   5:fonts-xorg-base        ########################################### [ 50%]
   6:switchdesk             ########################################### [ 60%]
   7:xorg-x11-xauth         ########################################### [ 70%]
   8:xorg-x11               ########################################### [ 80%]
   9:xinitrc                ########################################### [ 90%]
  10:xorg-x11-tools         ########################################### [100%]

After the base install

A couple of extra programs I like to add to the list of programs to be installed after a base install:

sudo aptitude install unrar rar
sudo aptitude install gip

The current Ubuntu desktop

Yes, the next Ubuntu release madness has bitten me already... Let's just hope for a great Ubuntu release.

Uncompressed copy on Image Shack

VirtualBox on Karmic

Installed it yesterday, for testing some stuff on a Windows 2000 Pro host.
Tried using the stock one from the Ubuntu repos, but, it didn't work for me, maybe I was doing something wrong...

$ sudo aptitude install virtualbox-3.0 
[sudo] password for esteban: 
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
No candidate version found for virtualbox-3.0
No candidate version found for virtualbox-3.0
No packages will be installed, upgraded, or removed.
0 packages upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 5 not upgraded.
Need to get 0B of archives. After unpacking 0B will be used.
Writing extended state information... Done
Reading package lists... Done             
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done

So I head for the source VirtualBox downloads, and followed the instructions provided, and in less than 30 minutes I got the whole thing up & working...
First off, added the entry to my repos list:

$ sudo emacs /etc/apt/sources.list

Added this at the very end of file:

deb http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/debian karmic non-free

Then, downloaded and imported the key:

$ sudo apt-key add sun_vbox.asc

And, after all that, refreshed the list:

$ sudo aptitude update

After that, it was a simple installation:

$ sudo aptitude install virtualbox-3.1
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  dkms{a} fakeroot{a} libqt4-network{a} libqt4-opengl{a} libsdl-ttf2.0-0{a} patch{a} virtualbox-3.1 
0 packages upgraded, 7 newly installed, 0 to remove and 5 not upgraded.
Need to get 45.6MB of archives. After unpacking 91.4MB will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n/?] 

Processing triggers for ureadahead ...
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for man-db ...
Setting up libqt4-network (4.5.3really4.5.2-0ubuntu1) ...

Setting up libqt4-opengl (4.5.3really4.5.2-0ubuntu1) ...

Setting up virtualbox-3.1 (3.1.4-57640_Ubuntu_karmic) ...
Adding group `vboxusers' (GID 122) ...
Done.
Messages emitted during module compilation will be logged to /var/log/vbox-install.log.
Success!
 * Starting VirtualBox kernel module                                                                                 *  done.

Setting up dkms (2.1.0.1-0ubuntu1) ...
 * Running DKMS auto installation service for kernel 2.6.31-19-generic                                               *  vboxdrv (3.1.4)...                                                                                       [ OK ] 
 *  vboxnetadp (3.1.4)...                                                                                    [ OK ] 
 *  vboxnetflt (3.1.4)...                                                                                    [ OK ] 

Setting up fakeroot (1.12.4ubuntu1) ...
update-alternatives: using /usr/bin/fakeroot-sysv to provide /usr/bin/fakeroot (fakeroot) in auto mode.

Setting up libsdl-ttf2.0-0 (2.0.9-1build1) ...

Setting up patch (2.5.9-5) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place
Reading package lists... Done             
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Reading extended state information      
Initializing package states... Done
Writing extended state information... Done

Don't snub for me, Argentina

I love this... I was looking around for what sort of repercussion, if any, had the the Hillary Rodham Clinton overnight stay in Argentina...
Haven't found much, but this one is golden: Argentina Asks US Help to End Falklands Spat

Clinton had planned to see Fernandez in Montevideo, and then only briefly, where they both attended the inauguration of new Uruguayan President Jose Mujica. There had been grumbling in Argentina that Clinton's original decision to skip Buenos Aires was a snub.

I still remember the first Malvinas war, I was about 10, the most vivid thing I recall, the day the war started, was a car full of over excited fellow Argentinians waving flags, shouting, and proudly bearing a painted swastika on the car door, needless to say, that car was rushing towrds Plaza de Mayo to celebrate that the islands were once again with the righteous owners.

One thing, tho, at least the Malvinas war was fought in part, and least if you listen to the Argentina propaganda, because of the krill, the food of the future, for the over populated planet about to collapse.

This time things are not as romantic, and the whole "spat" is for the dirty oil.