The State of Open-Source Monitoring

I've found this excellent presentation and comparison of opensource monitoring tools by Jason Dixon (GitHub). It's a must-read if you sometimes wonder what tool to choose, among the vast number to choose from.

Remarque agnostique sur Linux en entreprise

Pour avoir travaillé dans de nombreuses sociétés, il me semble évident que Linux représente une menace. Notez que je ne dis pas que c’est le choix de Linux qui représente une menace, car Linux n’est pas un choix. Linux est imposé par le marché. De plus en plus d’outils utilisent Linux, y compris des sociétés très respectables et des éditeurs de logiciels métier. Ce qui représente une menace, c’est le manque de réaction managériale face à l’arrivée de Linux.

Deux menaces principales existent :

• Le scénario de ne pas savoir intervenir en cas de panne, par faute de formation.
• Le scénario d’avoir tellement de Linux différents que l’on ne sait plus comment les gérer et que l’on multiplie les coûts.

Ces remarques s’étendent à Linux, à Mac OSX, aux BSD et aux autres sortes d’Unix.

Ma recommandation

Tout d’abord, cesser le déni et reconnaître que Linux est utilisé au sein de l'entreprise. Ensuite, accorder un crédit de temps *qui peut être de l’autoformation* à un ou plusieurs administrateurs système, pour se former à Linux.

Enfin, faire un certain nombre de choix concernant Linux, visant à éviter le chaos de la muliplication. Par exemple, le choix d’une ou deux distributions « supportées » par le service informatique et l’achat d’une suite logicielle permettant l’intégration des machines Linux aux outils centraux, y compris outils Microsoft.

Epiphany: Free Software = Lower Entry Barrier = Greater Risk of Project Failure

Discussing with a friend lead me to this epiphany: the reason why Free/Libre/OpenSource software is not used enough in traditional companies is that they invest too little in it. Not in money, but in time, thought and human resources.

Since FLOSS has a very low entry barrier (starting from just zero, up to prime class paying service from companies such as IBM), it tends to attract people and companies that want to invest very little in it. That's why they fail to make a great use of it.

Mem: I think there's a business model in just selling GPL software, without any added value, with the argument that the buyer will be more motivated to implement it well ;-)

Added Metasploit to my Free Software Stack

I've been working a lot with Metasploit lately, so I decided to add it to the "Free Software Stack" on the right of this site. It's always a pleasure to see Metasploit work :-)

CCL Programs in Notepad++

This refers to Cerner CCL (Cerner Command Language), not to Sybase CCL (Continuous Computation Language).
CCL is a SQL-like language, fitting in the environment of Cerner healthcare solutions. If you're using CCL in Notepad++, you might be interested in Rob Holland's CCL plugin for Notepad++. I used for auto-completion of keywords and I adapted the syntax highlighting to my own usage. You can download my little updates if you wish.

Been doing some reverse engineering

I've been reversing a Win32 PE executable lately, something I haven't been doing since I was 15. I found it quite easy. Much easier, indeed, than a few years ago. What's changed since then?

• The tools have changed. At the time, I used to master WinDASM and SoftICE, which are no more fashionable. It even seems that WinDASM has disappeared from the market. This time, I used HeavenTools' PE Explorer, which is a clear improvement on the latter.
• The PE format has not changed. Or, at least, nothing that matters in debugging.
• Windows is more stable than at the time, saving you many reboots ^^
• The compilers have not changed much. It seems that I could learn to recognize compilation styles of various compilers in very little time.
• Most of all, I've not changed. I can now remember very precisely why I quit reverse engineering software back then: because I prefer working with the source code and I prefer working in design or implementation modes rather than in debugging mode. I can now remember that I quit reverse engineering software approximately the same time as I started using GNU/Linux on my desktop.
  

I can clearly validate this view years later: though I'm happy to be able to reverse a binary, I think programming is more rewarding.

Microsoft Office and ODF: Best Practices

Sorry for yet another bookmark post, but knowing how often I hear about this kind of compatibility problem, I thought this article was rare enough to notice: Rob Weir details how to handle ODF (Google Docs, OpenOffice, LibreOffice...) in Microsoft Office, version by version, from Office 2000 to Office 2010.

Firesheep and forcing SSL

All that Firesheep buzz lead me to discover that a Firefox extension wraps your web traffic into SSL if the remote site supports it. Very simple, neat, idea. (Thanks to NetworkWorld and thanks you Jicé for first noticing.)

Disk full : Moving a Postgresql database data folder

For testing purposes, I set up a Postgresql 8.3 database on a Windows machine. The hard drive space was too little for the use, so I had to move the data folder to another location. (I could not use the saving mechanisms because the remaining space was not big enough even for the temporary files required for the operation.)

This proved to be quite easy. However, you cannot keep the database running.

1. You first stop the database service from the Windows from the Computer Management console,
2. Then move the data folder to a new location with more space,
3. Then modify the path in the config file postmaster.opts, in the data folder itself,
4. Then modify the path that's given to the service when it's launched by Windows : in the registry, edit the ImagePath string at key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\pgsql-8.3
5. Then restart the database service from the Computer Management console.

When I don't have a DNS

It just happened to me that the DNS of my ISP was down. Under a Ubuntu Intrepid Ibex (8.10) in a place where I damn needed the web.
In this case, you just have to ensure that you have a replacement DNS server, for instance, the public 4.2.2.4, which works very well so far. Edit the config file /etc/resolv.conf.auto and add the following lines:

nameserver my.usual.dns.ip
nameserver 4.2.2.4

After that, restart the networking service by:

# /etc/init.d/networking restart

and the web works again.

Opensource revolution: a map for good!

A dozen of free software personalities were gathered today in Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris, for a little mediatized meeting. The meeting took place in a little pub called "Billy Bob's". Richard Stallman, Eric Raymond, Linus Torvalds could be seen there, and there have been rumors about other personalities such as Alan Cox, Vincent-Xavier Jumel, Bruce Perens, the billionaire Mark Shuttleworth or even Andrew Tanenbaum.

The object of the meeting was to make a planning for managed discussions to settle all of the main ideological problems of the free software offer. Of course the first question was to draw a list of these problems. After easy jokes on the choice of VI or EMACS, the hackers (in the good meaning of the term) decided that a short list would be better, and that new items would be added up to this list if the meetings proved successful. They agreed on the following points:

• Settle for a common communication around the issues of dual license and mixt products [auth: such as MySQL]. The various typical reactions of the GPL defenders should be limited so as not to lessen the progress made by these products that are, all in all, positive for free software.
• Decide of milestones to generalize binary compatibility between all Linux distributions, FreeBSD and OpenBSD. (To non-technical readers, this means that a program compiled for one of the systems should work on the other.) [auth: I wonder if Andrew Tanenbaum's Minix is in the intended target ^^]
  
• Update the Linux Standard Base to recommend the use of APT rather than RPM.
• Decide of a weapon of embargo against constructors of videocards and other hardware that don't release opensource drivers.
• Possibly include a Window Manager in the Linux Standard Base recommendation. [auth: this point was very debatted.]

This project, codenamed Opensource Map For Good (OMFG), is great news for all the users of free desktops. Linus Torvalds himself accepted to become the manager of this series of meetings. He said the complete report would be available on Monday. Let's wish them all good luck!