svnlogger v0.1

This one is for the Unix freaks (that includes me !).  Remember the textual “ChangeLog” files we used to see in a lot of open source softwares ? It used to have the list of changes made to the software along with revisions number, contributor’s name and timestamp. I always liked the format of a particular kind of ChangeLog which showed all the details in a compact manner without losing any, helps me keep track of ‘What’s new!’ in my next version of the software. Anyways, so how do I make it ? For those of you who have been thinking that they’re hand-written, you’re so wrong ! After all, how can you expect an open source freak to do something ‘manually’ when he can easily automate any task in his computer using cool scripts ?? Anyways, usually they have some kind of Version Tracking System like CVS, SVN or GIT. I happen to use SVN most of the time, actually always, and since I needed to maintain a ChangeLog as well, I found there was a nice command called “svn log” which would generate a textual log of all the commits along with all the information I needed to see. Well, everything was there, but not in a way I wanted it to be. ‘svn log’ is good enough for ‘grep’ but not so good in terms of direct readability. So I wrote this small shell script that is basically a wrapper around the svn log but it uses AWK to reformat the data in a way I like it !

Copy paste the code below into a file called ‘svnlogger.sh’ and then execute it like

> sh svnlogger.sh <path-to-svn-repo> <path-to-changelog>

Ubuntu vs Fedora ?

Given a choice what will you chose, Ubuntu or Fedora ? Its one of the most arguable question among Linux Users. In this article, I try to talk about what I feel would be the best choice.

For those who have no idea about the title of this article – Ubuntu and Fedora, both are Operating Systems based on Open Source Linux Kernel. They are totally free of cost and belongs to a category called “FOSS” (Free and Open Source Software). Google for more.

I have been a frequent user of both Ubuntu and Fedora. While my laptop Dell Inspirton 1525 has both Ubuntu 9.04 Ultimate Edition 2.3 and Windows Vista Home Premium, I rarely use Windows. The only 2 things I open windows for are Microsoft Word and Gaming, because I feel that Sun’s OpenOffice is still too far behind the MS Word 2007 in terms of looks and user-friendliness and the Linux based Gaming is still in its infancy. Earlier I used to go to Windows for other needs as well like running HD Movies, using my Reliance/Tata Indicom Wireless Datacards, using Adobe PDF Reader, etc. but as soon as I grabbed the Ultimate Edition 2.3 , I almost forgot I had windows installed too!

According to my experience, Ubuntu is better than Fedora for normal desktop users. Ubuntu is officially a “home-based desktop operating system”, that is supposed to be user-friendly and provide all features that a desktop user requires like multimedia, networking, utility tools, office tools, etc. So in any case, if you’re a newuser on Linux, you should pick a flavour of Ubuntu. I’d recommend Ultimate Edition 2.3, which I am currently using. It has already got preinstalled all the softwares you’d ever need in your PC, except for games ofcourse. Even more, its looks are comparable with Windows and is more stable and user-friendly than other flavours. Besides, you can also pick among Linux Mint, Ubuntu 9.04, and others, but I don’t think anyone of them can beat Ultimate Edition in terms of preinstalled applications. Ubuntu flavours  in general, are simple, easy to use and user-friendly.

On the other hand, Fedora was actually a “sand-box” operating system when released, meant it was supposed to be for testing and experimenting Linux Softwares. It was never supposed to be for normal home based desktop users. Its meant for those who have advanced knowledge of Linux and can tweak fedora to their needs. However, with time it has incorporated lots of features meant for normal users which has made it the most widely linux OS used second only to Ubuntu.

When comparing security, both Fedora and Ubuntu provide you the same protection. Infact, any Linux based OS will give you security far better than that provided by Windows. I also include viruses, spamwares, adwares, etc while talking about security. Linux OS basically renders them non-executable in the first place, so no question arises of removing them.

All in all, I can summarize as follows :

If you’re a newcomer to Linux, use Ultimate Edition 2.3. You can also try Linux Mint, which has got even better GUI features but software-wise its little below Ultimate Edition.

For advanced users, who are ready to start off with the most stable Linux OS, just install Ubuntu 9.04 also known as “Jaunty Jackalope”. Ultimate Edition 2.3 uses Ubuntu 9.04 at its base, so I suggest its better than any other flavour. However, if you chose to install Ubuntu 9.04, you’d have to install every software, codecs you need by yourself. This may look to you as a negative point, yes it is if you don’t have a net connection, but otherwise, installing applications in Linux is as fast and simple as cutting a cake! Seriously, all you need to do is to open terminal and type the following command :
In Ubuntu :

sudo apt-get install packagename

In Fedora :

sudo yum install packagename

Thats all you have to do! Terminal will automatically download the software form the net and install it on your PC without you having to interfere in between. But you should know just one thing – the “package name”. Finding the exact package name will cose you less than 10 seconds in google.

In Ultimate Edition 2.3, you have got more than enough softwares than you’d actually need. There’s no point of having so many softwares ofcourse. I actually use less than 30% of the softwares available in Ultimate Edition.

Finally, for office users, Fedora should be the first choice. I am not sure why Fedora is best for office system, because personally I don’t find anything in Fedora that I can’t do better in Ubuntu. But still, people have their reasons to support Fedora over Ubuntu. No one has any concrete point but critics always say! Make your own choice and best of luck!

Still not sure, Click Here for answers!

The Linux

At the far end of Redmond
where the Grickle-grass grows
and the wind smells slow-and-sour when it blows
and no birds ever sing excepting old crows…
is the Street of the Lifted Linux

And deep in the Grickle-grass, some people say,
if you look deep enough you can still see, today,
where the Linux once stood
just as long as it could
before somebody lifted the Linux away.

What was the Linux?
And why was it there?
And why was it lifted and taken somewhere
from the far end of town where the Grickle-grass grows?
The old Gates-ler still lives here.
Ask him. He knows.

You won’t see the Gates-ler.
Don’t knock at his door.
He stays in his Lerkim on top of his store.
He lurks in his Lerkim, cold under the roof,
where he makes his own software
out of vapourware poof.
And on special dank midnights in August,
he peeks
out of the shutters
and sometimes he speaks
and tells how the Linux was lifted away.

He’ll tell you, perhaps…
if you’re willing to pay.