Python has a good reputation for tasks like systems programming, network programming, and scripting, but Python for the web is becoming red hot. Part of this has to do with the very popular web framework Django, that was developed at a newspaper to help quickly create Content Management Sites. . Another reason is that Google App Engine–Google’s Cloud Computing offering for developers–only exposes a Python API.
If you are new to Python Web Development, then I’d recommend Django, as it is ideal for building CMS-type applications, social networking websites, and blogs. On the other hand, If you want a hacker’s framework, you might want to give Pylons a look.
Please note: By hacker, I am referring to the kind of hacker Eric Raymond refers to when he writes, “Becoming a hacker will take intelligence, practice, dedication, and hard work. Therefore, you have to learn to distrust attitude and respect competence of every kind. Hackers won’t let posers waste their time, but they worship competence — especially competence at hacking, but competence at anything is valued.”
Ok, so what problem does a hacker’s framework solve that a framework like Django doesn’t? According to some of the Pylons developers, their framework is geared to solve 80/20 problems. Most people—80% of people–want to build blogs, and CMS-type applications. And for that 80%, Django works just great. Of course, the other 20% is where Pylons comes in to play as a “hacker’s framework.” » Read more
co-authored with Grig Gheorghiu
The dd command is one of those ancient UNIX tools that is extremely powerful, yet at the same time, the syntax can make it feel slightly archaic. A lot of seasoned sysadmins and developers still remember the first time they saw the dd command used by a bearded wizard. He might have used it to test the disk I/O, capture a disk image, or restore it.
In some ways, dd can seem like Old Spice–only the guys over 60 use it. But the younger generation should know that dd still has some tricks up its sleeve. In this article, we’re going to put a new twist on this old favorite and show how grandpappy really does know best sometimes. The new twist is to mix dd with Python and the Google Chart API to make a UNIX 2.0 mashup tool. (“UNIX 2.0″ is a play on words for what happens when you change the original behavior of a tool like dd to make it do something a bit different.) » Read more
Are you sick of your ISP’s DHCP and want more control? Maybe you have a crusty Windows DHCP server that is about to blow up from the latest virus of the month or a series of “magic” GUI clicks gone horribly wrong.
Do a little spring cleaning, and solve your network problems with open source software. Setting up a DHCP server with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 or Fedora is a piece of cake. In this article we’ll go over the basics of setting up DHCP, doing basic troubleshooting, and finally setting up static mapping DHCP. » Read more
The phone rings. You pick it up, and it is the recruiter for your dream job. Your palms begin to sweat as the technical interview starts.
“You want to know the run-levels for Red Hat® Enterprise Linux® or Fedora®?” You pause, thinking. “Well, I use Linux every day, and I know single user mode is level 1…”. You stammer a bit, and say you’re drawing a blank for the rest. The recruiter thanks you in that “sorry” tone-of-voice, and hangs up the phone.
Let’s cross that question off the recruiter’s list forever. (Sorry, recruiters.) In this article, we cover how to create, use, modify, and ultimately master run-levels. Bookmark this page with your favorite bookmarking service, and rest easy about ever missing that interview question again.
Of course, there are more reasons to know about run-levels than just to pass an interview. Interacting with run-levels is quite useful once you get used to it. In this article we are going to cover the basics, and then go beyond that to create our own run-level that we write a script against. » Read more
Hey you, ya you! Do you write Bash scripts?
Come here, I have a secret to tell you.
Python is easy to learn, and more powerful than Bash. I wasn’t supposed to tell you this–it’s supposed to be a secret. Anything more than a few lines of Bash could be done better in Python. Python is often just as portable as Bash too. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any *NIX operating systems, that don’t include Python. Even IRIX has Python installed. » Read more
In a recent Red Hat Magazine article, Paul Frields gave some examples of how SSH port forwarding can be used to remotely gain access to resources, or ports, from a remote location. This article will show a pragmatic implementation of SSH port forwarding by demonstrating how to use configuration files and conditional statements to create permanent, yet dynamic, SSH configurations for your home, office, and any virtual machines you may have on your systems. » Read more
By and large, most Red Hat Linux systems will have Bash as the default shell. Bash is a darn great shell, but this article is about another equally great shell, called Z-Shell, that has most of the attributes of Bash, but in some cases goes the extra mile to give you the flexibility to customize your shell more than Bash allows.
This article is somewhat advanced, but if you’re very patient, with some effort, you will do just fine. Remember to make small changes, test them, and then make more small changes, test, and repeat. » Read more
Unless you have been living in an underground bunker, you have probably heard of Version Control, and possibly even Subversion (SVN). If you want to get the latest source code to compile it yourself, contribute to an open source project, keep track of files and documents, or work on the same document tree with a team of people, then you will need to use SVN. This article is not meant to be a substitute for the great documentation found at the Subversion website, but is instead meant to act as a quickstart guide to get regular folks over the hump of using SVN. SVN can seem very intimidating with its numerous command line switches and options, but it really isn’t all that complicated with a little practice.
A huge problem in most digital households is a growing collection of data without an easy way to share it and store it in one spot. Music. Movies. Pictures. Documents, backups, operating system images. Wow! Where do you put all of this stuff? » Read more
Now that everyone has mastered the basics of Squid, we are ready to have a little more fun. In case you missed it, we published Part I of this series recently. » Read more
