nixCraft Linux Sys Admin Blog

Open Source Programming Contest - Can You Code 24 Hours Non-Stop?

Posted: 19 Apr 2008 12:40 PM CDT

Hackontest is a 24 hour programming competition between various open source software projects. The event takes place at OpenExpo on September 24/25, 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland. The contest is sponsored by Google. From the contest page:

The participating teams may win cash prizes of USD 1000, 2500 and 5000. Next to fun and competition, the elected open source developers receive a free trip to Zurich, Switzerland, including accommodation and meals from September 23 - 26, 2008 up to USD 1000 each person.

The idea of the Hackontest event is three-fold:

First of all, hackers (=smart programmers) of open source projects meet physically during 24h and enhance their software with a certain feature. Thus their Free Software project gets improved in terms of code and the developers have a fun time meeting in one place and competing for some nice prizes.

Second, users of open source software get the opportunity to file features they've missed in their favorite applications and operating systems. Therefore, during the selection process everyone who registers may file feature requests and others may vote and comment on them.

And third, visitors of the Hackontest event get the chance to see the commitment and team work with which open source software is created. Like this, the public becomes more aware of the creative processes and the power of collaborative effort by international open source communities.

Hackontest web site (via ./)

The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Linux User

Posted: 19 Apr 2008 10:38 AM CDT

This blog post documents couple of good habits to become a highly effective Linux user:

Switching to Linux can be very daunting, most seasoned Linux users experienced that first hand. After all, at some point they were also "noobs". However, the Linux community has excelled in making the switch for beginners as easy as possible by providing guides, howtos, tweaks, and general advocacy articles. When I first made the switch 3 years ago, I found the community welcoming me with open hands on forums, IRC channels, and E-mail, I was surprised how helpful these penguins were!

=> The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Linux Users

Sun To Release New MySQL Version With Partitioning and Replication Features

Posted: 19 Apr 2008 09:29 AM CDT

MySQL's new owner, Sun Microsystems is planning to release new version by the end of the second quarter and will include new partitioning, replication, and event scheduling features. Also the new release will be supplemented with MySQL Workbench, a database design tool built from the open source DBDesigner4 project.

=> MySQL 5.1 Coming In June, Adds Partitioning, Replication

Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress

Posted: 19 Apr 2008 01:13 AM CDT

How do I fix error - "Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress" under Debian Linux Apache 2 server?

Answer to "Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension which is required by WordPress"