Re: [Boston.pm] Composable External Processes in Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

This weekend, I plan on spending a little time on I::P::C and so here
is my response to Shlomi's commentary:

On Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 10:39 AM, Shlomi Fish  wrote:
> In
> https://github.com/Hercynium/IPC-Pipeline-Composable/blob/master/lib/IPC/Pipeline/Composable.pm
>  :
>
> sub ipc_pipeline {
>  my ($class, @procs) =
>    !eval { $_[0]->isa(__PACKAGE__) } ? (__PACKAGE__, @_) :
>    blessed($_[0]) ? (__PACKAGE__, @_) :
>    @_;
>
> Seems like $procs[0] will always be $_[0] except for the last case.
> Furthermore, the two first results are identical and should be merged. Maybe
> this code is too clever for its own good.

I agree. I initially did it for convenience in prototyping and
testing. In the redesign, this will stop being a chimera sub (my term
for a sub that serves simultaneously as class method, object method,
and function) and end up being purely a function. It will actually
live in I::P::C::Functions, much like the exported subs in
File::Spec::Functions.

> Later on in the same function you have:
>
>  return $class->new(
>    procs => [ map {
>      # IPC::Process object can be used as-is
>      eval { $_->isa("${class}::Process") } ? $_ :
>      # IPC object needs its processes extracted
>      eval { $_->isa($class) } ? ($_->procs) :
>      # If it's a non-ref, try to stringify and use that as the process spec
>      ! ref($_) ? ${ \"${class}::Process" }->new(cmd_str => $_) :
>      # Initialize a Process object from an arrayref
>      reftype($_) eq 'ARRAY' ? ${ \"${class}::Process" }->new(cmd => 
> shift(@$_), args => $_) :
>      # Initialize a Process object from a subref
>      reftype($_) eq 'CODE' ? ${ \"${class}::Process" }->new(cmd => $_) :
>      # unknown argument? DIE!
>      die "unhandled type passed to ipc_pipeline!\n";
>      # TODO: handle placeholders for processes
>    } @procs ]); }
>
> I think all this is too complex to be placed in map when it's not extracted.
> Furthermore, I also think that you risk cloberring "$_", and I would suggest
> assigning it to a lexical variable.

I agree this needs to be redesigned. It should go away completely when
I make everything OO and simply dispatch actions based on the ->isa().
In that case it will just be a hash, and that design should also allow
for some interesting opportunities for extensibility.

> Finally, why are you using ${ \"..." } instead of just "..."?

Ah, good catch! Each $class var there was originally __PACKAGE__ and
then I realized how dumb that was and replaced it wil something only
slightly less dumb :)

> Moving on:
>
> [CODE]
>
> # allow exported subs to be called as functions, or object/class methods.
> sub __func_meth_args {
>  return
>    !eval { $_[0]->isa(__PACKAGE__) } ? (__PACKAGE__, @_) : # function call
>    blessed($_[0]) ? (__PACKAGE__, @_) : # object method call
>    @_; # class method call
> }
>
> [/CODE]
>
> This seems like duplicate code to what I've commented about before, and I
> believe that a CGI.pm-like subroutines that are callable either as methods or
> as non-OOP functions and procedures is not a good idea. If you do want to
> provide a procedural wrapper, then you should put it in another namespace.

Agreed!

> [CODE]
> # This is so non-portable... I can't find a CPAN dist for this???
> sub __proc_path_from_fh {
>  return
>    $OSNAME =~ /Linux/i ? "/proc/self/fd/".fileno(shift) :
>    $OSNAME =~ /MacOS|darwin/i ? "/dev/fd/".fileno(shift) :
>    return;
> }
> [/CODE]
>
> You have a small amount of duplicate code there and you're also doing
> "return return;", which doesn't make a lot of sense. Since this code also
> only supports Linux and Mac OS X, I would suggest taking a look at the
> source for GNU Bash and/or similar portable shells and see how they are
> doing it. You may also wish to consider extracting this functionality into its
> own self-contained CPAN distribution.

Luckily, I think I've decided to *not* support this functionality
since I've learned that doing so cross-platforms would be a nightmare
I simply don't want to face right now,

> That's it for now, but I haven't reviewed the code thoroughly. As a general
> impression, I would say that it seems a little too clever for my taste.

I'm guessing that's why it isn't yet on the CPAN! ;-P (/me invokes his
sense of hubris to make this joke)


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Re: [Boston.pm] Composable External Processes in Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

Indeed, I've made some changes in that direction already. The code lives in 
github (user Hercynium) as IPC::Pipeline::Composable. I think I now know what 
the classes will look like, and I will create those while preserving the 
existing exportable functions 'cause they've grown on me.

Classes will also make some things easier to test, too!

The code might be a good candidate for review/hacking/critique at a Boston.pm 
meeting, and I welcome any suggestions via this list or my own email, of course.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Capturing stderr on Windows

[Steve Scaffidi]

Try the Capture::Tiny module on the CPAN. It works very well. 

On Mar 29, 2012, at 3:08 PM, Nilanjan Palit  wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm running a system command from within a Perl script and need to capture 
> both stdout and stderr. The `$cmd 2>&1` redirection, which works on Unix 
> platforms, does not seem to work on Windows -- it only captures stdout while 
> stderr still gets dumped to the console. Is it possible to capture stderr 
> directly from inside Perl on Windows platforms? Thanks, -Nilanjan 
>   
> 
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[Boston.pm] Composable External Processes in Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

So, recently I ended up having to write a whole lot of shell (bash),
and it sucked. However, it seemed like a necessity for that task
because bash (and most other ksh-family shells) has a killer feature -
process substitution.

If you're not familiar with it, here's an example:

echo "compressed file attached" | mutt -a <(gzip -c /some/file) -s
"that data you wanted" -- j...@example.net

This one line emails a compressed copy of /some/file to Joe. But
notice how we compress the file in-line? Bash process substitution
works line this: bash sees the process-substitution syntax, the <(...)
part, and knows to create a temporary fifo, which will be written to
by gzip's stdout. Before running mutt, it substitutes the path to the
fifo in place of the <(...) command. No need for you to manage a temp
file on your own, and multiple files can be compressed simultaneously
if you're attaching more than one!

I know, pretty slick, right? You can do it for output as well!

  cat /some/huge/file \
  | tee \
>(gzip -c /some/huge/file.gz) \
>(md5 > /home/huge/file.md5) \
>(shasum -a 256 > /home/huge/file.sha) \
  >/dev/null

The huge file is read only once, and your multi-core box is hashing
and compressing simultaneously!

At some point I went looking on the CPAN for something that would let
me do this sort of thing easily in Perl, but sadly, to no avail. I
didn't want to bother with anything too complicated, and I wanted
simple, clean syntax. OO would be OK, but not preferable unless really
done right. So, I searched high and low and found... Nothing.

Of course there were modules that had a lot of potential, and
certainly things that could be used as the foundation for building the
functionality on my own, but nothing that allowed me to express
shell-like process substitution out-of-the-box!

So I started writing it myself... I was inspired by the API and code
in IPC::Pipeline and so I stole much of it for my own and built upon
that.

So.. I now have a working implementation! However, I'm not sure about
the interface/API I've created. I would definitely like some feedback
on the examples below, and any ideas people might have on how to
improve it or make it more flexible. This is important because at this
point I'm ready to add some more features, and I want to build out my
test suite, but having to re-write all my tests because the API needs
to change would just plain suck.

Here's an example of the email shell example from above, but using the
API I have right now:

  pipeline(
  sub { print "compressed file attached" },
  ['mutt', '-a', procsub('<', 'gzip', '-c', $some_file), '-s',
'that data you wanted', '--', 'j...@example.net'],
  )->run();

Another way to do it:

  pipe my ($r, $w);
  pipeline(
  ['mutt', '-a', procsub('<', 'gzip', '-c', $some_file), '-s',
'that data you wanted', '--', 'j...@example.net']
  )->run( source => $r );
  print $w "compressed file attached";
  close $w;

One last version:

  my $gzfile = procsub('<', 'gzip', '-c', $some_file); # does not run, yet
  my $pl = pipeline(
  sub { print "compressed file attached" },
  ['mutt', '-a', $gzfile, '-s', 'that data you wanted', '--',
'j...@example.net']);
  $pl->run();


As you can see, it's not as concise as the shell version but you do
gain one big plus - everything here is *composable*

Here's another, somewhat contrived example:

  my $pl = pipeline(
  [qw(gzip -c), procsub( '<', pipeline(
  [qw(head -n 5) $0],
  [qw(tr A-Z N-ZA-M)])],
  [qw(gunzip -c)],
  [qw(tr N-ZA-M A-Z)]
  );
  $pl->run(sink => \*STDERR); # print first 5 lines of script to STDERR
  my %pidinfo = $pl->pidinfo; # pids and info about them


And here's that last example, but with a currently-imaginary
overloading of the | operator...

  my $pl =
  pproc( qw(gzip -c), procsub( '<', pipeline(
  pproc( qw(head -n 5) $0) | pproc( qw(tr A-Z N-ZA-M |
  pproc( qw(gunzip -c)) |
  pproc( qw(tr N-ZA-M A-Z)));
  $pl->run(sink => \*STDERR); # print first 5 lines of script to STDERR
  my %pidinfo = $pl->pidinfo; # pids and info about them

Please note that while I like the idea of using | I *really* think the
above example looks hideous!

So, I'm looking for comments on the API, and what others would like to
see. Should it be more OO? Should it be more functional? (it already
is in a fairly functional style) Is this still too much extra syntax
and overhead to be useful? Would you prefer different function names,
different arguments? specif

Re: [Boston.pm] Pittsburgh Perl Monger visiting Boston

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 3:35 PM, Robert Blackwell
 wrote:
> On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 3:31 PM, Robert Blackwell
>  wrote:
>> Hello Fellow Perl Mongers,
>>
>> I will be taking the RT training from Best Practical on March 5 & 6,
>> 2012. This puts me in Boston from Friday March 2nd  to Tuesday March
>> 6th.
>>
>> I am wondering if anyone wants to get together for beer, dinner and such.

\o/

>> Also if you know of any geeky things like a Hacker Space or Linux User
>> Group meeting, etc that I should not miss please give me a heads up.

Looks like this group has some robotics stuff going on that week!
http://artisansasylum.com/?page_id=24

The only other public-looking HS I know of is DorkBot, but I can't
tell if they're active any more:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/dorkbotboston

I'm all-but-certain that the MIT and BU groups are students-only.

>> If nothing else I expect a good cup of cocoa from someone.

That *could* be arranged for! /me elbows uri :-)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Tech meeting TONIGHT - new Web bug affects multiple languages, but not Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

Oops, fat fingers on my phone. I'm feeling like a truck hit me. Gonna go home 
instead. Have fun! Make sure to demonstrate how to take down help.google.com 
with a well-crafted HTTP request! (it's running python...)

On Jan 10, 2012, at 9:22 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:

> Next Tech Meeting Tuesday, January 10, 2012 7 – 10p.m. MIT E51-376
> 
> David Larochelle will explain the "new" multi-language web Denial of
> Service (DoS ) threat that
> doesn't affect Perl (but affects Python & PHP).
> http://www.nruns.com/_downloads/advisory28122011.pdf CVE-2011-4885 Phuket
> property  Reported 2003
> http://www.cs.rice.edu/~scrosby/hash/CrosbyWallach_UsenixSec2003.pdf Fixed
> in Perl 2005
> http://perldoc.perl.org/perlsec.html#Algorithmic-Complexity-Attacks
> 
> This will be the last time in the "summer" room E51-376. We'll return to
> old traditional E51-372 for Feb - May. (confirmed)
> 
> Speaking of security ... if your home (or office) router has WPS simple
> setup feature, TURN WPS OFF. NOW. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) PIN Brute
> Force Vulnerability
> https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Wi-Fi+Protected+Setup+WPS+PIN+Brute+Force+Vulnerability/12292
> 
> Sean is acting facilitator for this session, so please RSVP to the main
> list boston...@pm.org
> 
> -- 
> Bill
> @n1vux bill.n1...@gmail.com
> 
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Re: [Boston.pm] Tech meeting TONIGHT - new Web bug affects multiple languages, but not Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Jan 10, 2012, at 9:22 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:

> Next Tech Meeting Tuesday, January 10, 2012 7 – 10p.m. MIT E51-376
> 
> David Larochelle will explain the "new" multi-language web Denial of
> Service (DoS ) threat that
> doesn't affect Perl (but affects Python & PHP).
> http://www.nruns.com/_downloads/advisory28122011.pdf CVE-2011-4885 Phuket
> property  Reported 2003
> http://www.cs.rice.edu/~scrosby/hash/CrosbyWallach_UsenixSec2003.pdf Fixed
> in Perl 2005
> http://perldoc.perl.org/perlsec.html#Algorithmic-Complexity-Attacks
> 
> This will be the last time in the "summer" room E51-376. We'll return to
> old traditional E51-372 for Feb - May. (confirmed)
> 
> Speaking of security ... if your home (or office) router has WPS simple
> setup feature, TURN WPS OFF. NOW. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) PIN Brute
> Force Vulnerability
> https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Wi-Fi+Protected+Setup+WPS+PIN+Brute+Force+Vulnerability/12292
> 
> Sean is acting facilitator for this session, so please RSVP to the main
> list boston...@pm.org
> 
> -- 
> Bill
> @n1vux bill.n1...@gmail.com
> 
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Re: [Boston.pm] RSVP: Tech meeting TONIGHT

[Steve Scaffidi]

I'll be there!

On Jan 10, 2012, at 11:39 AM, Sean Quinlan  wrote:

> Please RSVP if you are expecting to make tonight’s Boston.pm tech meeting.
> 
> Thanks,
> Sean
> 
> -- Forwarded message --
> From: Bill Ricker 
> Date: Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 9:22 AM
> Subject: [Boston.pm-announce] Tech meeting TONIGHT - new Web bug affects
> multiple languages, but not Perl
> To: "Boston Perl Mongers (announce)" , Boston
> Perl Mongers 
> 
> 
> Next Tech Meeting Tuesday, January 10, 2012 7 – 10p.m. MIT E51-376
> 
> David Larochelle will explain the "new" multi-language web Denial of
> Service (DoS ) threat that
> doesn't affect Perl (but affects Python & PHP).
> http://www.nruns.com/_downloads/advisory28122011.pdf CVE-2011-4885 Phuket
> property  Reported 2003
> http://www.cs.rice.edu/~scrosby/hash/CrosbyWallach_UsenixSec2003.pdf Fixed
> in Perl 2005
> http://perldoc.perl.org/perlsec.html#Algorithmic-Complexity-Attacks
> 
> This will be the last time in the "summer" room E51-376. We'll return to
> old traditional E51-372 for Feb - May. (confirmed)
> 
> Speaking of security ... if your home (or office) router has WPS simple
> setup feature, TURN WPS OFF. NOW. Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) PIN Brute
> Force Vulnerability
> https://isc.sans.edu/diary/Wi-Fi+Protected+Setup+WPS+PIN+Brute+Force+Vulnerability/12292
> 
> Sean is acting facilitator for this session, so please RSVP to the main
> list boston...@pm.org
> 
> -- 
> Bill
> @n1vux bill.n1...@gmail.com
> 
> 
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Re: [Boston.pm] [Boston.pm-announce] CONFIRMED Re: Tech Meeting Tuesday Nov 8

[Steve Scaffidi]

Indeed, I won't be making it. Got too much on my plate lately. Have fun!

On Tue, Nov 8, 2011 at 2:07 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> I have confirmed that for room is available tonight, we are go.
>
> RSVPs are low so i will *not* be ordering refreshments -- eat accordingly.
>
> bill
>
> On Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 12:11 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
>> Tuesday November 8; 7pm-10pm E51-372
>>
>> Second Tuesday comes as early as ever this month.
>>
>> Open topic - bring something to discuss if you can.
>>
>> Talk begins 7:30.
>>
>> Note Fall 2011 we stay in the summer room 372, which is adjacent to our
>> previous customary room.
>>
>> Our WIKI http://boston.pm.org/kwiki/
>>
>>   * Tech Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at MIT
>> (directions http://boston.pm.org/kwiki/index.cgi?MITDirections ).
>>       o NOTE - Sometimes the lot has filled early, overflow is to
>> Hayward lots (avoid MEDICAL RESERVED spaces!). See alternatives
>> http://boston.pm.org/kwiki/index.cgi?MITDirections
>>
>> RSVP for count encouraged but not required, to me bill.n1...@gmail.com
>> or Boston-PM list, by 3pm Tuesday.
>>
>> --
>> Bill
>> @n1vux bill.n1...@gmail.com
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Bill
> @n1vux bill.n1...@gmail.com
>
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[Boston.pm] Perl Weekly (a newsletter by Gabor Szabo)

[Steve Scaffidi]

For those who might like to check it out:

http://perlweekly.com/archive/8.html


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Re: [Boston.pm] short notice social meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

This is my RSVP!

On Sun, Aug 7, 2011 at 4:34 AM, Uri Guttman  wrote:
>
> hi all,
>
> i have been lapse on my duty as social director of boston.pm. i was
> tasked by our permanent temporary fearless leader to organize a social
> meeting for this tuesday as no speaker/topic was set for a technical
> meeting. well, we haven't been to CBC in a good while so let's go back
> there. maybe we can play some pool next door at flattop johnnies
> too. rsvp if you will be there and i will call and make a
> reservation. food there is decent and they brew pretty good beers. 7pm
> this tuesday, aug 9. at cambridge brewing. it is at kendall on the red
> line but a few blocks from the actual kendall sq (even if they are at 1
> kendall it is a lie!)
>
> http://www.cambrew.com
> 1 Kendall Square, Bldg 100
> Cambridge, MA 02139
> Phone: 617-494-1994
>
> uri
>
> --
> Uri Guttman  --  uri AT perlhunter DOT com  ---  http://www.perlhunter.com --
>   Perl Developer Recruiting and Placement Services  -
> -  Perl Code Review, Architecture, Development, Training, Support ---
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] Advice on Perl for RPM?

[Steve Scaffidi]

I've never used the RPM one, but the dpkg one is decent. I *have* used
cpan2dist, which might actually use that module under-the-covers. I
recall it worked pretty well. on debian we have dh-make-perl which is
*quite* nice.

On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 12:24 PM, Ben Tilly  wrote:
> I had missed that.
>
> I suspect that for what I was doing it would have saved a lot of work
> - except where it wouldn't.
>
> On Sat, Jun 18, 2011 at 9:19 AM, Steve Scaffidi  wrote:
>> Have you checked this out?
>>
>> http://search.cpan.org/dist/CPANPLUS-Dist-RPM
>>
>> --
>> -- Steve Scaffidi 
>>
>



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Re: [Boston.pm] Advice on Perl for RPM?

[Steve Scaffidi]

Have you checked this out?

http://search.cpan.org/dist/CPANPLUS-Dist-RPM

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Re: [Boston.pm] [Boston.pm-announce] Tech Meeting Tuesday, June 14, 7pm MIT E51-372 - AnyEvent module

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Sun, Jun 12, 2011 at 10:04 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> Steve Scaffidi - YAPC preview - AnyEvent lessons-leaned
>

I should have mentioned this earlier, but due to some unexpected work
I had to do over the weekend, I haven't been able to prepare anything.

I can still do a run-through of some of the things I would have
covered, but it won't have any slides and might be a bit disorganized.

The outline of my YAPC talk is more or less like this:

  Intro:
- What is AnyEvent
- What is event-driven programming
  - what is asynchronous
  - why is it important
  - why is it considered difficult
- How is AnyEvent different from the alternatives
- How is AnyEvent similar
- What are AnyEvent's strengths
- What are AnyEvent's weaknesses

  Basics:
- Asynchronous "watchers" provided by the framework
  - time
  - signal
  - child
  - IO
- Condition Variables ("condvars")
- these are important, and a little tricky. A lot of time will
probably be spent on these.
- AnyEvent::Socket
  - tcp_connect (create a socket connection (as a client) and
register a callback to do stuff when its ready)
  - tcp_server (create a socket listener (as a server) and '''
when clients connect)

  Putting together a simple application:
- I still havent decided on what to build, probably a simple "chat server"
  - should use tcp_server, possibly tcp_connect
  - should use time and signal watchers
  - should demonstrate both simple and complex use of condvars.
- non-blocking condvars are *important*
  - should show code that demonstrates various "gotchas" and how
to work around them.

Of course, that's an outline. I clearly have a lot to fill in! :)

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Re: [Boston.pm] documentation project/meeting idea

[Steve Scaffidi]

This is quite a good idea, and something worthy of some collaborative
effort as well.

Some suggestions:

  - Put the work in a public code repo. Github would be my personal
choice, since it makes this sort of thing *very* easy to collaborate
on, and is already a widely accepted code-hosting platform.

  - Write the docs first. Worry about what p5p will think about it
later. It seems that efforts like this fall prey to politics and
bikeshedding *far* too often.

  - Encourage people to offer alternatives. TIMTOWTDI also means that
different people have different ideas on what is appropriate for
newcomers. Perhaps with several different approaches, we can test what
works best (by pointing folks to the docs from
#perl/#perl-help/perl-beginners@) and hopefully begin to converge on
something that fullfils the goals of this effort.

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Re: [Boston.pm] tech meeting next week

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Jun 7, 2011 at 4:39 PM, Uri Guttman  wrote:
>>>>>> "RW" == Ricker, William  writes:
>
>  >> > Hi! Is there a meeting for tonight?
>  >> No, its next Tuesday.
>
>  RW> Correct.  7th is only 1st Tuesday. As late as it can come.
>  RW> Since it is a new term, I am awaiting confirm of room # / availability.
>
>  RW> Also looking for who had a topic ...

I might be able to pull something together. I'm working on a talk for
YAPC on lessons learned working with AnyEvent. I'm still woefully
short on content, but the threat of having to endure^Wentertain you
folks next tuesday might be enough to light a fire under my butt!

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Re: [Boston.pm] [Boston.pm-announce] emergency social - tues 7pm, sunset grill and tap

[Steve Scaffidi]

Count me in!

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Re: [Boston.pm] arriving tonight - emergency social meet monday or tuesday?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On May 15, 2011, at 2:25 PM, "Uri Guttman"  wrote:

>>>>>> "SS" == Steve Scaffidi  writes:
> 
>  SS> Harvard Sq. has some excellent options. I actually like the food at
>  SS> Charlie's, and it's relatively inexpensive. Their beer and bartending
>  SS> are OK, but not great. Grendel's, last I was there, was both expensive
>  SS> and had a terrible, boring beer selection. I'm thinking someplace with
>  SS> a really good beer selection would be ideal. How about the Sunset
>  SS> Grill & Tap?
> 
> one issue with charlie's is space for a group inside.

Oooo, right. Space could be made upstairs but it would require taking over half 
the floor - and Tuesday's they have to clear that area for the DJ (who also 
happens to be another former colleague from ITA - I wonder if he might like to 
meet Randall ;-)

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Re: [Boston.pm] arriving tonight - emergency social meet monday or tuesday?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Sun, May 15, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Uri Guttman  wrote:
>>>>>> "b" == belg4mit   writes:
>
>  b> Other venues in Harvard are Grendel's Den, Charlie's Kitchen and
>  b> Grafton Street.  Grendel's is somewhat smaller, so it depends on
>  b> how busy they would otherwise be.  Grafton and Charlie's both have
>  b> outdoor seating, but Charlie's is alley-side with large umbrella's
>  b> which would be good since it looks like rain.
>
> charlie's would be interesting but it is low rent. i don't think
> outdoors in mid-may is a fun idea. grendel's i haven't been to in
> ages. grafton is a possibility.
>

Harvard Sq. has some excellent options. I actually like the food at
Charlie's, and it's relatively inexpensive. Their beer and bartending
are OK, but not great. Grendel's, last I was there, was both expensive
and had a terrible, boring beer selection. I'm thinking someplace with
a really good beer selection would be ideal. How about the Sunset
Grill & Tap?

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Re: [Boston.pm] Comic strip

[Steve Scaffidi]

Please note: My actual understanding of statistics is about 33% below
average, according to a double-blind study of morons, psychopaths, and
mental-defectives. (wow, I haven't heard that phrase in years...
anybody here what that was from? :-)

On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 8:09 PM, Steve Scaffidi  wrote:
> Have him come as a normal attendee and I'll do a talk on statistics!
> I'll make sure it's rife with mathematical errors, logical fallacies,
> non-sensical algorithms and obnoxious references to internet memes and
> pop-culture. I'll also repeatedly mis-pronounce key technical terms
> and other random words. He wins 10 points for every minute he can sit
> there and not go insane!!!
>
> On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 2:15 PM, john saylor  wrote:
>> hi
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 9:59 PM, Conor Walsh  wrote:
>>> I haven't checked in recently, but I'm pretty sure that anything he
>>> has to present on Perl is not interesting from a Perl perspective and
>>> really only interesting from a "hey I'm a cool webcomic artist"
>>> perspective.
>>
>> well, it could be entertaining nonetheless. isn't one of the strengths
>> of the perl community that we're all interested in a lot of different
>> stuff? [like humor]
>>
>> --
>> \js : "verbing weirds language." -calvin  [http://or8.net/~johns/]
>>
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>
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Re: [Boston.pm] Comic strip

[Steve Scaffidi]

Have him come as a normal attendee and I'll do a talk on statistics!
I'll make sure it's rife with mathematical errors, logical fallacies,
non-sensical algorithms and obnoxious references to internet memes and
pop-culture. I'll also repeatedly mis-pronounce key technical terms
and other random words. He wins 10 points for every minute he can sit
there and not go insane!!!

On Sun, Mar 27, 2011 at 2:15 PM, john saylor  wrote:
> hi
>
> On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 9:59 PM, Conor Walsh  wrote:
>> I haven't checked in recently, but I'm pretty sure that anything he
>> has to present on Perl is not interesting from a Perl perspective and
>> really only interesting from a "hey I'm a cool webcomic artist"
>> perspective.
>
> well, it could be entertaining nonetheless. isn't one of the strengths
> of the perl community that we're all interested in a lot of different
> stuff? [like humor]
>
> --
> \js : "verbing weirds language." -calvin  [http://or8.net/~johns/]
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] let's bring damian here

[Steve Scaffidi]

Since the Eternal September is still in effect, let me also chime in: "Me too!"


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Re: [Boston.pm] Module distribution system?

[Steve Scaffidi]

While Dist::Zilla is pure awesome-sauce for maintaining lots of
modules, Module::Starter is rather nice to get things going. You can
use the power tools when you either need them or at least feel the
need to learn them.

As far as a builder/installer, I'm personally partial to
Module::Build. ExtUtils::MakeMaker is fine but M::B will generate EUMM
build files for you. Module::Install is the "new hotness" (which is to
say, stable for several years now) but something about bundling your
installer's code with every dist rubs me the wrong way.

Module::Starter (read the man pages/perldoc) will set up the basic
skeleton of a new module and get you what you need to make a module
distribution, including a basic Build.PL (or Makefile.PL) with very
little effort. Dist::Zilla will change your cat's litter and put your
kids to bed (including stories) but you will probably spend days (or
more) figuring out how to use it properly, never mind setting it up to
your liking.

On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 1:01 PM, Adam Flott  wrote:
>
> On Fri, 4 Mar 2011, Richard Morse wrote:
>
>> Hi! I'm getting confused, and have a question...
>>
>> What is the current recommended way to create a perl module package?
>> Module::Install, Module::Build, ExtUtils::MakeMaker, or
>> ExtUtils::ModuleMaker?
>>
>
> Depends on what you need.
>
> Personally I like Dist::Zilla as it can fill in the boring boiler plate for
> you
> and automate the other boring bits. Optionally it can generate
> ExtUtils::MakeMaker Makefile.PLs. It's dependency heavy, but fairly easy to
> setup. Also has a ton of plugins.
>
> But if you want something simple stick with what will most likely work on
> all
> installs.
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] Tech Meeting January 11th, at MIT E51-376 7 ~ 7:30pm

[Steve Scaffidi]

Count me in! I'll even bring $$ for pizza this time :)

On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 9:32 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
>> I'd love to show up, but Uri got me this sweet job that prevents me from
>> attending.
>
> Congratudolences!
>
> He didn't negotiate Tuesday night off for you, at least once a month?
> How short sighted.
>
>> Bastard.
>
> That does help in pimpitude. :-)
>
> --
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> @n1vux bill.n1...@gmail.com
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] Social Meeting Tuesday, Nov 9, 7pm

[Steve Scaffidi]

One RSVP for me, too.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Topic and/or Speaker sought

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 12:07 AM, Uri Guttman  wrote:
>>>>>> "BR" == Bill Ricker  writes:
>
>  BR> Anyone have a PLACK/PSGI example to present a week from Tuesday?
>  BR> Or anything else?
>
> how about a social meeting instead for a change?

I second the idea! :)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Tech Meeting Oct 12th at MIT E51-376 7:30pm

[Steve Scaffidi]

With regards to Moose vs. Mouse, I just tested the code I wrote @ work
with it like this:

find ./lib -name *.pm -exec sed -i -e 's/Moose/Mouse/' {} \;

...and it Just Plain Worked, with no tweaking required!

This code is using roles, attribute traits, type constraints, method
modifiers, and other bits of Moose Magick... However, I don't muck
about with meta at all. (one should try to avoid doing so whenever
possible anyhow)

My verdict? Mouse is sufficiently awesome for me! (and seems to also
be *much* faster!)


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Re: [Boston.pm] jQuery conference 16-17 October

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 3:27 PM, Shlomi Fish  wrote:
> On Tuesday 14 September 2010 19:07:38 Gabor Szabo wrote:
>> I have not checked for CPAN authors, unfortunately I don't think there
>> are many who do both Perl and JQuery.
>> Well, except of John Resig  http://search.cpan.org/~jeresig/ of
>> course, the creator of JQuery.

I have been reading up on jQuery for a new job I will be starting
soon... it's quite nice. :)


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Re: [Boston.pm] Rakudo* in two weeks? need demo, demo-er?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 4:55 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 1, 2010 at 7:40 PM, Steve Scaffidi  wrote:
>> I need *your* help!
>> Reply to the list with things you'd like to see Rakudo * do. For
>
> First and foremost we want to show how easy it is to install. Having a
> MSI installer for Windows is nice for those, but the steps to build on
> *nix is getting shorter.

Yeah, on second thought, compiling and installing doesn't take long at
all - it's running the tests. Luckily, there's an option to turn that
off :)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Rakudo* in two weeks? need demo, demo-er?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Aug 31, 2010 at 8:34 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> It was suggested we do September meeting as Intro to installing /
> using Rakudo* and publicize the heck out it
>
> We need a volunteer to lead the demo.
>
> Nick will be out of town so don't volunteer him.

Tell y'all what - I have the next two weeks off so I'm willing to put
something together... BUT...

I need *your* help!

Reply to the list with things you'd like to see Rakudo * do. For
example, parsing with simple grammars, or using lazy lists, or lazy
slurping, or maybe demo the differences between the numeric types
(Num, Int, Complex, Rat, Float, etc...) Maybe binding vs. assignment,
pointy blocks, etc...

I'm as new to this as anybody, so throw your ideas out there!

I'll try to skim off the most useful and interesting to fit into the
meeting time, along with a brief discussion of obtaining, compiling, &
setting up everything necessary. (I will not actually *do* that at the
meeting unless you all want to be there until midnight)

I'll also put up a github repo with the code examples so anybody can
play, and anybody who wants write access (to add more demos?) can have
it!

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Re: [Boston.pm] LinuxCon starts tomorrow

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Mon, Aug 9, 2010 at 3:26 PM, Gabor Szabo  wrote:
> Just a reminder from far away that LinuxCon starts tomorrow :)
> http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linuxcon
>
> Anyone Perl Monger attending?

I plan on it!

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Re: [Boston.pm] rakudo* install meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 11:04 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> FL > I like the idea!

So do I!! (wait, was that a ME TOO comment??!?)

> Who can practice the demo and lead the demo?

Question is (and this I guess is more bikeshedding than anything) what
should the demos do?

I've read most of the Perl 6 tutorials out there (masak++ moritz++
szabgab++ and several others!) and while it's given me a taste of
what's different and interesting, I doubt I'm alone if I'm not hugely
inspired without "real-world" examples!

So, perhaps this should be a new thread, but let me start off with the
first thing that comes to mind: log files.

Create Regex/Grammars for three different formats. Read in files in
those formats and merge them into a single stream, ordered by
timestamp (and/or other criteria), perhaps with some enrichment. Then,
extract some basic stats from that stream. Aside from the code
constructing the grammars, I expect that the Perl 6 code to do this
will be quite succinct! Also, this will give a good chance to show off
the readability and power of the Perl 6 Grammars!

> Would they want to demo it at LINUXCON in Boston in  August too ?

That would be a terrific idea, and I plan on being there...

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Re: [Boston.pm] Languages to learn in addition to Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 2:20 PM, Steve Scaffidi  wrote:
>
> Would you like a book on Learning Perl 6? One is on progress and has
> made a recent 'pdf release'  as well!

Silly me, I forgot the link for the Perl 6 book!

http://rakudo.org/node/71

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Re: [Boston.pm] Languages to learn in addition to Perl

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Wed, Jul 14, 2010 at 2:05 PM, Greg London  wrote:
> Mike wrote:
>> I hope to try ... Perl 6.
>
> Don't we all...
>
> ;/

Well, for playing and learning, and to begin work porting/creating
useful libraries, Perl 6 will have a release in two weeks just for
those purposes!

http://rakudo.org/node/73

Would you like a book on Learning Perl 6? One is on progress and has
made a recent 'pdf release'  as well!

> As for languages I'd like to learn, I'm pondering
> what it would take for me to learn Java so I could
> try writing a simple app for a droid phone.

I found Java to be seriously easy to learn. It's closely related to C
and C++, but much better syntax (IMO) than C++, and fewer ways to
shoot yourself in the foot (pointers, memory allocation, casting, etc)
It's also more-than-plenty fast these days, after the startup-cost of
the JVM.

On the flip side, it's an exceedingly verbose language. Also, some of
the things that give the 'extra safety' can mean you have to take a
circuitous route to make certain things work (hence the
importance/prominence of design patterns in the Java world)

Also, there are a mountain of APIs in just the standard libraries...
and it seems like every additional library you will want has another
huge API. Don't get me wrong - there are some terrific APIs out there
for Java, but so many of the popular ones are huge and complicated.

Just my $.02 (plus tax)
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[Boston.pm] CPAN Dependency Hell Talk Slides/Notes/Code

[Steve Scaffidi]

Everything's right here...

   http://perl.scaffidi.net/home/cpanhell

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Re: [Boston.pm] tech events in and around Boston

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 3:52 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:
> Gabor Szabo wrote:
>> 2010.08.10-12 LinuxCon   - Boston
>> http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/linuxcon
>>
>> Maybe setup a Perl booth if it is possible?
>
> Bill mentioned this on the list a few months back.
>
> I'd like to see a Boston.pm booth there (or something shared with BLU),
> but the timing isn't great. (I'm likely to be out of town when it
> happens, or between trips, and have my spare cycles occupied between now
> and then.)

I, for one, will *not* be on vacation, and I'm happy to volunteer.
I've been following Gabor's efforts and blog for some time so I think
I have a good idea on what he's looking to accomplish. Also, my
experience with java, python, et al. may come in handy for the
inevitable questions and comparisons.

I'd be happy to help set up a booth, if desired, and I actually like
talking tech with random strangers :) If I can get in for free, I'm
there :-D

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Re: [Boston.pm] Rubyists

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Thu, Jul 8, 2010 at 3:19 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:
> Mitchell N Charity wrote:
>> (aside: I've encountered yet another local professional rails
>> developer... who has never been to a bostonrb meeting.  So I reraise the
>> issue that perhaps we should be brainstorming how we might better serve
>> such folks.)
>
> How Boston.pm, or Perl in general, can meet the needs of Ruby developers?

Can we port Moose to Ruby in exchange for a port of EventMachine for Perl? ;-D


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Re: [Boston.pm] Davis Square (summer) tech social

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 12:57 AM, Mitchell N Charity
 wrote:
> Today (Wed), at 12:00 noon, just under 10 people are meeting at Mike's for
> the (first?) Davis Square (summer) tech social.
> It's rsvp's are mostly ruby folks at this point, but all are welcome.

d'oh! Wish I knew sooner!

oh well. I'm still digging myself out of the post-YAPC mountain-o-work
anyhow :-)

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Re: [Boston.pm] bareword warnings for __ANON__

[Steve Scaffidi]

For the curious, there is a way to make this work the "expected" way:

First, I read this here: http://www.perlmonks.org/?node_id=304883

And some playing around led me to this:

perl -Mstrict -w -e 'package foo; use Carp qw(cluck); sub {
*__ANON__="sub_name"; cluck "WARN ${\*__ANON__}: wharrrgarbl"}->()'

Which should illuminate some of what's going on for the curious.



On Thu, Jun 17, 2010 at 1:39 AM, Tom Metro  wrote:
> Ben Tilly wrote:
>> Tom Metro wrote:
>>>        sub {
>>>            local *__ANON__ = "subname"; # name the anon sub
>>
>> Rather than a semi-documented trick, I'd recommend the clearly
>> documented Sub::Name module for this.
>
> Agreed. I just ran across Sub::Name yesterday when I was trying to dig
> up more info on the syntax for using __ANON__.
>
> I've since updated the code to use Sub::Name. It really is functionality
> that should be built-in to the sub statement.
>
>
>>> If it is used as a glob...it works, but
>>> produces output prefixed with "*"...
>>
>> The * prefix just indicates that
>> it is being interpreted as some other glob, but if you look at the
>> output the glob it appears as should be what you were trying to name
>> it.
>
> I'm not following. It feels like either the "*" should be consumed by
> the tokenizer as part of the variable, or treated as extraneous junk and
> either passed to the statement/function, or trigger a syntax error.
>
>  -Tom
>
> --
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Re: [Boston.pm] Social Meeting for Boston.pm with Alias this week, probably Thursday?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 5:21 PM, Uri Guttman  wrote:
>>>>>> "JP" == Jerrad Pierce  writes:
>
>  JP> Summer Shack at Alewife?
>
> now that is pricy IMO. been there only about three times or so and the
> food is top level but not cheap. also a poor place for a group (we did a
> small social there with bdf a few years ago. plusses are on the red line
> and lots of free parking. the atmosphere is modern funky seafood. metal
> picnic tables are not fun to sit on for a real dinner.
>

Summer shack would be another good choice for local-boston-rep,
quality food/beer, and travel centrality, but I totally agree with
your assessment - not the most amenable atmosphere for this sort of
thing, and quite pricey to boot.

Also, though Bertucci's was started in Somerville, it's a chain owned
by a large conglomerate now and that kinda kills it for me.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Social Meeting for Boston.pm with Alias this week, Thursday, cbc

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 3:25 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
>
> Everyone seems ok with CBC so let's go with that, we all know where it
> is it seems.  (if anyone needs directions, ask.)
>
> We'll announce TIME shortly.

OK, I think CBC is the best choice. Good food and beer, represents the
area, good venue for talk, and easy to get to (~5 min walk from
kendall T) plus parking available. Nothing else I can think of
satisfies all those points.

Also, I know from others who have done so, we can reserve at least a
table or two ahead of time.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Social Meeting for Boston.pm with Alias this week, probably Thursday?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, May 18, 2010 at 1:52 PM, Steve Scaffidi  wrote:
> I'm pretty certain CBC validates parking for a discount.

I just verified this on their website. I don't know if it's for free
parking or a discount, but it should at least make using the garage
palatable! (Just FYI, the spaces are *really narrow* in there so if
you <3 your car, bring it to one of the upper levels. :)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Social Meeting for Boston.pm with Alias this week, probably Thursday?

[Steve Scaffidi]

Tavern in the square is another excellent option. The food is good and
I think their beer selection is quite nice (not huge, but
high-quality.) I didn't know they had a porter sq. location - I've
only been to the one in Central Sq.

However, for those who may be driving, parking will be a serious issue
for Central Sq. and YMMV around Porter. CBC @ Kendall has the garage
on Binney st, next to the cinema. While the garage is expensive (IMO),
I'm pretty certain CBC validates parking for a discount.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Social Meeting for Boston.pm with Alias this week, probably Thursday?

[Steve Scaffidi]

Cambridge Brewing Co. may be a good pick for the kendall-sq. area, and
I'm always a fan of Tommy Doyle's. There's a bunch of places in Davis
Sq, including RedBones and The Burren (I <3 irish fiddle)

Being that we're currently in the throes of the end of the college
school year, I suspect that places close to various schools will
likely be jammed, no matter what night it is.


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[Boston.pm] Getting data off damaged disks - related to meeting topic tonight

[Steve Scaffidi]

ddrescue

There are two utilities that share this name, but the GNU one is far
faster, and a lot easier to use effectively.

http://www.gnu.org/software/ddrescue/ddrescue.html

Its killer feature is the ability to keep a log showing what it has
done and use that info to re-start an interrupted recovery or re-scan
problem areas using different settings, etc. The log is a compact,
human-readable and easily parsable text format describing ranges of
blocks and their status.

Anecdote: Recently, when my laptop's disk started throwing unreadable
errors on my console, I immediately got a new drive and connected the
failing one with a USB adaptor. I booted from a live CD and ran the
old dd_rescue, as it was a tool I was already familiar with. However,
last time I needed it, the largest disk I owned was 40GB - this one
was 320GB. While I waited, I looked for info on any new tools or
techniques, and found GNU ddrescue...

Since the the old dd_rescue that I was running had already reported
nearly 700MB of unreadable blocks at 10% progress after 4 hours... I
gave GNU ddrescue a try and was very impressed! After three scans
using different settings I was able to recover all but about 3MB from
the failing disk in about 8 hours!

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Re: [Boston.pm] RSVPs? Re: Tech Meeting - Tuesday, April 13 MIT E51-376 7:15pm

[Steve Scaffidi]

I'll be there. I was kinda up-in-the-air until just now :)

On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 10:39 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> Reminder that rsvp count for pre-meeting refreshments closes very
> early afternoon so i can fone it over to our kind hosts at CIDC. don't
> wait, operators are standing by for your email now.
>
> On 4/11/10, Bill Ricker  wrote:
>> Next Tech Meeting -- Tuesday, April 13  E51-376 7:15pm
>> [pardon the dup, at least one person said his announce filter failed last
>> month because I sent to both at once]
>>
>> Adam Flott - Enlightenment gui api in Perl
>> ** Quick Enlightenment window manager and library introduction  (
>> http://www.enlightenment.org/ )
>> ** Binding the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries to Perl With XS and Why
>> XS
>> Wasn't as Scary As I Thought  (http://search.cpan.org/dist/EFL/ )
>> ** Cutting Corners With Dist::Zilla and Releasing to CPAN  (
>> http://search.cpan.org/dist/Dist-Zilla/ )
>>
>> RSVP count will be taken EARLY afternoon Tuesday so CIDC, our kind
>> sponsors,
>> can place order.
>> RSVP to me or list.
>>
>> * Tech Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of every month at MIT
>> [(directions) http://boston.pm.org/kwiki/index.cgi?MITDirections ].
>> ** *NOTE* - Lately the lot has filled early, overflow is to Hayward lots
>> (avoid MEDICAL RESERVED spaces!). See above
>> ** Suggestions for future meetings solicited on Topics page [
>> http://boston.pm.org/kwiki/index.cgi?TechMeetingTopics ]
>
> --
> Bill
> n1...@arrl.net bill.n1...@gmail.com
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] YAPC::NA 2011

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Thu, Mar 25, 2010 at 12:23 PM, Uri Guttman  wrote:
>>>>>> "BR" == Bill Ricker  writes:
>
>  BR> �...@perlfoundation <http://twitter.com/perlfoundation>* YAPC::NA 2011 
> call
>  BR> for venue -
>  BR> http://news.perlfoundation.org/2010/03/yapcna-2011-call-for-venue.html
>
>  BR> if only UMass would hurry up with their Dormitory plans ...
>
> or we could push for mit again. i do have a way to email a proposal
> (actually someone would forward it) to all the CS profs. i haven't been
> able to pull the trigger due to many reasons. anyone wanna help me?
> mostly in composing the letter and such. i have older drafts to work
> with.
>
> mit would be so much better than umass even with new dorms
> there. easier to get around, more nearby stuff, crazy campus and it's
> mit.

I will certainly help!

I may also have a new contact @MIT, plus some contacts with potential
corporate sponsors.

If we are to get in a bid by this year's YAPC, we have to start *NOW* though.


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Re: [Boston.pm] Exceptions as control flow

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Fri, Mar 19, 2010 at 8:25 PM,   wrote:
>
> Better is a language design where the handler runs in the dynamic
> context of the exception, and gets to decide what to do, and how much
> information to capture.  Like Perl 6.  (Does this mean we're back on
> topic now? ;-)

Well played! *golf clap* :-)


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Re: [Boston.pm] "Presenting Perl"

[Steve Scaffidi]

I'm sure if you ask nicely, mst and whoever else built/maintains the
site would add an option to download, or at least stream in another
format.

On Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 11:43 AM, John Abreau  wrote:
> You can always download the .flv file, then play it with something like 
> mplayer.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 8, 2010 at 10:36 PM, Michael Small  wrote:
>> Bill Ricker  writes:
>>
>>> via Steve's Google Buzz -
>>>
>>> http://www.presentingperl.org/
>>>
>>> Presenting Perl
>>>
>>> This website is a resource location for talks and presentations on, or
>>> about, the Perl language. We have videos from conferences and workshops but
>>
>> Thanks, that looks great, but is there any way to get at these videos
>> without having a flash player?
>>
>> --
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>> sma...@panix.com
>>
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>
>
>
> --
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> AIM abreauj / JABBER j...@jabber.blu.org / YAHOO abreauj / SKYPE zusa_it_mgr
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[Boston.pm] Gitolite: Links & Info

[Steve Scaffidi]

Here are some relevant links:

Official Gitolite repo: http://github.com/sitaramc/gitolite

A nice tutorial: http://progit.org/book/ch4-8.html

My ideas on polishing up and fleshing out gitolite:
http://github.com/Hercynium/gitolite/blob/master/IDEAS.mkd

I will be updating that file as people give me ideas, or I come up
with more, or I am convinced/goaded into changing them :) I'll also
start implementing some so you can track it through my forked repo.

Feel free to clone/fork sitaram's repo or mine... I'd be happy to
accept patches and can work to get them accepted into sitaram's main
branch. Some discussion on IRC has convinced me that the project would
be better served by aggressively re-factoring and patching the
existing codebase rather than making a fork or writing something else
from scratch. (though I thought I had come up with *such* a clever
name for one while on the drive back home!)

Thanks again for an educational meeting!

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Re: [Boston.pm] talk by author of "Automating System Administration with Perl"

[Steve Scaffidi]

Very interesting! I an going to try to go to this... Just the other
day I was discussing the idea on giving a talk at YAPC::NA::2010 with
pretty much this same thesis:

Despite all the whiz-bang new systems admin/automation tech out there
(puppet, chef, openqrm, cfengine, hudson, cruisecontrol, etcetcetc...)
in order to finish the job I still constantly rely on custom perl and
shell scripts... there *has* to be a better way.


On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 2:56 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:
> The author of the O'Reilly book _Automating System Administration with Perl_
> is giving a talk at MIT tonight.
>  -Tom
>
>  Original Message 
> Subject: [BBLISA] Reminder: THIS WEDNESDAY Jan 2010 talk/mtg "I Got My Jet
> Pack an I'm Still Not Happy"
> Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 18:22:10 -0500
> From: John P. Rouillard 
>
>
> Our speaker is David Blank-Edelman. David is the Director of
> Technology at the Northeastern University College of Computer and
> Information Science and the author of the O'Reilly book Automating
> System Administration with Perl (the second edition of the Otter
> Book). He has spent the last 25 years as a system/network
> administrator in large multi-platform environments, including Brandeis
> University, Cambridge Technology Group, and the MIT Media
> Laboratory. He was the program chair of the LISA 2005 conference, one
> of the LISA 2006 Invited Talks co-chairs and the grateful recipient of
> the 2009 SAGE Outstanding Achievement Award.
>
> The meeting is on Wednesday, January 13 at 7PM in room E51-149 on the
> MIT campus in Cambridge (http://www.bblisa.org/directions.html). It is
> a short walk from the Kendall Square T station on the red line for
> those without cars.
>
> The subject for the talk is:
>
>  "I Got My Jet Pack an I'm Still Not Happy"
>
>  Systems administration needs help. Over the last
>  twenty-five years or so I've watched the tools we've used
>  just barely be able to keep up with the challenges of our
>  field. New advancements in user interfaces get promised,
>  offered, adopted and then shed with nothing but temporary
>  relief. In this "from the trenches" talk we'll look some
>  of the challenges that have thwarted our best
>  efforts. I'll also show you some of my puny attempts to
>  poke at the beast from new directions and see if I can
>  enlist your expertise in the battle.
>
> I have never failed to be entertained by one of David's talks, so I
> hope to see you at what promises to be an entertaining and thought
> provoking presentation.
>
> --
>                                -- rouilj
> John Rouillard
>
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> --
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> "Enterprise solutions through open source."
> Professional Profile: http://tmetro.venturelogic.com/
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Re: [Boston.pm] bzr vs svn (jihad) was (Re: what makes a monger meeting)

[Steve Scaffidi]

If many folks are having difficulty with bzr, then perhaps it would be
helpful to see how Dan's organization has made it work for them.

Additionally, getting back to the original question of what to focus
on, I would recommend showing off what you've built, a bit of the
internals, then find out what pieces other folks may be interested in
helping with.

If there's time after that, I'd be interested to find out more about
using Launchpad - why did you choose it, how hard was it to learn,
etc...

See you there!

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Re: [Boston.pm] [Perladvent] mod_perlite... working!

[Steve Scaffidi]

BTW, I think I've found a solution to my SSH sessions freezing at "random"

It's discussed and explained in the thread here: http://bit.ly/5Kh2PE

Summary: tcp window scaling* freaks out various types of old or stupid
network equipment. To disable it on the offending system, issue the
following command:

sudo sysctl -w net.ipv4.tcp_window_scaling=0

I don't know exactly where the problem is occuring in my case, but
issuing that sysctl on my laptop fixed the issue with ssh lagging to
the systems behind the PIX at work... but ssh sessions to my linode
server weren't fixed until I did it on that host as well.

There's also an article on this issue here: http://lwn.net/Articles/92727/

* introduced in the linux kernel around 2004 but not turned on by
default until around 2006

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Re: [Boston.pm] Tech Meeting - Lightning Talks - Tues, Dec 8, MIT E51-376 7pm

[Steve Scaffidi]

*channeling my inner AOL n00b...*

Me too!

On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 2:57 PM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> i have received very few rsvp.
> anyone else coming ?

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Re: [Boston.pm] local::lib

[Steve Scaffidi]

Nearly all CPAN modules I install on my home system are now installed
to my home directory, under ~/perl5 using local::lib. So far, I
haven't encountered any failures that don't happen when installing to
the system perl or a custom-compiled perl.

However, one additional thing I've started doing is to turn that
~/perl5 directory into a git repository!

This way, if I (or the cpan client) unexpectedly mess something up, I
don't have to start from scratch! If I make sure to commit any
changes, I can always roll-back. I got the idea from nothingmuch, aka.
Yuval Kogman.

On a related note, I'm going to start experimenting with using git in
a similar fashion on a mini-cpan.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Meeting recap

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 10:14 PM,   wrote:
> The (newer) TOIlet page I was looking for http://caca.zoy.org/wiki/toilet
>
> Re: local::lib
>
>  It also constructs and prints out for the user the list of environment
>  variables using the syntax appropriate for the user's current shell (as
>  specified by the SHELL environment variable), suitable for directly adding
>  to one's shell configuration file.
>
> This answer's someone's question about how it figures out the appropriate
> means of interacting with the shell, as well as my question, which wasn't
> phrased well at the time. I wasn't asking how this greatest-thing-sliced-bread
> could modify PERL5LIB, but how it could do so persistently. The answer is
> it doesn't you have to set PERL5LIB manually, as you would without the module.
> But now it's cut and paste instead of think and type :-P

or, for those of us using bash:

 eval $(perl -Mlocal::lib)

I have that line in my .bashrc

It also does some other things like setting up a .modulebuildrc file
and making the necessary directory structure so things install OK. One
still needs to run the cpan command and do an 'o conf init' and
manually make sure all the cpan dirs are someplace writable!

Me, I just keep around my own MyConfig.pm with everything already set.

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[Boston.pm] Possible subject/activity for tonight

[Steve Scaffidi]

At $work we are about to do some refactoring and in order to find out
where we will get the most bang-for-the-buck we need to do some
benchmarking.

Benchmarks are an interesting topic (especially combined with
profiling) - Benchmarks are fairly easy to write, but difficult to
*get* right. However, they're an excellent tool to have and use.

Uri and I were discussing the idea that we could demonstrate some use
of Benchmark.pm, writing a few simple cases and then discussing how to
interpret and improve them. I'll come with everything we need already
installed on my laptop...

What do y'all think?

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Re: [Boston.pm] Tech Meeting Tuesday 13th @ mit

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 3:31 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:
>
> Bill Ricker wrote:
>>
>> possibilities -
>> * debate Modern Perl manifesto
>
> What's that?
>

The best answer I believe is here: http://modernperlbooks.com/mt/index.html

This is a blog written by chromatic, who is currently working on a
book called "Modern Perl."

The idea is a bit amorphous, in that everybody seems to have a
different take on what it is, but my interpretation is this: Perl 5
has gone through more than 15 years of evolution. Best practices have
emerged (even more since PBP) but worst practices still persist and
some folks feel it's time for the community to finally think about
what should stay and what should go and what should be added (to core)
- if anything.

Even if we choose to keep deprecated things, and not make new things
part of core, the debate will hopefully yield new and better ideas for
Perl's future and encourage the community to teach and learn and show
off the best of what Perl is and can be.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Speakers wanted

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Oct 6, 2009 at 8:23 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> Anyone have a cool perl project or conference deck to present next week?

I could whip something together on one of two topics:
  1. Getting started with NYTProf, maybe something on effective profiling
  2. Bending RT to your will - making sense of Scrips, Templates,
Overlays etc...

What's more interesting to people?

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Re: [Boston.pm] Boston.PM facebook group/page

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 9:45 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:
> On Fri, Sep 11, 2009 at 9:37 AM, rob levy  wrote:
>
>> That said, groups are really useful because the owner of the group can issue
>> a message to all subscribers.  This is especially appropriate for notifying
>> members about events.  Events on Facebook are useful because people can
>> manage their RSVP, and at the same time advertise the event to their friends
>> unobtrusively in their profile/feed.
>
> so if the FB poster handles RSVP and pizza, that's good
>
> so arzSteve and Rob volunteering to be co-admin of group with Chris
> and of Page ?

Props to Chris for going out and creating it :)

Anyhow, I certainly believe that the primary use of this facebook
group should be to funnel people to the wiki and mailing list.
Regarding "RSVP" stuff, I would certainly be willing to take care of
sending a list of attendees back to Bill in a timely fashion, probably
automating it... though again, I think it's best to encourage folks to
email the list directly. :)

So, in short, I think it should be a facebook-based advertisement for
Boston.pm, focused on attracting and funneling interested folks to the
existing mailing list and wiki, more than it would be "yet another
focal point"

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[Boston.pm] Boston.PM facebook group/page

[Steve Scaffidi]

I mentioned this at this month's meeting and while there was a tepid
(at best) response to the idea there weren't a whole lot of people in
attendance, so I'd like to ask the list.

I'd like to create a Facebook page for Boston Perl Mongers. Mostly,
this is yet another way to say "we are here" but there are some
additional benefits for those of use who already use Facebook,
including the ability to more widely publicise coming events and
meetings, connect and network with other members, and hopefully even
attract new members.

I know it sounds corny, but I firmly believe that Perl is more than
just a language, it's a community. The more accessible, the better,
IMHO.

Also, this is far from being a new idea. A quick search shows
facebooks groups for Birmingham.PM, Oslo.PM, Houston, Buffalo,
Detroit, Copenhagen, St. Louis, and many more.

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Re: [Boston.pm] One-Line Perl Puzzler

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Sep 8, 2009 at 11:41 AM, Palit,
Nilanjan wrote:
>
> http://blogs.discovery.com/nerdabout_new_york/2009/08/perl-puzzler.html#comments

The puzzle is to explain how this works:

  cksum file1 file_n | perl -ane 'warn if $F[0] != ($x ||= $F[0])'

I'm sick and bored today, so here goes. :)

cksum   produces output like this:



One line like this is output for each file specified on the command line.

These lines are then piped into the perl command.

perl -e '' is pretty self explanitory - it runs the code
between the quotes.

perl -ne '' adds some convenience, wrapping the code in a
'while( <> ) { ... }' loop, where ... is your code.

This means the specified code will be looped over for each line of
input. In this case, the input to perl is the output from the cksum
command.

perl -a is another convenience shortcut, called 'autosplit'. It
inserts the code '@F = split(' ');' before your code, so that @F
contains the split-out fields from the input to your program.

When -a is combined with -n, think of it being inserted as the first
statement in the while loop. Like this...

while( <> ) { @F = split(' '); ... }

Again, ... is your code, in this case the code specified after the -e.

So, think about the perl code as having this extra stuff around it and
it begins to come clear: Each line of output from cksum gets split
into @F. What the perl code really looks like is this:

while( <> ) {
  @F = split(' ');
  warn if $F[0] != ($x ||= $F[0])
}


Now we need to figure out what the code from the -e is doing. This
code is being run without strict and without warnings. Keep that in
mind...

It seems we only care about the first element in @F, since the code
only looks at $F[0]. Given the output of cksum, this is just the hash
of the current file. No matter what name a file has, if it's contents
are the same, it will have the same hash. Remember that.

Each time through the loop, @F is populated with a line of output from
cksum, a line for each file. What about $x? We're not using strictures
so $x is autovivified the first time through the loop, and treated as
a 'global' (perl experts know why I put global in quotes)

Furthermore, $x is only assigned to if it's value is false, because
we're using the ||= operator. This means $x is assigned the value of
$F[0] the first time through the loop... and after that it's value is
no longer false!

*** $x only ever contains the hash for the *first* file given to cksum! ***

One last piece to make this all clear: the result of the expression
($x ||= $F[0]) is always the value of $x.

Therefore, each iteration through the loop, the code is comparing
$F[0], the current file's hash, to $x, the hash of the first file.

This convoluted little script is just a simplistic (and potientially
buggy) "diff" utility, that spits out a warning if any files passed to
cksum differ from the first.


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Re: [Boston.pm] September Meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

okie dokie. I just looked at the the wiki but the details are a bit fuzzy :)

On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 9:47 PM, Bill Ricker wrote:
> we have a speaker.
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 26, 2009 at 9:18 PM, Steve Scaffidi wrote:
>> It looks like our usual PM meeting would be scheduled for Sept. 8th
>> and I'm curious as to whether or not we'll be having it.
>>
>> I'd be willing to do a presentation, though picking a topic is
>> difficult... I've been working with Devel::NYTProf a lot lately and
>> could whip up something around that.
>>
>> Does anybody have any other ideas? Other topics? Bueller? ... Bueller?
>>
>> --
>> -- Steve Scaffidi 
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Bill
> n1...@arrl.net bill.n1...@gmail.com
>



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[Boston.pm] September Meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

It looks like our usual PM meeting would be scheduled for Sept. 8th
and I'm curious as to whether or not we'll be having it.

I'd be willing to do a presentation, though picking a topic is
difficult... I've been working with Devel::NYTProf a lot lately and
could whip up something around that.

Does anybody have any other ideas? Other topics? Bueller? ... Bueller?

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Re: [Boston.pm] august social meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

I would also love to have a summer social meeting. I would think that
keeping the usual Tuesday @ 7 time would be best for people's
planning, since I already had planned for the normal meeting anyway.

I don't have any good suggestions for venue, but any place one can get
a beer and still be able to hear others from across the table is fine
by me :)

Also, darkstar++ it's sublime, it's bad, it simply rocks.




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Re: [Boston.pm] packaging a perl module as an RPM; different distribution

[Steve Scaffidi]

One more suggestion, a-la virtual machines: I know you mentioned
having to work in Cygwin, but if the plan is to deploy on CentOS, then
that's just trying to push a camel through a cat-door... I'll leave
the explanation of that to your imagination...

Anyhow, I have recently bought an account at a VM hosting service
called Linode (http://www.linode.com) for dealing with this very sort
of problem, and I have to say, I am *extremely* impressed with it's
performance, ease of use, and flexibility.

If you can at all swing it, do the work on a Linode - you can buy a VM
and have a CentOS system up and running *literally* within 5 minutes
(that was my experience) and you can tear it down and rebuild with a
simple web interface.

SHAMELESS PLUG: If you do go that route, please go ahead and use my
referral key - it nets me a $20 credit, and you get one to use
yourself!

http://www.linode.com/?r=b161a9ad6b331a7bd720740fce197ee017bf4fe1

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Re: [Boston.pm] packaging a perl module as an RPM; different distribution

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Jul 7, 2009 at 1:37 PM, Brian Reichert wrote:
> I have a weird scenario I'm tasked with:
>
> I've been packaging perl modules as RPMs.  I have, to date, been
> successful with cpan2rpm to accomplish this:
>
>  http://perl.arix.com/cpan2rpm/
>
> Now, my environment has changed.  The host I'm now packaging on
> runs perl 5.10, but the target Linux host has 5.8.8 installed.
>
> My packaging generates files that live in /usr/lib/perl5/site_perl/5.10,
> but that directory is unknown to the target perl distribution.
>
> That target distribution is stock Red Hat EL5.  It was not complied
> with the ability to use sitecustomize.pl, so I can't tweak @INC in
> that manner.

This sort of thing is exactly why the experts (schwern, chromatic, et
al.) strongly recommend compiling a custom perl for production
environments.

By compiling your own using a prefix like /opt or /usr/local, you gain
total control over which version of perl you are using, as well as the
ability to move your application much more easily between different
platforms. Also, you pretty much eliminate the problems associated
with conflicts between the vendor's packages and your own packages
and/or CPAN installs.

I've found that building a custom perl .deb package is relatively easy
using the checkinstall program. I've actually written a simple shell
script that downloads the desired perl tarball, unpacks, configures,
and then builds and tests it before using checkinstall to generate the
package. In fact at this very moment, I'm about to see if the script
will work on an RPM based host as well!


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Re: [Boston.pm] Fwd: The best diagram about git ever; Gitcast

[Steve Scaffidi]

I think there was a very similar graphic (an actual diagram) I used in
my Git talk @ Boston.pm... with some extra annotation, I think it
could be just as rich and a lot easier to decipher. When I have a tuit
here @ YAPC, I'll see if I can find it.


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Re: [Boston.pm] schwag for next meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Sat, Jun 20, 2009 at 12:10 AM, Matthew J Brooks <
mjbro...@users.sourceforge.net> wrote:

> Uri Guttman wrote:
> > i would only ok that if it was a python book toss!
>
> Well there's a good idea, but who in their right mind would own one of
> those? Or at the very least admit that they do to the boston-pm list! ;)
>
> In fact, the first person who admits that should win the first book for
> their bravery alone!
>
> *crickets*
> *crickets*
> *crickets*
>
> Thought so...
>
>
/me comes late to the party...

I actually *do* own a copy of Programming Python which I'd be *happy* to
sacrifice, um, *offer* for this worthy cause!

That book weighs a ton, and it was next to useless to me when I learned and
worked with Python last year.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Perl Editor/IDE links (June Tech Meeting follow up)

[Steve Scaffidi]

I just used cpan to install Padre, and it took a few 'attempts' but it
eventually finished. I'm running perl 5.10 as it was distributed with
Ubuntu "Jaunty" 9.04. I made sure to install the libwx-perl package
(and anything that looked related) with apt-get beforehand.

I'll try using it a little tomorrow and report back what I find.


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Re: [Boston.pm] June Meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 11:23 PM, Bill Ricker wrote:
>
> if enough folks bring stone soup reports on their Perl IDE or
> disintegrated development TIMTOWTDI toolbench of choice, we can do
> that topic tag team.

I have a particular liking for EPIC, and have used it extensively in
the past. The Debugger GUI alone is worth paying for, and though it's
been two years since I last used it, I've read that it's only gotten
better. I especially love the "class browser" which works surprisingly
well.

Alas, I am far too busy to prepare any sort of "presentation," but I'd
be willing to spend 20-30 min doing a simple "show and tell"


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Re: [Boston.pm] meeting topic?

[Steve Scaffidi]

On May 6, 2009, at 12:00 AM, Jerrad Pierce  wrote:


lemme know what you think. yes, there aren't too many emacs users in
boston.pm but who knows? this could convert a few of you.

You lie sir! Surely any Bob-fearing coder on the true path of hackish
virtue uses the one true editor.


Indeed, one can not deny the mighty power bestowed upon we mortals  
when blessed with vi.


;-)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Git Follow-Up

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 3:17 PM, Steve Scaffidi  wrote:
> So, see the renames I did of Makefile.PL last night, I found that the
> following commands work:
>
>   git-whatchanged -M
>
>   git-log --raw -M
>
>   git-diff --diff-filter=RC --find-copies-harder HEAD~2
>

another example to demonstrate the ability to detect renames...

mv MANIFEST MANIFEST.bak
git-add .
git-diff --cached --summary -M

Output:
 rename MANIFEST => MANIFEST.bak (100%)

Now... I edited a line in that file (MANIFEST.bak)

vim MANIFEST.bak
git add .
git-diff --cached --summary -M

Output:
 rename MANIFEST => MANIFEST.bak (99%)


It *still* knows it's a rename!


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Re: [Boston.pm] Git Follow-Up

[Steve Scaffidi]

Two more little things wrt. hosting and auth:

If you want to host over SSH but do not want to give users a shell,
there is a "git-shell" binary specifically for that purpose. It is
part of the default git package.


Also, I just found something called "Gitosis" which seems to be
designed to handle hosting multiple repos with multiple users securely
without users needing a system login. (however, it seems to require
each user have an SSH key)

Here's a tutorial I found... it looks complicated but thorough, and
who knows, it may be just what you're looking for!

http://scie.nti.st/2007/11/14/hosting-git-repositories-the-easy-and-secure-way


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[Boston.pm] Git Follow-Up

[Steve Scaffidi]

So I've been investigating some of the questions asked last night and
come up with some interesting info

For example - renames..

Git does not "track" renames, but the history-reviewing tools can
detect them, because a renamed or moved file will have the same SHA1
hash.

So, see the renames I did of Makefile.PL last night, I found that the
following commands work:

  git-whatchanged -M

  git-log --raw -M

  git-diff --diff-filter=RC --find-copies-harder HEAD~2


Also, an example config for hosting a repo on apache where WebDAV is
available (but not mod_git)


  Dav on
  AuthType Basic
  AuthName “My repo with git”
  AuthUserFile /path/to/my_git_repo.passwd
  
Require valid-user
  




WRT using git-daemon: There is *no* authentication in the protocol and
the daemon does not offer any on top of that. I found a very
to-the-point description for why this is:

"The purpose of git-daemon is to allow fast (and bandwidth-saving)
anonymous read-only (fetch) access to git repositories. The ability to
push via git-daemon was added later, and is turned off by default
because it should be used only in special situations."

However, as you have probably seen, git's communication protocol is
easily carried by other protocols that *do* support authentication,
such as ssh, HTTP/DAV, and I'm sure several others. :-)


OK, that's enough for now... Feel free to add to this thread with your
own discoveries and tips, etc, and I will add more myself as I find
new things!


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Re: [Boston.pm] Tonight, after the meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

Sweet! Thank you for the invitation!

On Tue, Apr 14, 2009 at 4:23 PM, Mitchell N Charity wrote:

> Boston.rb is *also* doing a git talk tonight, :) ,
> http://bostonrb.org/events/69 , over at the Athenaeum, and is currently
> planning to then go to CBC (usually 9-12ish, at a big table in the back).
>  Friendly crowd, feel free to stop by and talk git. :)
>
> I'll be at Cambridge Semantic Net instead, but will likely come by CBC
> afterward.  I'd really like to chat about Perl 6 with anyone interested.
>  Anytime, anywhere.
>
> Mitchell
>
>
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[Boston.pm] Git tutorial

[Steve Scaffidi]

I stumbled upon this article the other day, and it's a fun read and really
highlights some of the things I like about git.

http://tomayko.com/writings/the-thing-about-git

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Re: [Boston.pm] Larry's MIT talk

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 3:34 PM, Jerrad Pierce  wrote:

> >I think the Chameleon surely is a qualified candidate for the Perl6 Mascot
> job
> Indeed, and it keeps the "camel" root.
> A case could also be made for its mouth harboring a natural whip.
>
> Perhaps difficult to make cuddly/effeminate though,
> which seems to be one of his main goals.
>
> There's also the overlap with Gecko/K-meleon.
>
> But still better than a butterfly to me :-)


You could always argue that a chamelion has it both ways since "you are what
you eat"

http://images.wildmadagascar.org/pictures/misc/Furcifer-campani-204.gif






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Re: [Boston.pm] Larry's MIT talk

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 1:50 PM, Charlie  wrote:

> P-Rex is good!
>
> After all Perl regex _is_ the king of regex. All other languages, and many
> tools, have adopted it, akaik.
>
> Also, it is not sterile, easy to say and will look danged good on O'Reilly
> book covers.
>
> Dinosaur references _can_ be taken the wrong way.  But the goodness
> outweighs the small risk of humorlessness...
>

Mad props for P-Rex. I may take to calling PCRE that around other people and
see if it sticks :-)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Larry's MIT talk

[Steve Scaffidi]

Grammar Expression Engine With High-level Intuitive Interface, Z

GEE-WHIZ


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[Boston.pm] Fwd: Larry's Harvard and MIT talks

[Steve Scaffidi]

I just got this review via the Boston.pm mailing list of tonight's talk:

"The first part was very fun, the second was computer language porn -
several of the non-compiler crowd ran during that :)"


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Re: [Boston.pm] Git workshop for April

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 4:04 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:

> Version control is a mature space, with a lot of well established terms. It
> feels like git developers tried to come up with new terms for common
> operations in an attempt to make it clear that they have different behaviors
> from what you're used to in other VCSs, but as a result there also seems to
> be a bunch of things that are misnamed and misleading.


Git's terminology appears to be consistent with that used by other DVCSes
like mercurial and monotone. I've read that Linus seriously considered
choosing Monotone instead of building his own, and git's design is highly
influenced by it.

  there must be a tipping point where you reach your "ah ha" moment, and
> then git feels intuitive and provides tangible benefits that speed
> development.
>

I think the benefits are quick to be realized, like being able to work
offline, *much* better performance overall, and just plain sheer
flexibility. Of course, using and learning new and different tool involves
some "transfer of momentum" and if that can't be done, sheer force of will.

For VCS stuff, I didn't have much momentum. I used cvs in college and I've
used svn as a non-developer in the past. However, when I started developing
stuff that was destined for the outside world, I began searching for the
"best tool for me". At my current $job we use svn, and I find myself
frustrated with it on occasion, mostly because of speed, but also for silly
stuff, like when I make a series of changes but forget to commit each
separately and then have to do a stupid cut-and-paste dance to properly
document each change.

You sometimes hear learning object oriented programming as having such a
> tipping point, where the programmer starts to thing intuitively in terms of
> objects, instead of procedures. A similar experience can be found when going
> from C to Perl. You can write very C-like Perl code, but not until you
> internalize the Perl way of doing thing are you really gaining the benefit
> of the tool.
>

That's probably true with using a DVCS, too. However, in my case, git was
just in the right place at the right time, with the right features... I was
a VCS n00b and wanted something that worked the way I think (a disorganized
mess of parallel ideas that eventually sort out into something approaching
clarity and order)


>
> So while I can now do multi-branch development with git, and it doesn't get
> in my way for the most part, I haven't reached a "Zen state" with git such
> that I feel it is providing any improvement for me over past VCSs.


If I had spent my entire career using centralized VCSes then I can imagine
that I would have a harder time using git. However, I didn't have very much
to forget so it was easier.

I would probably forget all about the "Zen" thing. When I came up with it, I
was thinking about a term I picked up studying Aikido called "Zanshin" or
"Beginners Mind". Zen is a term with (ironically, perhaps?) a lot of
cognitave baggage, subject to interpretation in lots of ways.


As I've worked on my outline and notes, I've decided that this will be
mostly a spartan tutorial, with a brief introduction to the software
(who/what/when/why/how) and then rolling up our sleeves to use it in a
number of simple/common ways.

If that goes quickly enough, I'll try to have some more advanced usage
staged for demonstration, like cherry-picking and/or multi-tiered workflow.
That will be interesting since I have not done it already myself, but the
concept seems clear to me. If it's as simple as git's fans say it is, it's
pretty impressive :)

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Re: [Boston.pm] Ubuntu distribution upgrades

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 1:05 AM, Tom Metro  wrote:

> Bill Ricker wrote:
>
>> Steve Scaffidi wrote:
>>
>>> BTW: aptitude has many advantages over apt-get. I won't go into detail
>>> but
>>> it's *much* better at handling dependencies esp. with distro upgrades
>>>
>>
>> On Ubuntu, we usually use the ubuntu upgrade manager.  but for ssh
>> patching servers, i usually just do apt-get. which reminds me 
>>
>
> We're straying off topic fast, but I just wanted to point out that I
> learned the hard way that you don't want to use aptitude to do a
> distribution upgrade on Ubuntu. (OK, it wasn't that hard to fix, but it does
> break a few things.)


Yeah, I agree about the off-topic. I'll just add this one thing... :)

WRT aptitude vs. apt-get et al: You're probably right about that, and the
Ubuntu and debian docs both agree. Personally, I've had experience to the
contrary and it was years ago on debian proper, with a system using a
mixture of repositories with pinning and other tweaks. Ever since then I've
used aptitude out of comfortability, though ubuntu has lulled me into using
upgrade-manager for just about everything on that distro. :-)

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Re: [Boston.pm] IO::All on platform::All

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Mar 27, 2009, at 7:05 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:
I usually resort to a source install if a package isn't available,  
but presumably the right way to handle it is to use a tool that  
repackages CPAN modules as Debian packages. Supposedly there is such  
a tool floating around.


Given the way CPAN modules seem to be quite interconnected in a web  
of dependencies, it's somewhat amazing that they can create as few  
Debian packages as they do, without the dependencies forcing them to  
package up most of CPAN. :-)


I've actually had a surprising amount of success packaging many CPAN  
modules for various Debian relatives by using CPANPLUS to resolve abd  
fetch dependencies, then packaging using dh-make-perl


There is a cpanplus plugin that does this already but it's not part of  
the ubuntu repos so you have to install via cpan anyway :-/


BTW: aptitude has many advantages over apt-get. I won't go into detail  
but it's *much* better at handling dependencies esp. with distro  
upgrades


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Re: [Boston.pm] IO::All on platform::All

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 6:08 PM, Christopher Schmidt <
crschm...@crschmidt.net> wrote:

>
> > Is the sysadmin motto "just get it to work and then don't touch it", or
> > am I missing something?
>
> Well, personally, my motto is 'Use Debian'.
>

So, what should a CPAN module named "Debian" do? ;-P

/me imagines it proceeds to check your OS and if not Debian, gets to work
downloading apt-get...

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Re: [Boston.pm] larry's mit talk

[Steve Scaffidi]

I definitely plan on coming!

On Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 12:27 PM, Uri Guttman  wrote:

>
> just to confirm, larry's talk at mit will be at:
>
> april 1, 4:30pm
> room 34-101
>
> who is planning on attending? i will be there.
>
> i am also asking sipb for a minute (and maybe larry will help me) to
> plug y...@mit and try to find a sponsor from the crowd or people they
> know. so any friendly faces in the crowd may help as we mention how
> great yapc is and what a trip it would be to have mit host it.
>
> thanx,
>
> uri
>
> --
> Uri Guttman  --  u...@stemsystems.com    http://www.sysarch.com--
> -  Perl Code Review , Architecture, Development, Training, Support
> --
> - Free Perl Training --- http://perlhunter.com/college.html-
> -  Gourmet Hot Cocoa Mix    http://bestfriendscocoa.com-
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] [Fwd: [HCS] Larry Wall - Inventor of Perl - onTuesday 3/31]

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 9:58 AM, Bill Ricker  wrote:

> > I'm confused...
> > Is the talk on Tuesday 31 March, or Wednesday 1 April?
> > Is the talk at 4:30p or 5:30p?
>
> Two talks, two days, two months, two colleges.
>
> Harvard HCS 3/31 5:30 Science D
> MIT SIPB 4/1 4:30pm room 34-101
>
>
A quick google yeilded this info on the MIT talk:

http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/sipb/admin/minutes/minutes.2009-03-02


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Re: [Boston.pm] Git workshop for April

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Mar 6, 2009, at 3:13 PM, Tom Metro  wrote:

> Steve Scaffidi wrote:
>>- "the Zen of git - unlearn what you know"
>
> I recommend that you use that as your talk title. :-)

It's apt, but perhaps not in the way you're thinking - At $work I
recently posted a wiki page about using git with our svn-based source
control and it attracted some attention - mostly from people who
simply don't see the value in distributed version control systems,
especially git. I tried explaining *why* I've grown to prefer using it
over svn... but most of these people seemed stuck on the fact that git
is new, and very much hyped-up and _supports_ a model of development
that they are not used to, never mind comfortable with.

However, if one forgets everything they think they know about git...
it turns out that just like SVN is a better CVS, git can be a better
SVN! And... when you need to do some things that SVN can simply never
support (at least not without substantial effort)... chances are you
*can* with git.

> Can you get git for a Nokia N810? :-)

I'll have to double-check, but I believe it will build on most systems
with a working gcc toolchain... and not necessarily a recent one! (ask
uri about his experience on an *old* Solaris box)

I already know it works on ARM, SPARC, and Itanium based platforms, so
there's a good possibility you can compile a working build from source
on your Nokia (A TI chip, right?)

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[Boston.pm] Git workshop for April

[Steve Scaffidi]

Since the March meeting is almost upon us, I just wanted to start discussion
on what people would like to do vis-a-vis git.

My idea is pretty simple - I would like to do a tutorial-style workshop
where people can follow along on their laptops to use git and see it in
action.

I would cover the following:

  -  Core concepts (~15 min)
- the creation of git (who why etc)
- "the Zen of git - unlearn what you know"
- git terminology
  - local vs remote repos
  - origin, head, master, checkout/commit vs pull/push
- how git is related to traditional version control systems (TVCS)
- what git does better than TVCS
- what git doesn't yet do better than TVCS

  - Getting started (~25 min)
- starting a new project with git
- getting an existing project into git (one that isn't already using
source control)
- making your own private remote repository
  - NOTE: making a repo public is really something to be left for
another day
  - HOWEVER, I would mention that it's insanely simple and flexible.

  - Working alone with git (~20 min)
- getting code from an existing git repo (for example perl!)
- hack hack hack
- commit hack commit hack
- commit push hack commit hack commit push

- Working with others with git, the traditional way (~20 min)
  - you pull from the repo
  - someone else pulls from the repo
  - you're both pushing... how to keep in synch

Anyhow... I obviously need to plan this carefully. There's a lot of
information, but using git is surprisingly straight-forward...

I know that the basics of getting started and using it for real work can be
covered in one meeting. It's just a matter of avoiding all the "git fanboi
hype OMG linus! shiny! ponies!" and instead focusing on "when you want to
get X done with TVCS, you do Z with git" :)



Shortly before the meeting I could send an email to this list showing people
where to get git for their chosen platforms, perhaps with install
instructions... that will save time for instruction :)

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Re: [Boston.pm] redbones rsvp so far

[Steve Scaffidi]

My girlfriend may drop in, though she'll probably be there a little late.
(7:30 - 8)

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Re: [Boston.pm] redbones rsvp so far

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 3:09 PM, Uri Guttman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

>
> here is what i have so far for the social tomorrow night at redbone's
>
> me
> Joshua D. Abraham
> Bobbi Fox
> Federico Lucifredi
> Ron Newman
> Ubuntista (from bill ricker)
> Bill Ricker (beer only but they do have non-spicy food)
>
> if you are rsvp'ed but not on that list, do it again.
>
> i have a reservation set for 12 heads at 7pm. we will likely be in the
> basement but that isn't sure. it is in my name and perl mongers (if they
> keep that note).
>
> so rsvp asap if you want to come. we can get more seats and there will
> likely be room for walk-ins as redbones has space.
>
> if only blue ribbon had sit down. a party i once threw in my yard for
> damian and boston.pm was catered by blue ribbon. :)
>
>
Count me in!

BTW, they *do* have sit-down @ Blue Ribbon... for *very* small values of
$sit_down



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Re: [Boston.pm] It's that time RE: Follow up Re: Boston.pm Perl Mongers 11/18 tech meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

several minutes before the "event" I sent the following on the #hckr channel
here @ work

  perl -e 'print scalar localtime 0111'

and then

  perl -e 'print sprintf "%o", time'

It raised a few eyebrows :)

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[Boston.pm] More info on Parse::RecDescent

[Steve Scaffidi]

Best part is, this article uses the same type of example - parsing dates:

http://www.perl.com/pub/a/2001/06/13/recdecent.html

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Re: [Boston.pm] [Boston.pm-announce] RSVP please Re: "Boston.PM" Tuesday 14th FIRST FLOOR E51-149 MIT 7:15pm

[Steve Scaffidi]

Silly me... I'll be there, and may even attempt a *short* talk

/me has little confidence, and even less material

On Tue, Oct 14, 2008 at 12:52 PM, Bill Ricker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Only 3 confirmed so far ... at this rate there won't be much pizza ordered ...
> count will be taken at about 5
> bill
>
> On 10/13/08, Bill Ricker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>  * Note different room., E51-149  First floor. 
>>  * Topic - Stone Soup /  Lightning talks?
>>
>>  We have no scheduled speaker so we'll have tag team lightning talks.
>>  If you don't want to try PowerPoint Karaoke, have a slide or three on
>>  Flash or an URL for Web ready to talk about, or just use chalk and
>>  arm-waving. Topics may be Perl, software development, coping with
>>  bosses and insubordinates, Lifehacker tips,  scottish geography,
>>  whatever.
>>
>>  I will have some Perl related "URLs from a hat" for powerpoint karaoke
>>  for the uninspired.
>>
>> On the first floor - arrangements TBD when we get there !!
>>
>>
>>  RSVP to me if you're planning to attend -
>> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>>
>> Pizza and soda for this meeting will be sponsored by
>>  Cambridge Interactive  Development Corp.  Thanks CIDC!
>>
>>
>>  ... Bill
>>
>>> For more information about Boston Perl Mongers, or to subscribe to one of
>>> our mailing lists, visit our website at http://boston.pm.org/
>>>
>>>
>>> Directions to MIT, Building E51:
>>>
>>> Building E51 (the Tang Center) is located at the corners of Amherst and
>>> Wadsworth Streets in Cambridge.
>>>
>>> http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?mapterms=e51
>>>
>>> Directions by T:
>>>
>>> Take the Red Line to Kendall.  Building E51 is right around the corner
>>> from
>>> the T stop.  From the Inbound side, facing into Main Street, turn right
>>> (toward Boston) and walk down the block.  Turn right on Wadsworth Street
>>> and walk to the corner of Amherst Street.  Building E51 is the building
>>> across the street directly in front of you with the metal canopy.
>>>
>>> Directions by Car:
>>>
>>> General directions provided by MIT:
>>>
>>> http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?section=directions
>>>
>>> The Boston Linux and Unix user group also meets at E51, so you may find
>>> their directions helpful as well (keeping in mind that we will be meeting
>>> in room 376, not room 315):
>>>
>>> http://www.blu.org/directions/mit/e51-315.php
>>>
>>> Parking Information:
>>>
>>> MIT's Amherst Street Lot is adjacent to the building:
>>>
>>> http://whereis.mit.edu/map-jpg?selection=P4&Parking=go
>>>
>>> Officially, a sticker is required to park in the lot.  However, we've been
>>> told unofficially that there is no enforcement after 3pm weekdays, nor on
>>> the weekends.  Chances are very slim that cars will be ticketed.
>>> Nonetheless, parking in the lot is at your own risk.
>>
>
>
> --
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> [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] Baby boy

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Sep 30, 2008 at 2:15 PM, Duane Bronson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Congratulations.  Now you can exit(0) and you will have a daemon child.

The hardest part is cleaning up after the frequent core-dumps. ;)

Congrats! You've just taken on the toughest job you'll ever love.

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Re: [Boston.pm] Next Technical Meeting August 12, 7:15pm @ MIT E51-376

[Steve Scaffidi]

On Tue, Aug 12, 2008 at 12:45 PM, Uri Guttman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> >>>>> "JP" == Jerrad Pierce <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
>  JP> To clarify, it probably qualifies as a hack-a-thon as much as a
>  JP> "fix-a-thon."  I also have some schwag I may distribute for
>  JP> significant contributions.
>
> i will also have an oscon bag for schwag. i will need to come up with
> some suitable challenge to decide who is worthy of winning it.
>
> uri


I don't know if I can manage 'worthy'... will bribes do?

/me goes out to find some scotch and troll MIT for female undergrad
perl-groupies

// the scotch is to sweeten the bribe, not for the groupies... I have Ubuntu
CD's for them. ;)

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Re: [Boston.pm] ackathon design notes

[Steve Scaffidi]

Even though I can't be there tonight, I'd still like to contribute
*something*

I propose that ack should have a mascot:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/881400078/

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Re: [Boston.pm] Boston Perl Mongers technical meeting 7/15 @ MIT - (H)Ack-athon

[Steve Scaffidi]

Looks like I'll be sitting this one out, guys... I told my gf and she got
upset... turns out there were 'surprise' plans for my birthday...

You all know it's the smart thing for me to do now ;)



On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 7:42 AM, Bill Ricker <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Uri and Andy have agreed, so the Ack Hackathon is a go.
>
> MIT E51-376, 7/15 @  7:15pm   [ Hmm, didn't plan that but it's cute ]
> http://boston.pm.org/kwiki/  has directions
>
> RSVP with the reply button.
>
> --
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>
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Re: [Boston.pm] RSVP for the meeting

[Steve Scaffidi]

RSVP for me, too!


On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 12:43 AM, Mark J. Dulcey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> I'm not sure who is collecting them now, so I'll have to spam the list this
> once. I will be at the meeting on Tuesday night.
>
>
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Re: [Boston.pm] idea for talk on tuesday

[Steve Scaffidi]

Just curious - about using revision control - perhaps this would be a good
opportunity for folks to try out Git? I've been learning the basics the last
week or so and I'm quite pleased with it, and I think it may be the right
tool for this type of scenario...

The 'original' would be turned into a git repo (three commands)
Each person would download a 'clone' of the original (single command per
person)
Each person could then hack as they wish, committing as often as they like,
because they're only working on their local copy
People could then sync with each other or back to the original at will

I dunno... now that I type that all out it seems more complicated than I
first envisioned it. But I'm just stirring the pot a bit :D

However, Git's distributed model seems to be surprisingly well done and easy
to use.

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