July 2004

Regular Expressions: Object-Oriented Tcl

Cameron Laird

Tcl isn't object-oriented, right? To judge by the number of people who ask this question, something is sure wrong with object-oriented (OO) Tcl. At the very least, it's not well publicized. Let's see whether this month's "Regular Expressions" can get the story straight.

The Open Road: Network Troubleshooting Tools — Part 2

Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier

Last month, I started discussing network troubleshooting tools. This month, I'll discuss sniff and ngrep.

Review: USENIX Technical Conference — A Week in Boston

Peter Salus

The USENIX Technical Conference in Boston, June 27 through July 2 USENIX started as the UNIX Users Group in 1974, when slightly more than two dozen folks met at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons in Manhattan. The main speaker was Ken Thompson. Ken wasn't in Boston this year. But both Dennis Ritchie and Doug McIlroy were. And a thousand or so others.

Book Review: High Performance MySQL

Russell Dyer

O'Reilly has published a fabulous book on MySQL. The authors, Jeremy Zawodny and Derek Balling, have drawn on their extensive experience as MySQL administrators at Yahoo to write High Performance MySQL for fellow administrators. Instead of getting bogged down with the basics of MySQL, the book focuses on understanding performance factors in MySQL and how the different ways of creating databases or of modifying existing databases will affect speed and efficiency. While this is an advanced topic, the text and concepts are easy to follow. It's written on the assumption, however, that the reader already knows MySQL but is unaware of how databases can perform better and how tables can be constructed, joined, and indexed optimally.

Apache Logs

Russell Dyer

The Apache Web server is set up to log information on user activities and errors. By default, all non-error messages are recorded in one log file and all error messages in another. The level of messages may be increased or decreased, the content of the messages may be set, and the messages may be split into multiple log files. This last option is especially useful for a server that handles multiple domains. In this article, I will explore Apache logging and how it can be configured.

Tool of the Month: rpl

Joe "Zonker" Brockmeier

This month, I'll introduce a tool that is handy for admins, programmers, and anybody who works with text files on a regular basis. The utility is rpl, short for "replace strings", which is exactly what it does. rpl is a simple utility that searches files for a text string and replaces that text string with another that you specify.

Review: Evaluating UnixWare 7.1.4

Emmett Dulaney

Just when it looks like the struggle for the PC desktop is only going to be between Windows and Linux, another version of UnixWare comes out and joins the fray. Not only is it an alternative to the other choices, but it is one that is definitely worth considering for “bringing power, value, stability, and reliability to your business,” as the press releases state. In this review, I won’t bore you with the history of UnixWare, Bell Labs, Novell, and all of that. Nor will I venture into the controversy with SCO and the Linux community. The UnixWare operating system deserves to be evaluated on its own merits for what it is and not be confused with any ambient factors. This product is much too solid and promising an operating system to focus on anything other than it and it alone.

MySQL Sub-Queries

Russell Dyer

One feature that MySQL has been lacking is the ability to do sub-queries. Sub-queries are queries that are run within other queries. They are executed before the primary or outer query and their results may be incorporated into the main query. MySQL's inability to perform sub-queries has long been a feature that has been used against it when compared to other SQL databases. As of version 4.1 of MySQL, however, sub-queries are now possible. This month, I will explore how to use sub-queries in MySQL.

Book Review: Secure Architectures with OpenBSD

Peter Salus

Though the first four chapters of Secure Architectures with OpenBSD deal with installation and "basic use," this not a book for beginners. If you don't understand the Unix (Minix; Linux) way that things work and don't know (at least) C, stay away. Palmer and Nazario will confuse you.

Book Review: SQL Pocket Guide

Ed Schaefer

You can learn the Structured Query Language (SQL) syntax in a few days and spend the rest of your career perfecting your craft. Jonathan Gennick's latest book, SQL Pocket Guide, should help in the endeavor.

Certification: What You Need to Know for Project Management Certification

Emmett Dulaney

Last month, I introduced the two primary certifications for project management: PMP from the Project Management Institute and IT Project+ from CompTIA. While the two certifications differ significantly in their prerequisites, they both require that you pass an exam on a core set of knowledge. The core set of knowledge is essentially the same between the two certifications, though scattered among different “domains”/topic categories. This month, I’ll look at that core set of knowledge you must know to understand the basics of project management. Though the titles of the heads generically correspond to the IT Project+ domains, that was only done for the sake of simplicity, and the material applies to PMP as well. For more detailed information, see the references and links at the end of this article.

Shell Corner: POP3 mail filtering and retrieval with bash

Ed Schaefer

This month, Chris F.A. Johnson presents Bash script mfilter, which retrieves and deletes email from a POP3 mail server. Chris also presents a short tutorial on communicating with a POP3 server.

Book Review: Linux Shell Scripting with Bash

Ed Schaefer

Linux Shell Scripting with Bash A comprehensive guide and reference for Linux users and administrators by Ken O. Burtch SAMS Publishing, 2004 ISBN: 0672326426 412 pages