Not without a certain pleasure I announce that I got Rapache fixed and working again.

Rapache is a graphical user tool to help you configure Apache2. It allows easy creation of virtual name hosts and modules activation without prior knowledge of configuration files.

I still have to mess with the packaging thing, and there are certain trade-offs, but anybody interested can finally download a working version.

To install it run the following commands

sudo apt-get install python-crypto python-openssl python-lxml
sudo apt-get install python-glade2 python-gnome2-extras python-gksu2
sudo apt-get install python-gtk2 python-gtksourceview2 gksu bzr
bzr branch lp:rapache

Once you’re done, you can run it with the following commands:

cd rapache
sudo ./rapache

Note that Rapache now requires sudo, but it will nevertheless ask for your password the first time you try to do anything. It’s glitchy and patchy but at least it works.

Also there is no more tray icon (not a problem for Unity users I guess) and the status bar displays an ‘apache not reacheable’ message unregarding the real apache status.

Still you get the same easy virtualhost creation, syntax highlighted source editor, module activation/removal we all used to love.

A word of warning, as my computer is still running Ubuntu 10.10 Rapache is untested on 11.04 and 11.10. But it’s worth a try. Let me know how it runs

You can find more about Rapache in my previous posts.

Sadly, I haven’t been able to found that command in Ubuntu, but after some research I could luckily find something useful. What follows is a very simple bash implementation of the repeat command.

First, open your .bash_aliases file:

xdg-open ~/.bash-aliases

Second, paste these lines at the bottom of the file and save:

repeat() {
    n=$1
    shift
    while [ $(( n -= 1 )) -ge 0 ]
    do
        "$@"
    done
}

Third, either close and open again your terminal, or type:

source ~/.bash_aliases

Et voilà ! You can now use it like this:

repeat 5 echo Hello World !!!

or

repeat 5 ./myscript.sh

Hope this can help you !

Adding a new PPA is quite a pain, and even after you add it, still you get ugly errors complaining the apt key is missing, and signature not being verified (this also leads to an obnoxious double confirmation from the gui updater). Stuff like this:

W: GPG error: http://ppa.launchpad.net intrepid Release:
The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not
available: NO_PUBKEY DAA9427DCBF475C3

Some people already got their ass bitten even here (and I’m quite happy other reader helped them faster than I could).

Well, now it’s over ! Nico has been kind enough to point out an UbuntuForums script to solve the issue once for all. Here’s the updated script.

Download the following script:

Launchpad Keys Update Script

extract the file (it should already be executable, in case of problems check it is in the properties of the file), open a terminal in the directory where you extracted the file and run

sudo ./launchpad-update

The script will fetch every PPA key you need from Launchpad and solve your update errors in one pass ! Should you have added other PPAs afterwards, simply re-run the script.

Note: it works only for Launchpad repositories !

[image credits]

Splashtop is an instant on embedded Linux which boots in seconds (I mean, 3-4 seconds) and give the user fast access to web-based features as Web Browser, Skype, online gaming and similar stuff.

Actually, the most interesting thing about Splashtop is that, being embedded in the computer’s firmware, it does not substitute to the choosen operative system. It’s just a faster alternative to check the mail, and chat with friends.

Also, while the faq asserts the contrary …

Can I boot Windows in the background while I’m using Splashtop?

Currently Splashtop runs separately from your primary operating system. You’ll have to exit Splashtop in order to launch your operating system. The same is true in reverse as well – you will have to exit your operating system (and restart your computer) in order to open Splashtop.

[ from: http://www.splashtop.com/faq.php#06 ]

… an (entertaining) video caught during a presentation shows Splashtop can be used as a temporary interface to a slower loading operating system (like Win.. well, watch the video).

As probably every of you already heard about this, I am writing this post mostly to reflect with you about the possible medium-term impact Splashtop may have on personal computing.

Here are some points:

It’s loading fast and it’s virtually immune to viruses(*): that means it will appeal a wide range of computer illiterates, that mostly use the computer to surf the web and check the mail. Also, since it loads instantly, may mean it’ll get occasional use even by power users, in the occasions they just need to quickly check their mail or drop a message to someone in MSN/Skype.

(* not true)

Also, Splashtop is already deployed by a handful of mainstream manufacturers, and certainly other are working to get it on their motherboards as well.

A wide adoption may mean for Splashtop to become the most diffused operating system.

While a Linux based operating system riskying to become a de-facto standard on every computer may seem gold, not everything shines. Reflect: if it’s so cool to have already been adopted and everybody likes it so much, how comes they didn’t patent it ?

They did:

Patents:

• Mechanism for intuitively invoking one or more auxiliary
• Method and apparatus for virtualization of appliances

Other (unspecified) patents are pending.

This may open the door to yet another lock in scenario. And possibly even worse than the actual force-Windows-on-every-consumer. Thruth to be said, so far, the approach of splashtop toward developers seems much more open that Apple’s and Microsoft’s, but patents always raise concerns, no matter what:

• as patenting means Splashtop will be the only player in the BIOS-as-OS business
• or will be anyway more cheap than commercial competitors

So, what make this worse than MS monopoly ? For maybe the first time in computing, patents will be possibly able to completely forbid competition in a non-secondary area. That said, I’m no patent expert and probably over-simplifying, that’s just what popped into my mind when I saw those patents referenced on their homepage.

What consequences may Slashtop have on the market ?

Their browser is based on Firefox. This could set Firefox to surpass Internet Explorer in the browser war by using its same weapon: being already installed when the customer first turns the computer on. If Slashtop succeeds, expect to see a great increase in the Firefox share.

Same effect, but much blander for Instant Messaging protocols, which will now play a fair game thanks to the multi protocol client. Skype, also, may see a little boost over MSN, simply because being pre-installed while – I assume – the multiprotocol IM client installed by default won’t support Audio/Video chat.

While many people point that using Splashtop may bring people more used to Linux applications and thus more inclined to switch, I don’t really think so. The splashtop interface doesn’t seem that similar to Gnome’s and Kde’s, and most of the applications that users will get accustomed to, are present on Windows from a long long time.

How will affect power users ?

Power users with the need of mobility are likely to use it quite as much a beginners. The others maybe be pratically unaffected.

Something that should be noted though, is that Splashtop is upgradable. Thus, probably replaceable. That may open the door to a landscape of hacks and possible integration with existing linux distribution, just to wide to be fully grasped in this early stage.

Still, given the patents concerns, it remains to be seen how legal for a Linux distribution will be to ship it’s own Splashtop replacement. Or how legal will it be for an OEM to distribute a Splashtop-like application in place of Splashtop.

Possible competitors

Dell is working on another approach (and I really wonder if it came out as a workaround for Splashtop’s patents). It will embedd an additional ARM processor in their computers, to run it’s own Firmware-Linux-distro (based on – *surprise* – SLED 10 – with full support for *surprise* OOXML).

Running the BIOS-distro onto an alternate CPU allows for a system that doesn’t need to implement any of the mechanisms described in the “Auxiliaries” and “Appliances Virtualization” patents. Basically, you don’t pay for the patents, you pay for having an additional processor.

Conclusions

I came to none . What do you think will be Splashtop’s impact on the market ? How will it affect Linux ?

Yesterday night, I’ve been contacted on IRC by Vadim. Turned out he was in the development team of Shutter and told me to take a look to the new release (0.7).

Shutter ?!..

Shutter, formerly known with the unfortunate name of gScrot, is a nifty GTK utility to take screenshots. After a first look, I was happily surprised. As I am blogging more these days, I’ve becoming more and more frustrated about taking screenshots.

Problem is: taking screenshots wastes an awful amount of time. Usually you hit print screen, save somewhere (don’t even try to save in clipboard, that won’t work with GIMP), open gimp, select, crop, save. Upload. Uff..

What’s even more frustrating to me about the whole process is the number of window GIMP opens, that bring additional confusion in my already messy workspace setup (irc chat, firefox, terminal etc). I really hate that.

While the screenshot plugin of Compiz allowed me to slice through the gimp burden in some cases, it’s not feature rich as Shutter.

Screenshot of LP bug #1. I had to crop (and resize) it later as the original was 20.000 pixel tall !

Shutter allows to take screenshots in 4 ways:

• Full Screen: takes a screenshot of the whole screen
• Window: makes a shot of a single window. While this can be normally accomplished with Alt+PrntScrn, Shutter is capable to grab window decorations as well. Furthermore, no background will be visible if your window decoration has rounded corners. Nice thing is it will even let you select the window to grab from a dropdown menu, without the need to even leave Shutter’s window.
• Section: will grab just a part of a window. After selecting the window you want to grab, the various components of the window (such as button bar, treeviews, etc) will be highlighted as you hover the mouse.
• Web: another cool thing. You can take the screenshot of a whole webpage. Just copy paste the URL (it will also auto-detect if you clipboard contains an URL) and you’ll get a picture of the whole webpage, tall as it is, without scrollbars or anything.

Shutter selection mode, featuring a nice semi-transparent overlay

Features

Along with usual and much needed configurable preferences (where to save, filename format and naming etc), there are also a bunch of other features worth mentioning:

• a bunch of plugins to make your screenshot look like a polaroid photo, have a shadow, have an edge etc. If you blog and wanna annoy your readers, that’s the path to go .
• an useful resize plugin, to let you resize your shots right from inside the program.
• an internal editor, to add annotations and basic shapes to your pictures. Goodbye Gimp !
• integrated upload. Imageshack, Ftps and your Places menu are at hand.
• pdf export (may be useful with webpages, maybe ?).

How to get it

Ubuntu repositories are available on launchpad for both the Stable and the development version.

To get the stable add those lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu jaunty main

then

sudo apt-get install shutter

Downloads for other distributions and further informations are available at their download page:

http://shutter-project.org/downloads/

Criticism

Of course Shutter is not perfect, even though is quite mature and has a fair amount of features. During my tests I experienced some sporadic freeze (which could be related to my nVidia driver btw, my MacBook+Ubuntu setup doesn’t really feel stable at the moment).

Also as Shutter gives me the strong sensation of being mostly feature complete, I’d really like it to refactor the user interface a bit. Don’t get me wrong, it’s evident that the UI got many attentions and much  careduring the development process, but I really think some more polish and streamlining may be done. I really think that could be a nice goal for the next milestone.

Also other things I’d have liked:

• Crop plugin : currently only a resize plugin is available.
• Blog plugin: leveraging the XML-RPC format to upload images and insert a reference to them into your blog database. Well, that’s asking much, but ain’t I allowed to dream ?

References

• Shutter Project home page
• Shutter on Launchpad