Stories of Java's demise exaggerated

Quite frankly there is not a day that passes without somebody mouthing off and blogging that java is dead. To be honest people you will be dead and Java will still be around. I couldn't care less how cool it is to build an HTML page, in the end it is all a web page. Groovy and grails are already solving the problem of complexity. Try it for yourself and see.

Here are steps to build a sample app:

1) download grails from http://www.grails.org
2) Unzip file that you downloaded to some directory
3) point your GRAILS_HOME environment variable to the directory to which you unzipped the file
4) $GRAILS_HOME/bin/grails create-app myApp
5) CD to directory myApp
6) Execute grails run-app
7) open your browser navigate to http://localhost:8080/myApp


How hard can it be? Seriously.

You don't even need to configure a database if you are in a hurry a lightweight database is supplied.

Upgraded Ubuntu Feisty to Ubuntu Linux 7.10 (Gutsy Gibon)

True to Ubuntu Linux form, this was painless as usual.

The following are the steps at the command line:

sudo sed -i 's/feisty/gutsy/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
sudo apt-get -f install

And thats it! You're done!

Macbook Pro - wireless hell

After applying a security update for Mac OS X on my Macbook Pro my wireless has become absolutely unreliable. This is frustrating, my over the three years I have run Ubuntu Linux on my laptop, I never ever had problems like this.....and the operating system is free too :-(

What if JBOSS created an Opensource ERP?

With the current moves by Oracle and Microsoft to strangle Red Hat.
I wonder what would happen if they moved up the stack and started offering an opensource ERP.

It makes so much sense with all the Middleware pieces in place it is just a matter of tie I believe before we see something like that.
They would throw their hat in the ring to compete with the likes of Oracle Financials, SAP and Microsoft Dynamics or Navision. This is the
missing piece of the puzzle in my view.

JBoss already has a respectable standing in organizations and I think they could use the same service model for a truly open, reliable, robust and fully supported ERP.

Zimbabwe main internet connection down!

The main Zimbabwe Internet connection to the outside world has been shut down...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5359504.stm

Zimbabwe IT systems will not meet currency switch deadline.

Who wants to be a millionaire....

Consultant in 21 days.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200608100042.html

Zimbabwe: Zim Ready to Implement Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy

ZIMBABWE is ready to implement its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy to improve the Internet and wireless system, the Minister of Science and Technology Development, Dr Olivia Muchena"

I'm sure it will be a great policy with lots of Opensource content such as Open Document requirements and measures to ensure that Opensource was considered first in any project before spending Billions on stuff that could have been picked up freely on the net.

This is a commendable effort.

Java Zimbabwe

One wonders being so far awayyjust what the state of Software development in Zimbabwe is currently.

One would surmise that there are vast oppourtunities for local developers being that there is very little foreign currency. I hope that the resulting effect is that companies are turing to their very own local talent for software. I would love to hear from the local software development community and hear about the types of things that they are doing

I initially made this post to find out particularly about java but I just thought about what the state is overall.

Zimbabwe high Inflation causing Computer Problems - not enough space for zeroes

This is an interesting problem. And it seems software suppliers are unwilling to make adjustments.

Y2K anyone?

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/story.aspx?stid=464

Turns out that Africans pay $1,800 for 1GB of data

Net connectivity is very very expensnive in Africa. It should not be like that...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/internet/05/18/africa.web.cost.ap/index.html?section=cnn_tech

Ubuntu gets Sun seal of approval

Sun Microsystems, like IBM, get on board the Ubuntu express!

Ubuntu is THE linux distro and the coolest thing is its from Africa baby!

http://www.itweek.co.uk/vnunet/news/2156209/sun-support-ubuntu-linux

Opensource ERP

I have not blogged in a while but since my last blog a few trhings have changed for the better. I was saying that enough already Ithink that it is time for ERP to go mainstream through one of the many ERPs going under a foundation. Well guess what ofbiz is in the Apache incubator. Its in the process of becoming an Apache project! This is great.

Comiere should really commit to getting their backend off Oracle otherwise I will pan them each time. It makes no sense running on an opensource stack and then having to run around to get an Oracle license. Compiere seems a little less than interested in moving off Oracle their reason is they do not see a lot of demand for this.  Compiere move off the requirement of needing a proprietary database and let the customer choose to use Oracle or a database of their choosing.

Is is time for an Opensource ERP?

Oracle is starting from their ERP from scratch - so is Microsoft with their project code name "Project Green", well if the opensource movement is for real can an opensource equivalent be built and delivered before the Oracle or Microsoft's versions are out?

Enterprise Resource Planning systems are the next thing up the stack  for opensource to move to.

Planned obsolescence by vendors has to be controlled where a purchase running into the millions of dollars is deliberately deprecated to forcibly drive repeat sales. The faster you can force customers to upgrade the better your revenue? This is a mantra that seems to be what is causing the shift in the software landscape. The natural tendency is for one to assume lasting ownership for what you buy.

Compiere, ofBiz are examples of opensource variants but how widely they are used and what size businesses they support is still up in the air.

Compiere has the short coming of relying on specific databases namely Oracle and Sybase. A more open choice would be preferable in this case Postgresql, Firebird or Mysql being prefered choices.

Ofbiz feels like it is a framework on which ERP can be built an example of this is the Sequoia ERP which is built on an ofbiz infrastructure.

Can opensource ERP come out on top or should this be structured via a governing body like the Apache Foundation?

Fo one I think business likes things that are structured and a structure opensource ERP much like  the  Apache Foundation or the Eclipse foundation is  necessary.

Query by example with hibernate and spring

I did this to get hibernate's query by example to work from spring 

Bibliography  - David Carter - http://www.jroller.com/page/ddcarter/20051013 

import org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.HibernateCallback;
import org.hibernate.Session;
import org.hibernate.criterion.Example;
import org.hibernate.criterion.MatchMode;
import org.hibernate.HibernateException ;

public List getCats(final Cat cat) {
if (cat == null) {
return  getHibernateTemplate().find("from Cat");
} else {
// filter on properties set in the cat
HibernateCallback callback =  new HibernateCallback() {
public Object doInHibernate(Session session) throws HibernateException {
Example ex =  Example.create(cat).ignoreCase()
		.enableLike(MatchMode.ANYWHERE)
		.excludeZeroes();
return session.createCriteria(Cat.class).add(ex).list(); 
}
};
return (List) getHibernateTemplate().execute(callback);
}
}

Ubuntu Linux get IBM seal of approval

Yay for Ubuntu Linux!

See story:

http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=99632EF5-C67F-4A53-A69B-FF8F21DE59D4

No Reason for MS Office

One reason Open Office 2.0 is out!

The formulas are translating as they should so it bye bye Excel and
Hello open office 2.0.

http:///www.openoffice.org

Nuff said.

Fedora Core 4 dependency Issue

Because I had upgraded my version of Fedora from Core 3 to core 4 there
were some dependency problems that I ran into when I ran yum update. The
issue I had wa seventually resolved by uninstalling the hardware
abstrction layer "hal" and reinstalling it by the following

yum remove hal
yum install hal
yum update

Now Fedora Core 4 is happy and I am happy

Red Hat Dependency Hell

Yum update is on my RedHat Fedora Core 4 is returning errors on
missing dependencies. This reminds me of DLL Hell on Windows. I am at
the verge of switching back to FreeBSD :( once I can confirm java is
working fine on FreeBSD I am outta here.

South Africa looking for open source suppliers

The revolution has begun!

South African government is tossing proprietary
software for open source!

http://www.tectonic.co.za/view.php?id=605

Tsuro naGudo CGI animation!

Someone suggested that some of our folk tales that we were tolded as
we were growing up may need to be animated. That sound like a splendid
idea.
We just need to storyboard a simple Tsuro naGudo story and get
cranking on the rendering. Any artists out there?

Blender (http://www.blender.org) and Gimp (http://www.gimp.org) can
help with this big time and they are FREE!