Using Rake to Automate Tasks
Rake enables you to define a set of tasks and the dependencies between them in a file, and then have the right thing happen when you run any given task. Each task may be either one of the built-in...
View ArticleThe Standard Tools of the Ruby Platform
Today, several implementations of Ruby exist, all using the same language syntax, and providing the same platform components. This article is a set of notes on the standard components of this common...
View ArticleStarting Python Development on Windows
These are some notes on starting Python development on Windows.
View ArticleSecuring a Linux System
A tutorial on how to configure a fresh Linux installation for greater security.
View ArticleNotes on MySQL
MySQL provides all of the essential functionality required for a SQL database service. Although it is most frequently used to provide data storage for Web applications on the same system, MySQL...
View ArticleMonitoring and Self-Healing Services with Monit
There are many service monitoring products, but Monit is unusual. It tests for specific conditions and carries out actions when they occur, rather than collecting for analysis and graphing. Monit is...
View ArticleLinux and UNIX Security Features
An introduction to the security facilities of Open Source UNIX-like operating systems, focusing on Linux distributions.
View ArticleLinux Remote Desktop Access with VNC
The VNC (Virtual Network Computing) facilities provide remote access to desktops, and allow your Linux systems to act as terminal servers, running many network-accessible desktops simultaneously....
View ArticleGetting Started with Apache Derby (Java DB)
Apache Derby (or Java DB) provides a small set of libraries that can be added directly to any Java program that needs database storage capabilities, such as a desktop application, network service, or...
View ArticleComputer Security Fundamentals
There are many, many articles on configuring particular software or operating systems for security. The quality varies widely, and most of them miss out one or more important points. Perhaps a better...
View ArticleBasics of Git Version Control
Git is fairly logical once you have learned the ideas behind it, so this articles has quite a lot on concepts, and much more abbreviated notes on the important commands.
View ArticleAn Introduction to ERB Templating
ERB (Embedded RuBy) is a feature of Ruby that enables you to conveniently generate any kind of text, in any quantity, from templates. The templates themselves combine plain text with Ruby code for...
View ArticleUsing Jenkins Pipelines with Docker
The Pipeline Plugin for the Jenkins Continuous Integration system enables you to define jobs in code, and store them as files within your source code repositories. Version 2 of Jenkins includes...
View ArticleManaging Systems with Ansible
Ansible provides an Open Source tool for provisioning, configuring and orchestrating changes on systems that is fundamentally much simpler and more flexible than older tools such Puppet and Chef. This...
View ArticleEnabling Remote Access to MySQL
Setting up MySQL remote access with SSL encryption is surprisingly awkward. This article describes all of the steps that are necessary to make this feature work in practice.
View ArticleUsing PostgreSQL on Debian and Ubuntu
PostgreSQL is the most capable Open Source database server available, with functionality that can complete or even exceed proprietary SQL database products.
View ArticleFunny How It Adds Up (Time Budgeting)
We have too many things that we want to learn, and not enough time for them all. To help myself with this, I’m going to try working out a kind of personal time budget that I can actually stick to.
View ArticleA Pocket Guide to Linting (Enabling Code Linting Everywhere)
Lint checking is an extremely effective aid for maintaining the quality of your code, and it is now easy to set up the same quality checking on both your development and continuous integration systems.
View ArticleSetting Up Solus for Software Development
This is a set of notes for setting up an installation of the Solus Linux distribution on your PC, specifically for systems administration and Web development.
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