I work in technology sector. And I do round a clock, not only from 9 to 5. It is my bread and butter, it is my hobby, it is the fascination of my life. And with the current rate of change particular in information technology (IT), there is always something new to learn, to try, to talk about. I often post news, thoughts, and reviews. And when I do, this is the category I use.
Linux’s logo – a friendly penguin – can be seen in the wild more and more often. If you have no idea where it came from, here is the original page with permissions to use and modify.
If you don’t know how crazy it can go, then here is a nice gallery collected by LWN staff (16 pages for the moment, and no two are the same).
Catalog of Free Compilers and Interpreters is an unbelievably large list of tools that can help human beings to make computers do things. All tools are also split into categories such as logic programming languages, document formatting languages, databases, and much more.
Make sure you check this list before you purchase a compiler or an interpreter of any kind. It might save you some dollars.
I think I have finally realized today why I don’t like “corporate” and “enterprise” programmers and the technologies that they enjoy, like Java and XML. Many of them don’t take languages like Perl, Python, and PHP seriosly. Text files in general and the word “script” in particular make smile. I think, many of them are just hiding behind the complex technology.
Programming skills should grow from small and simple to large and complex. Most people have a kind feeling of nostalgy towards things they have learned in the beginning of their way. Sciprts and one-liners do provide small and simple things which programmers should start with. People who jump straight into Java classes will never be able to produce nice code. And those who had started with one-liners will stick to them until there is a strong reason to do otherwise, since it is natural for people to use the most common way, the way they know better.
So, finally I understood that it is not the laughing at my favourite tools that makes me disrespect “enterprise” developers, but it is their lack of base knowledge and unprofessionalism. Maybe now I’ll find peace with them…
Pretty often, in the mailing lists, people ask why should they use one solution instead of another. There is a similar discussion on mod_perl mailing list. While there are, as usual, a number of reasons to use Perl over Java, it gets interesting when it comes to examples and references. Particularly, these lines from reply by Perrin Harkins:
Amazon runs on Perl. Yahoo runs a lot of Perl. Ticketmaster is all
mod_perl. IMDB is Perl. All of these get tons more traffic than Slashdot.
Today I read an essey by Sean Russell called “RPM Hell. A Perfect Example of Good Software Crippled by Bad Design“. In this essey Sean is explaining why he does not like RPM to the level when he is prepared to change the Linux distribution he is using.
I, on the other hand, do like RPM. It has it’s problems but what doesn’t. Some of Sean’s arguments I disagree with and hence this post. Before reading it, please read the original essey by Sean, since I am quoting only the relevant parts.
P.S.: I have notified Sean Russell via email about this post.
Continue reading Disagreement with Sean Russell’s RPM Hell