Michael Conigliaro

In Linux, it’s easy to log the output of a command to a timestamped log file:

echo this is easy >> $(date +%s).log

Here’s what I had to do to accomplish the same thing in Windows:

for /f "tokens=1,2,3,4 delims=/- " %%a in ("%date%") do set ts=%%d%%b%%c
echo this sucks >> %ts%.log

I just got back from LinuxWorld in Boston, and I have to say that it wasn’t nearly as geeky as I expected it to be. Judging from pictures I’ve seen from previous LinuxWorlds, I expected it to be like a circus, but I think I saw more business guys in suits than overweight guys with beards. I guess it’s a testament to how mainstream Linux has become over the last few years.

Observations:

• Too many companies staff their booths with hot girls in attempt to get people to notice their products (eg: VMWare). These were the booths I tried to ignore, just to teach them a lesson!
• Slashdot was there, but they didn’t have a booth (that I could see); just a bunch of couches and a projector which they were using to play video games on. What was the point? I have no idea.
• I think the Gentoo booth was staffed with some of the most stereotypical geeks I’ve ever seen in my life. Whenever I’m feeling uncool, I’ll just think back to what I saw at the Gentoo booth. ;-) Sorry Gentoo guys! I still love your distro!

MindTerm is a really cool SSH client that you can stick in a webpage and run through your browser. It’s free for personal use, but the applet won’t let you connect to remote hosts unless it’s signed. Fortunately, you can sign the applet yourself in three simple steps. =)

1.) Install the java-devel package.

2.) Generate a key.

keytool -genkey

3.) Sign the archive.

jarsigner [path_to_mindterm.jar] mykey

That’s it. Enjoy!