While working on MySQLDump.java this weekend I decided to look into the new features that are heading our way in MySQL 5.1. It cannot be long before we see a general release and I needed to start thinking of ways to backup items like Events. This also made a good opportunity to start afresh with my dev server and try out the latest Solaris 10 8/07 release with GlassFish v2, the releases just keep coming! (SXDE 9/07 was just released).
The Solaris 10 install was as smooth as previous releases (Using Text Based) and once started took at least an hour or so to finish, I cannot remember the exact time as after checking the status a couple of times I forgot all about it. The general feel was much improved however, and the overall speed increase made the upgrade worthwhile.
GlassFish installed and ran as expected – easy. I would be very interested to see the difference in http performance when compared to Apache. Something for another day maybe?
Next on my list was MySQL 5.1.21-beta.
I originally downloaded the pkgadd version but failed to start the server due to a an [ERROR] Can't find messagefile. It was only after receiving the same message with the Tar distribution that I headed over to the MySQL Bug System where it seemed the issue was a known one – BugID 30678.
Not a major issue as the solution was to simply add --language=./share/mysql/english/ to server install / startup commands. Something that I am sure would have been fixed in the release candidate. I would like to see a more complete installer for Solaris, something similar to the FreeBSD port. The pkgadd install does not really offer much customisation and both the Tar file / pkgadd lack any sample service manifest files.
Once installed everything worked as expected and my first task was to install the Sakila test database. I intend to use this database to validate the operation of the MySQLDump.java app. It may not be the biggest database to work with but it does support a wide variety of data types, views, triggers etc. I am currently using the MySQL Toolkit to verify the backup and restore. If you have not used the Toolkit before (it’s written in Perl) it includes a nice utility that can test if 2 tables are identical – handy for validating a backup. 
I envisage using unit tests for this purpose in future, but need to find a good book on TestNG first. A quick dump of the film_text table worked as expected and the data was identical to that supplied by MySQL, I must be on the right track! – If only I had more time…
I did however find time to attend the MySQL Backup and Recovery webinar this morning and was impressed with the new Backup API planned for MySQL 5.2 onward. I just booked my place at the European MySQL Conference and hope to get some more insight into future developments, or at least a copy of the MySQL 5.1 Cluster Certification Study Guide. 
It’s been quite a while since I last looked at Google Co-op, but after moving my site recently I realised my Subscribed Links were no longer up to date, let alone working!. I then discovered the Python script I wrote a while back was no longer functioning either, then again it’s no wonder seeing as I had not looked at it for over a year!. Time for an upgrade…
I have been on a Java kick recently, and when not suffering from Vertigo I found myself getting back up to speed with JDK 1.6 and the now final GlassFish V2 release. The difference in speed between JDK 1.5 and 1.6 is certainly noticeable, and as my Google Analytics stats displayed 99% of recent clients having Java support (not necessarily 1.6) I decided a re-write of DeliciousSubscribed was in order.
I started out on the del.icio.us site where there was not much in the way of Java utilities, there was however a well built library – del.icio.us Java API. I would have used that library if it were not for the dependencies on Apache Commons, not that there is anything wrong with Apache Commons I might add!, I just wanted to keep the dependencies to a minimum for size and simplicities sake. So back to drawing board it was, my goal was to simply reproduce the Python script in Java and create an executable jar that can be run from the command line or embedded in another Java app if needed.
The JRE/JDK contains enough libraries to make connecting to the del.icio.us HTTP API and parsing the resultant XML a breeze. I did select one dependency however and that is args4j. Args4j provides simplified command line parsing, comes in under 36k and happens to be licensed under the MIT License so no viral licensing there. It did not take long to get a valid Subscribed Links XML file.
There is still a lot more to do before the code is stable of course and I am sure there are many more features I can add, in fact while re-writing the app I noticed a few cool additions to the Subscribed Links service that I may make use of in a future release:
You never know I might even whip up a JNLP deployed GUI when I finally get around to reading Filthy Rich Clients.
Speaking of features MySQL 5.1 must be getting close to Release Candidate and includes some cool new features such as Partitioning, Row based replication, Table logs and my personal fave Events.
If you are looking for a easy read intro i’d suggest you wander over to the MySQL site where you can find a brief intro into the major new features and bug fixes found in 5.1.
Right I must get back to Warhawk on the PS3. It’s been a while since I got hooked on an online game but this one seems to be stealing every hour I have free!
Whenever I decide to take a holiday I can usually guarantee that something cool will occur in the IT industry in my absence.
Now this holiday has been slightly different in many ways. I had to cancel my flight due to a sudden onset of Vertigo 1 day before I was supposed to fly. If like me you have never experienced Vertigo before, thank yourself lucky!. Having no sense of balance and intense room spin whenever you open your eyes is no fun at all, it took at least 2 days for me to stop being sick. 
Having been able to actually use my laptop in the last couple of days I notice that the “cool thing” I usually miss on holiday turns out to be big trouble all over OpenSourceVille, the majority of which seems to revolve around licensing and intellectual property.
Who could miss the BSD vs GPL debate that I’m sure will rage for a long time after the ath5k driver had the BSD license removed in favour of the GPL. Stealing code was suddenly the headline for this action and the rift between the “Linux” developers and “BSD” developers increased once more.
Personally I feel the license should be as “Open” as possible and always apply the BSD license where I can. I want to be recognised as the author of any work I produce and protected against any misuse of such work (liability). With OpenSource development taking place in clear view nowadays, such visibility can only enforce your ideas and intellectual property. Why complicate things with over restrictive licenses…
While still on the topic of licensing it seems John Birrell is having to start all over again with a new port of DTrace on FreeBSD. The CDDL this time preventing kernel hooks from being added to the FreeBSD kernel. This seems such a shame as DTrace technology provides a massive benefit for software developers and will starting afresh really change the situation?, If not through licensing I am sure there must be patents on the intellectual property that Sun could enforce on any DTrace port? Just look at what is going on between NetApp and Sun at the moment.
So from licensing issues to patent infringement where it seems ZFS may not be as revolutionary as Sun claim and in fact NetApp actually came up with some of the functionality back in 1998. Dave’s Blog outlines all the details in what I can only describe as an excellent explanation as to how NetApp have had to file a lawsuit against Sun. Strangely enough I originally heard about this from the MySQL Planet! and not from any of the Solaris / OpenSolaris Planets each of which have around 45 Sun employee feeds?
We develop software to improve our way of life. Licensing and Patents although often necessary seem only to be hindering progress… Still it keeps us busy re-inventing the wheel.
On a good note, I was around to see the launch of the iPod Touch – if you can call that good…I might just wait until the drive space increases before I buy one, 16Gig seems tiny these days but then again the Touch would come in handy for on the go web browsing.
I also noticed Oracle 11g had been released (I obviously missed that one), although only for Linux at the moment?. I’m no Oracle expert but seeing as Oracle provide Java based development tools and my previous installs had a lot of Java involved surely Solaris would make a better fit?
Image combined using artistry from Project TIMEMACHINE – http://www.timemachine.ne.jp/
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