Software on Graeme's

Django signals are evil

Thu, 12 Oct 2017 14:20:52 +0000

I was trying to figure out what a Django app was doing today. It turned out that the original developer had decided to monkey patch a third party app. I hardly need say that monkey patching is evil (i.e. a last resort), but one of the things I needed to check along the way was that there was no code being triggered by a (Django) signal, and the problems it causes are very similar to monkey patching.

Beating Node.js with TCL

Sun, 14 Jun 2015 20:58:43 +0000

This is partly a reaction to people who talk as if Node.js is unique, and partly to test my code against something that has seen production use. There are all sorts of problems with doing this sort of comparison, and while I would have liked to compare more servers, used a better environment, performance tuned everything, done more measurements etc. but I think what I have done is enough to prove my point.

Python IDEs part 4: Liclipse and PyCharm

Wed, 06 May 2015 10:01:32 +0000

I have never liked the user interfaces of either Eclipse or Pycharm, so it is hard to be impartial. Liclipse, for those unfamiliar with it, is an Eclispe based IDE, that is a successor to Pydev. Both are proprietary, but prices are reasonable. After trying them again I still do not like Eclipse or Liclipse, but I do see the appeal of Pycharm.

Python IDEs part 3: Eric and Wing

Mon, 27 Apr 2015 13:01:36 +0000

Continuing looking at Python IDEs, I have been trying Eric and Wing IDE. Both primarily Python IDEs (although Eric also supports Ruby), both are very powerful, but one is free and open source, while the other is proprietary and expensive.

Python IDEs part two: Ninja and Komodo

Thu, 23 Apr 2015 17:01:38 +0000

Continuing my review of a number of Python IDE s, I am starting with two IDEs I already know I like: Komodo and Ninja. As I said in the first post before I have used both Komodo Edit (Komodo IDE is Komodo Edit with extra features).

Trying Python IDEs

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 10:34:19 +0000

I have been using Geany for a while, because it is lightweight and has a nice UI, and it will be my baseline for this comparison, but it lacks some features I would like to have. The most important is good auto-completion, but refactoring support would be nice and real time linting even nicer. So, I made myself a list of IDEs (and extensible editors) that met my criteria.

Open sources licenses still not understood (by Hiscox, at least)

Sun, 29 Mar 2015 08:24:53 +0000

Insurance company Hiscox has posted a misleading article on “the advantages and risks of open source software” in its “small business knowledge centre”. It is not clear who the article is aimed at, the explanations of legal issues are unclear, and the discussion of security issues irrelevant. They could have saved themselves from looking foolish if they had asked some with some technical knowledge and familiarity with the licences to review the article.

Fossil vs Git

Fri, 13 Mar 2015 12:33:43 +0000

I have used Fossil for version control for a few years, and I like it, but this recent comment on the fossil-users mailing list made me think about its limits:

we must agree Fossil [..] much easier and friendlier to use.

It is, and it is not. I do recommend it, and it does provide a a lot of functionality and it is easy to learn and use.

Tablets: anti-consumer and anti-innovation

Fri, 06 Sep 2013 06:52:41 +0000

Tablet computers (and smart phones) are bad. They are bad for consumers and kill innovation. They move power from the owner of the device to its manufacturer, and denying the use of a cheap base for research and development, the very base that made the tablets possible in the first place, and, if PCs follow suit, innovation will become much harder. They deny consumers choice, are sometimes impossible to update (a security nightmare) and are inflexible.

The real purpose of DRM

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:45:25 +0000

Ian Hickson, maintainer of the HTML5 specification, argues that the real purpose of DRM is to give content providers leverage over device manufacturers. Although this is true for some applications of DRM, in many cases the purpose is to lock customers to particular devices and services, and to raise barriers to entry against new devices and services.

Ten reasons to use Linux

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 22:31:03 +0000

As Linux is already the leading server operating system, I am really only giving you 10 reasons to use Linux on the desktop (and mobile devices).

List of Django IDEs

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:12:31 +0000

I have a more detailed review of Python IDEs that is probably a lot more useful.

As requests for IDE recommendations on the django-users mailing list/Google Group, and as I assume that anyone developing with Django knows they should search for answers on the net before asking, here is a summary of the most often recommended options.

The build a platform and squeeze business model

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 10:16:50 +0000

A business model that excludes competition, reduces consumer choice, and creates monopolies is the anti-thesis for free markets, but this is exactly what threatens both software and the distribution of media (ebooks, video, and music) over the internet, and much more.

So I bought a tablet PC

Sat, 25 Jun 2011 20:28:42 +0000

I finally bought myself a cheap Android tablet. My experience so far has pretty much confirmed my expectations: it is a great device (and class of device) for consuming media on, but not for working or creating. It is also locked down and inflexible. While its inflexibility is supposed to be part of its appealing simplicity, I find it actually undermines it, especially when things go wrong.

Governments should promote OSS

Thu, 24 Feb 2011 08:50:10 +0000

One would imagine that economists would have learned by now that they need to check their theoretical models against the real world. A recent article arguing that governments need to promote a “balance” between open source and proprietary software, rather than promoting open source, rests on no fewer than five incorrect assumptions, and is easily rebutted by what happens in the real world.

Mint XFCE: worst Linux ever

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:19:29 +0000

The XFCE version of Linux Mint is pretty, fast, uses the huge Debian/Ubuntu software repositories, and comes with a good selection of software installed by default, as well as Linux Mint’s nice utilities. Its also the worst Linux distribution I have tried.

Bye, Mandriva. Unity, PCLOS, Mint or Debian?

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:19:25 +0000

With Mandriva Linux looking to have a few rough months, its a good time for me to look at alternatives. I am a bit of a distro-hopper (jumping from one LInux distribution to another), but I keep coming back to Mandriva

How to get someone (innocent) jailed

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 15:55:46 +0000

The fact that people can be convicted using evidence that only exists in electronic form makes it stunningly easy to frame someone, if you can get brief physical access to their computer, or you can fool them into inserting a malicious CD or USB drive into their computer. Here are some methods of doing it.

Why do geeks pick such bad names?

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:07:27 +0000

I assume that someone who puts a lot of trouble into writing a piece of software, wants people to actually use it: so why pick names like The GIMP and Gigolo? Both are good pieces of software, but the names convey embarrassment rather than cool.

What's wrong with software patents

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:17:44 +0000

A quick summary of things that came up in a discussion that I was surprised was not evident to most people:

Dandelion web server

Fri, 05 Dec 2008 06:56:41 +0000

I have written a small lightweight pure TCL web server called Dandelion — because it is small and light, like Dandelion seeds, and I am no good at thinking up names (its a better name than GIMP though, and that has been pretty succesful!).

Download the Dandelion server: dandelion1.0.zip, or dandelion1.0.tar.bz2.

Linux is fruit juice, Windows is cola

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:37:05 +0000

A discussion about why Linux has been so slow to take off made be realise that, essentially, Windows is like cola, Linux is like fruit juice. Its marketing that matters.

The difference between Windows and Linux

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:28:20 +0000

Summed up very nicely in this description of how users react when things go wrong. I was sometimes guilty of the same thing when I was still using Windows alongside Linux.

Glib beats insightful

Tue, 13 May 2008 07:16:30 +0000

Paul Graham’s essay, Hackers and Painters, is very popular with some programmers. I just found a hilarious refutation of it, called Dabblers and Blowhards.

The interesting thing for me is that Paul Graham’s audience are just as enthusiastic (if not more so) when he writes rubbish about things he knows nothing about, as when he writes insightfully about things he is an expert on.

MySQL: what is the problem?

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 11:50:25 +0000

MySQL’s decision to produce proprietary add-ons to its highly successful open source database has been widely misunderstood, and in some cases spun to produce the impression that it is a failure of open source.

Websites do not need to support Internet Explorer?

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 10:12:06 +0000

As much as I dislike Microsoft Internet Explorer, and as much as I wish that people would make their own lives and those of website developers better by using better web browsers, I have always taken supporting it as a necessary evil. It is bundled with Windows and most people take whatever it suits MS gives them.

Wired's open source myth

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:14:51 +0000

Wired has an interesting twist on the tired old myth that “open source is developed by volunteers”, that has been. The new twist is that it reverses the usual myth that it is not possible to make money from open source: instead the wrong people will make the money and it will all fall apart. Unsurprisingly this flies in the face of the facts.

Who downloads Linux

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 10:23:03 +0000

I noticed that most people downloading Mandriva One using bit torrent were using Windows clients, but almost everyone downloading Arch Linux seems to be using Ktorrent. The latter is to be expected, but the former surprised me.

How to make customers buy

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 11:26:32 +0000

Suppose customer A buys a product combination X + Y, and hires B to install the product for them. Suppose you are the vendor of Z and had hoped the customer would buy X + Z. It looks like you have lost the deal: but someone came up with an ingenious solution.

Modx light document tree

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 11:29:17 +0000

Download: modx-fast-doctree.zip, or modx-fast-doctree.tar.gz.

The software trap

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 13:08:02 +0000

Software companies have long ignored piracy most developing Asian countries, as a way of building market share. They are now starting to crack-down, and Adobe have apparently started on Sri Lanka. A friend of mine asked me what a business faced with a sudden increase in its costs (licences for some of this stuff are expensive), could do by way of switching to open source. This is my reply.

Switching back from (K)Ubuntu

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 06:31:13 +0000

I used Ubuntu and Kubuntu for over an year, but I recently switched back. Ubuntu has its strengths, but its fans forget its weaknesses. Software installation with Synaptic is superb (the best on any OS), as is the range of packages available. However, other admin tools are lacking.

Analyser for Google Webmaster Tools link info

Tue, 01 May 2007 19:51:39 +0000

I have written a simple program to provide a slightly more convenient summary of information in the CSV of incoming link information you can download from Google Webmaster Tools.

Technology confuses everyone

Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:50:11 +0000

A blog post by a leading IT security expert explains why the market for security products fails because buyers are unable to evaluate products. This is a more striking example than those I presented earlier because it concerns sophisticated professional buyers like banks and intelligence services.

Why your IT department is incompetent

Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:47:10 +0000

Complaints about IT are common. It is not difficult to find examples of gross incompetence. So why does it happen?

Open source: what investors need to know

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 08:43:26 +0000

I have blogged about open source before, but not specifically from an investors point of view. Because this is not a subject that most investors are familiar with, I am going to make this a basic introduction.

Ten effects of DRM

Sat, 27 Jan 2007 13:11:50 +0000

For those who do not know, DRM is the technology that prevents users from taking copies of various types of videos, audio and even written material in electronic form. It is an abbreviation of Digital Rights Management – and its your rights they are managing.

Wrong again, BBC

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:37:52 +0000

I have blogged about this before, but the BBC were good enough to give me a superb example to technology journalists getting things wrong.

Volunteers? No.

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 09:33:24 +0000

I have noticed that the media make serious factual mistakes when covering any topic about which I have any real knowledge. This applies even to supposedly quality media. I can only assume that what I read about topics/countries/issues that I have no particular knowledge is equally wrong.

Apps designed for smart people

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:28:03 +0000

f you read the same blogs I do, you may recognise where I got the title of this post from. An email from Mike Vanier that was published on Paul Graham’s website describes the difference between computer languages designed for smart programmers and “the masses”.

It recently struck me that a similar divide applies to users as well as programmers, and that programs exist to cater to both smart users and the others.

How to tell if you are a Microsoft fanatic

Sat, 15 Apr 2006 06:22:38 +0000

Although Linux and Mac users have reputations for fanaticism, I have noticed that Windows users are more irrationally loyal. Are you one of them?

Why I use open source

Tue, 14 Mar 2006 13:43:44 +0000

This blog post got me thinking about the reasons I most often hear for using open source software are the freedom it gives users, its usually high quality, and the lack of vendor lock-in.

I have one more reason: transparency.

Thanks

Mon, 18 Jul 2005 06:20:26 +0000

I have mentioned my other sites and the various changes but some thanks and acknowledgements are needed.

All three of my sites are running on Wordpress. Although known as blog software (and that it what it is in the default configuration) it is very versatile and makes a great CMS for many sites. The support forums are very invaluable. The most useful for me of the many plugins I have tried have been The_excerpt Reloaded (which allowed my to show excerpts to the length I wanted) and WP-Cache (which made my sites noticably faster loading).