Has it really been five years since the creation of blogs.sun.com? And six years since the integration of Dtrace? Clearly I'm having fun as the time seems to have flown by.

I'm currently eager to get on and use my cloud space. Like others I'm too thinking of using it for backups of important information that I'd really rather not lose. But I'm also looking forward to using it as a repository for some data that I currently hold on my Treo and that I access mostly on the Desktop by transferring the memory card; which I hope I don't lose. I'm waiting with bated breath for the Palm Pre to be made available in the UK for the same reason. No dates mentioned as yet

In my day-to-day role as a software engineer I share with my peers unified-differences derived from the diff(1) command. For example:

$ diff -u old new
  --- old	Wed Oct 29 14:36:47 2008
+++ new	Wed Oct 29 14:36:56 2008
@@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
 I
 really
-should
+ought
 provide
 better
 examples.
 
-Or at least use some of my daughters poetry
+Mary
+had
+a
+little 
+lamb,
+
+Or perhaps use some of my daughters poetry.

$

Where differences occur a line listing the original line number followed by the new line numbers are displayed which is followed by the changes. Lines removed from "new" are marked with a "-" at the beginning while lines added to "new" are marked with a "+". In the example its quite easy to see that line three has been removed and replaced. However it is sometimes not so obvious, the line numbers get a little confusing in ensuing conversation.

So I put together a little nawk script to display the line numbers in-line as well:

$ diff -u old new | udiffn
--- old	Wed Oct 29 14:36:47 2008
+++ new	Wed Oct 29 14:36:56 2008
 Old  New @@ -1,9 +1,15 @@
   1    1  I
   2    2  really
   3      -should
        3 +ought
   4    4  provide
   5    5  better
   6    6  examples.
   7    7  
   8      -Or at least use some of my daughters poetry
        8 +Mary
        9 +had
       10 +a
       11 +little 
       12 +lamb,
       13 +
       14 +Or perhaps use some of my daughters poetry.
   9   15  

Ideally diff(1) would have an option to provide this output but in the mean time this little tool will suffice:

$ cat ~/tools/sh/udiffn
#!/bin/nawk -f
# Add line numbers to unified diff output: diff -u old new | udiffn
/^No differences encountered/ ||		# No exit as intended as a pipe
/^$/ ||						# Blank lines
/^(\-\-\-|\+\+\+)/ {print; next;}		# diff Headers
/^@@ [-+][0-9]*,[0-9]* [+-][0-9]*,[0-9]* @@/ {	# Start of difference block
  i=split(substr($2,2), o, ",");		# old start line in o[1]
  j=split(substr($3,2), n, ",");		# new start line in n[1]
  l=length(n[1])+1;				# Numeric field length
  if (l <= 4 ) l = 4;
  printf("%*s %*s %s\n", l, "Old", l, "New", $0);
  next;
}

/^ /	{printf("%*s %*d %s\n", l, o[1]++, l, n[1]++, $0); next;}
/^\+/	{printf("%*s %*d %s\n", l, " ", l, n[1]++, $0); next;}
/^\-/	{printf("%*d %*s %s\n", l, o[1]++, l, " ", $0); next;}

/^Index: / {print; next}			# patch/wx header
/^diff -r/ {print; next}			# Mercurial header
# Everything else is unexpected.
{print "Er!",NR,$0;}

I've just found out that it is possible to select Point-to-focus, my preferred focus policy, on Windows XP. I found the option in Tweak UI which can be down loaded from the MS Power Toys for Windows XP page. To enable Point-to-Focus run Tweak UI, navigate down the right pane to Mouse -> X-Mouse and select "Activation follows mouse (X-Mouse)". As of yet I have not found an option to stop raising the window on click!

I came across Tweak UI utility as having purchased a new 1TB disc I wanted to move the common "Shared" folders to it. I tried dragging the folder as suggested but this didn't seem to have the desired effect. Some goolge time later I found Tweak UI which also has an option to change those settings. Looks like there are some other useful tools in there too, such as CmdHere and DeskMan.

BATS latest production of The Music Man is now underway at the Haymarket Theatre in Basingstoke and running through to Saturday 22nd.

Both of my girls, Emily and Alice, are in the show performing together on alternating nights. I'm looking forward to seeing it on Friday as I've heard that this is another excellent performance by BATS.

The show features the signature song ‘Seventy-Six Trombones’. The story sees 'Professor' Harold Hill, a con man, whose scam is to convince parents he can teach their musically disinclined children to play instruments. He takes pre-orders for musical instruments and promises to form a band, when he promptly skips town and moves onto the next before he is found out. Harold arrives at River City, Iowa, where he meets their townspeople and therein the fun starts.

A minor update to ut-where to add a '-V' option which causes ut-where to provide some additional verbosity in a zenity window. I can't see one wanting to use the option ongoing but its nice at first to help understand whats happening, for example when your screen does not automatically change because the utsettings are not set as you might expect them to be. Or because XRandR is not supported.

My Sun Ray TM session can now automatically switch desktop size when moving between different clients.

For example:

Having logged on originally at my desk, Sun Ray 2FS with a 1920x1200 monitor

I pull my card and move to a break area with a Sun Ray 150 with a much smaller screen

The whole desktop is displayed, no panning required

Sun Ray Server Software 4.1 includes a new standalone Xserver, Xnewt, based on Xorg 7.2 community source. Xnewt introduces the XRandR extension to Sun Ray which amongst other features enables the session to switch Video Resolution and resize the desktop dynamically. No more panning around when using on a smaller display, or unused space when moving to a larger display.

Using the example above, moving from the Sun Ray 2FS with a 1920x1200 monitor to a Sun Ray 150 xrandr reports:

$ /usr/X11/bin/xrandr -q
 SZ:    Pixels          Physical       Refresh
 0    640 x 480    ( 180mm x 135mm )
 1    800 x 600    ( 225mm x 169mm )
 2   1024 x 768    ( 289mm x 216mm )
 3   1152 x 900    ( 325mm x 254mm )
 4   1280 x 1024   ( 361mm x 289mm )
 5   1400 x 1050   ( 395mm x 296mm )
 6   1440 x 900    ( 406mm x 254mm )
 7   1600 x 1024   ( 451mm x 289mm )
 8   1600 x 1200   ( 451mm x 339mm )
 9   1680 x 1050   ( 474mm x 296mm )
 10  1920 x 1080   ( 542mm x 305mm )
*11  1920 x 1200   ( 542mm x 339mm )
Current rotation - normal
Current reflection - none
Rotations possible - normal 
Reflections possible - none

While by comparison the Sun Ray setting, as reported by utset is somewhat smaller:

$ /opt/SUNWut/bin/utset | grep '^Display Timing 1:'
Display Timing 1: 1024x768@60
$

Therefore I can dynamically change the desktop using xrandr command and shrink my desktop accordingly:

$ /usr/X11/bin/xrandr -s 1024x768

The one caveat at this time is that for xrandr to grow the desktop Xorg must have allocated sufficient memory for it. Obviously with the example above it would have done. But had I logged in on the Sun Ray 150 first there may have been a problem. Therefore you may need to set your preferred default resolution to the largest available value to allow for that growth. This is accomplished using utxconfig:

$ /opt/SUNWut/bin/utxconfig -r 1920x1200

So what of automatic switching?

Taking Chris' Sun Ray location idea a little further I re-wrote his script, ut-where, so that it automatically switches the display depending on the device setting. This modified script has a couple of other new features including

• Pops up a window asking for the location if it's not known using zenity(1) (times out after 5 mins if you don't answer).
• Sets your status as un-available if the location description includes the word "conference".
• May be used to start IM client and monitor clients using the -i option.
• As before sets your away status when you disconnect (remove your card), unless that is you have already set your status to away... Great when you want to set your away status to something descriptive before leaving.

I'm still toying with the idea of saving other preferences to the location file such as the preferred resolution and or pidgin status... Full options listed below.

$ ut-where -h
usage: ut-where [-vxX][[-i]|[-d]|[-s]|[-t]|[-l]|[-c]|[-a [description]]]

  -a	Add location, prompts for description if none supplied.
    	Colon characters in description are substituted by space character.
  -l	Display contents of location file.
  -i	Initialise; starts utaction monitors for connect/disconnect
    	Will also start IM client if none active for user.
    	Kills current "utaction ut-where" scripts
  -c	Update pidgin with current description:
    	This option is intended to be used by "utaction -c"
    	If description is unknown then a description dialogue is
    	requested using zenity.
    	If description contains "conference" then status is
    	set to "unavailable".
  -d	Update IM tool with away message (unless away status already set).
    	This option is intended to be used by "utaction -d"
  -t	Display current description.
  -v	Verbose mode
  -x	Debug
  -X	Debug functions

Without any options the appliance name and description are displayed.
$

Thus to start IM client and utaction monitors simply use ut-which -i.

One final note. I have found some devices have there default resolution set much lower than expected, i.e. 640x480. Therefore you may need to change those. The best way to do that is to use utsettings (press <shift>-<props> keys together) and change the resolution under the "Display" category.

Happy switching.

When interacting with a window interface I prefer point-to-focus rather then click-to-focus. This can easily be achieved by enabling "Select Windows when the mouse moves over them" from "Window Preferences" (from Gnome Preferences).

But I also prefer my windows to stay put and not atomically raise to the top when I click in them, for example when using middle-click to paste into the obscured window...

To stop that annoying behavior run 'gconf-editor' and enable the Sun Extension 'window_raise_on_frame_only', /apps/metacity/general/sun_extensions/window_raise_on_frame_only (use ctrl-F and search for it). The associated note for which states "If enabled, in sloppy focus mode [point-to-focus], the window will be raised to top of stack when clicked on window frame only. Windows will not raise when clicked inside them." Sloppy in deed, how dare you

Previously I have unset /apps/metacity/general/raise_on_click which also worked for me. Though it does contain the following description underneath it:

"Setting this option to false can lead to buggy behavior, so users are strongly discouraged from changing it from the default of true. Many actions (e.g. clicking in the client area, moving or resizing the window) normally raise the window as a side-effect. Set this option to false to decouple raising from other user actions. Even when this option is false, windows can still be raised by an alt-left-click anywhere on the window, a normal click on the window decorations, or by special messages from pagers, such as activation requests from tasklist applets. This option is currently disabled in click-to-focus mode. Note that the list of ways to raise windows when raise_on_click is false does not include programmatic requests from applications to raise windows; such requests will be ignored regardless of the reason for the request. If you are an application developer and have a user complaining that your application does not work with this setting disabled, tell them it is _their_ fault for breaking their window manager and that they need to change this option back to true or live with the bug they requested. See also http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=445447#c6."

I do wonder if the above warning does also apply to window_raise_on_frame_only?

Today I came across the OpenSolaris Project: Starter Kit which includes links to OpenSolaris Screencasts (videos).

In particular I like the reference to the backup tool "g4u" to backup my Windows partition(s). It would be neat if I could use the same trick to backup the Solaris partition too.

So, five things you may not already know about me....

1. Thinking that I may have had a very minor dairy intolerance I gave up eating dairy produce in my early twenties. Obviously this means no Milk, Cheese or Chocolate. But that's only the half of it. Wey solids and powder are found in an amazing host of foods like biscuits, cakes and crackers. And all those really nice things like cakes (did I say that already), custard, pastries, and a whole lot more.... I'm not sure the diet had much effect on my Asthma, but I sure did put on the pounds once I came off of it (I have subsequently lost that weight, with help from the Hackers Diet) and my bicycles. I was certainly glad to no longer be having water on my morning cereal.

2. This may not be so surprising to those paying close attention to my blog... OK, so its a surprise to you all! I used to be cleaner at Express Dairies. It helped me save up for the road "racing" bicycle that I still ride to this day. My section included a small hall with a free milk dispenser which was always in a real slimy and smelly state come the evening (people, be considerate with your unwanted beverages). I still remember with joy the first time I used the floor polishing machine. It whizzed around taking me with it and wrapping me around with the power cord. Took a few times to tame it, but it was always fun.

3. Somewhat like Clingan at school I was interested in long distance running. I used to take part in the cross country race each year and for sports day entered the 1500m and 5km race. Though I never took it seriously, I just seemed to have a lot of stamina. These days I really don't enjoy running and much prefer to be on my bike where my stamina still sees me through..

4. I was in a Secondary School (high-school) production of "My Fair Lady". I was in the chorus and several non-speaking parts including a chimney sweep and ballroom dancer. I enjoyed every moment of it, especially learning the waltz (shame I don't remember it now). I dare say it's those memories why I encourage my girls to take up the thespian joys that they have. Mind, they can sing unlike myself.

5. On the theme of Musicals, my favorites all time is the film "The Slipper and the Rose", staring Richard Chamberlain and Gemma Craven. It is in my opinion the best adaptation of the Cinderella Story. My favorite bit is when the fairy god mother, played by Annette Crosbie, exclaims "I know, I'll borrow time!" (or something to that effect) which for me explained why the magic had to be withdrawn at midnight. So why don't the slippers disappear? Well that magic clearly wasn't borrowed

So, Jonathan, your it!

Stace

The named process is started by root and thus inherits roots privileges, as were traditionally needed, to access the DNS communication channel (port 53). BIND administrators know the named command accepts a -u username option which causes the process to switch user attributes after opening privileged interfaces. The idea being that should the service be compromised the effective user is not all powerful.

In the Solaris 10 Operating Environment the process privilege model, privileges(5), allows for a more fine-grained control. Coupled with the Service Management Facility, smf(5), services may inherit less privileges and alternative user process and group identities at start-up. Therefore under the Solaris 10 OE named may be configured at start to run with an alternative user identity making the -u option superfluous.

To have the BIND server named start with an alternative user identity and group under the Solaris 10 OE complete the following steps:

1. Add the user to the solaris.smf.manage.bind role

# usermod -A solaris.smf.manage.bind dnsadmin
# tail -1 /etc/user_attr
dnsadmin::::type=normal;auths=solaris.smf.manage.bind
#

Without this role the server, named, will be unable to manage it's SMF FMRI and named will automatically be restarted by SMF after an rndc stop or halt command. As indicated by the syslog message "error: smf_disable_instance() failed for svc:/network/dns/server:default : insufficient privileges for action"

2. Modify the service properties

# svccfg
svc:> select svc:/network/dns/server:default
svc:/network/dns/server:default> setprop start/user = dnsadmin
svc:/network/dns/server:default> setprop start/group = dnsadmin
svc:/network/dns/server:default> exit
# svcadm refresh svc:/network/dns/server:default
# svcadm restart svc:/network/dns/server:default

3. Specify an alternative location for the pid-file

As only root has write access to create the default pid-file; /var/run/named.pid named must be configured to use an alternative path. For Example:

# mkdir /var/named/tmp
# chown dnsadmin /var/named/tmp # head /etc/named.conf
options {
directory "/var/named";
pid-file "/var/named/tmp/named.pid";
};

zone "0.0.127.in-addr.arpa" in {
type master;
file "db.127.0.0";
};
#