DFWUUG NEWSLETTER
July 1999
| UNIX | Java | Perl |
DFWUUG NEWSLETTER July 1999
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The mission of the DFWUUG is to promote interest in and an understanding of UNIX All meetings are open to the public without charge.
The group meets the first Thursday of the month, with the exception of those months where the Thursday falls on or near a holiday. Everyone is cordially invited to attend. For current information, please check out the user group's web site www.dfwuug.org.
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Mr. Finley is a computer professional specializing in operating systems and systems integration. He has been working in the industry since 1990 and is currently employed by VA Linux Systems. He has a broad background of experience that ranges from very small to very large shops working as a consultant and as a full time employee. He is adept at many different operating systems and holds the following industry certifications: Sun Certified Solaris Administrator (CSA), Sun Competency 2000 Certification, Certified Novell Engineer (CNE), IBM Certified LAN Server Engineer (CLSE), and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP).
The rapid evolvement of Linux has now spawned a systems company, VA Linux, which is providing WEB, file, and database servers, as well as developer workstations, loaded with open source Linux software and tuned for the Linux market.
Come and hear about VA's line up of products, use of open source software, and their own software development projects. This is a company which is helping to fuel the Linux revolution in the marketplace by offering Linux specific products, Linux support and open source code of their own devising.
By the way, the VA Linux home page (www.valinux.com) now lists maddog Hall as an employee!
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We're well on our way into the summer months. The speakers over the next few months won't disappoint you. Invite a colleague or two to the next meeting and introduce them to our group. We're always looking for more quality individuals to contribute to the group.
See you soon and remember we're meeting at our usual location, Compaq at the Dallas Doubletree.
Greg
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I spent early years in Illinois. Our state legislature had a habit, at the end of legislative sessions, of unplugging clocks. Not all clocks. Just unplugging those large wall clocks in the chambers of the state House and the state Senate. Our Illinois constitution required the legislature to complete work by the end of June in odd numbered years, and our state legislature never did. Solution: stop time.
An interesting approach. It seemed to happen every two years.
One can not do this, though, with Year 2000.
The year 2000 problem is fixed by working with source code. Somehow one of my neighbors in Texas pulled wool over some eyes, including those of editors of the NEW YORKER by stating that he has some magic method of simply massaging object code. It was a statement rather transparently absurd to anyone who ever compiled assembler code.
Certainly reading source is much easier than reading object code. Sometimes, however, source code isn't there, and other times, the source code there is not in sync with the object code that is running. There are various reasons for this. Human frailty for one. Lack of systems that kept source and object in sync, for another. Ability, and use of the ability to zap object code, for a third. All that said, here are considerations in fixing Y2K:
1) Be sure source and object are in sync. Check that out. In the small number of cases where they are not in sync, reconstruct source, or figure out what the object code is really doing, or rewrite programs.
2) Pick a method for renovating. Will one expand to 4 digit years, or interpret century onto two digit years? If interpretation, is this accurate enough? If expansion, what about all the bridge programs and file conversions involved with the data?
3) Test. Test everything. And then plan for some things still to be untested, even though one thinks one thought of it all.
So said, that is most of the computer renovation part of Y2K.
For the personal part, one could buy bottled water. One might stock up on flashlights and batteries and various kinds of food. One might buy firewood or firearms. One might hope to be with neighbors, or on a warm island, or?
Finally, why did we ever get into this mess? Well, we got it partly because people, good people often used two position years.
The best good sense I've seen on this was in a letter in the May 17 issue of Computerworld by Tom Watembach of Urbana, Illinois. Tom writes:
". . . unit record equipment used 80-column punched cards. Every effort was made to cram as much information into those 80 columns as possible, including using two-digit years. The cost involved in expanding a record to a second card was considerable. . . . Furthermore, the complications of a two-card record would involve changes to most procedures."
In those days when the Illinois legislature could stop its clocks on June 30,computer input was on the 80 column Hollerith punched card. That, and the good quality of that old programming, are major reasons that we, today,inherited a computer problem called Y2K.
--John Keohane
keohane@prodigy.net
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Tuesday June 29, JavaMUG (Metroplex Users Group) Special Event Announcing a JavaMUG special presentation by Peter Coad:
JavaTM Modeling in Color with UML: Enterprise components and Process.
Peter Coad is one of the world's most experienced object-model builders. He mentors teams in building better component and object models. Peter is the author of five software development books including the current Java Design 2/e. He also presented this topic at this year's JavaOne.
Peter's company, OI Inc., has received the Jolt award (one of the software industry's most important) for the Together/J product.
Peter's techniques teach software design in color. Peter uses four colors to represent four archetypes (colors that intuitively represent the attributes, links, methods, and interactions of your model). Color and archetypes are then blended into a 12-class, domain neutral component. The domain neutral component is then compared to a wide variety of business areas.
Additionally, Peter will also present Feature-Driven Development (FDD), the process for getting the most out of your Java modeling and development.
http://www.oi.com/jmcu/presentations.html
Peter is an engaging speaker. At last year's JavaOne, his first presentation was so well attended that he canceled his flight and held a second afternoon session.
A good background interview can be found at: http://www.oi.com/about-oi.htm#interview
This special meeting will be held in Meeting Room One at JC Penney at Park Central at 7:00 p.m. on June 29, 1999. Log on to http://www.javamug.org/ for directions.
JavaMUG is a local users group that exists to promote the use of Java, educate people about Java, and to make recommendations about improving Java back to Sun. Formal meetings are held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm. All meetings will be held in Meeting Room 1 of the JC Penney Park Central location at 12712 Park Central Place.
For more information log on to: http://www.javamug.org/
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The O'Reilly Open Source Software Convention is almost here!
I would like to extend an invitation to you and your group members to come join us this August 21st-24th in Monterey, CA. We have an Early Bird special that will save you up to $200 if you register before July 15, 1999. For more information check out our web page (http://conferences.oreilly.com).
3RD USENIX WINDOWS NT SYMPOSIUM
July 12-15, 1999 Westin Hotel, Seattle, Washington, USA Academic and industrial researchers, developers, and sophisticated users basing their work in Windows NT share results and insights. Refereed papers, in-depth reports from Microsoft project leaders, and highly interactive discussions, are followed by 2 days of tutorials. WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/usenix-nt99
Co-located with---
2ND LISA-NT CONFERENCE LARGE INSTALLATION SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION OF WINDOWS NT
July 14-17, 1999 Westin Hotel, Seattle, Washington, USA Co-sponsored by SAGE, The System Administrators Guild Premiere conference for managers of Windows NT environments--how to manage, scale and integrate NT. Two days of tutorials precede refereed papers, reports on the future from Microsoft project leaders, interactive sessions and hosted receptions. WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa-nt99
8TH USENIX SECURITY SYMPOSIUM
August 23-26, 1999 JW Marriott Hotel, Washington D.C., USA In cooperation with The CERT Coordination Center Brings together developers, security administrators, and system administrators interested in advances in security technologies and the design and implementation of security strategies. WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/sec99
2ND USENIX CONFERENCE ON DOMAIN SPECIFIC LANGUAGES (DSL '99)
October 3-6, 1999 Omni Hotel, Austin, Texas, USA In cooperation with ACM SIGPLAN and ACM SIGSOFT Advances DSL design, implementation, and software engineering, with tutorials, refereed papers, invited talks, and interactive sessions. WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/dsl99
2ND USENIX SYMPOSIUM ON INTERNET TECHNOLOGIES & SYSTEMS (USITS '99)
October 11-14, 1999 Regal Harvest House Hotel, Boulder, Colorado, USA Co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society Task Force on Internetworking. Brings together web developers, engineers and researchers interested in developing innovative Internetworking applications and technology. WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/usits99
3RD ATLANTA LINUX SHOWCASE
October 12-16, 1999 Cobb Galleria, Atlanta, Georgia, USA Co-sponsored by USENIX, Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts and Linux International Three conference tracks over 3 days with 40 speakers discussing Linux technical and business issues, 2 days of intensive tutorials organized by USENIX, plus an exhibition with over 140 vendors showcasing the latest products all add up to a great event. Extended abstracts due: July 1, 1999 WEB SITE: http://www.linuxshowcase.org
LISA '99--13TH SYSTEMS ADMINISTRATION CONFERENCE
November 7-12, 1999 Seattle Conference Center, Seattle, Washington, USA Co-Sponsored by SAGE, the System Administrators Guild The only conference by and for System Administrators at sites of all sizes offers comprehensive program with tutorials, refereed papers, invited talks, panels, interactive sessions, new Practicum track, and product exhibition. Extended abstracts due: May 25, 1999 WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa99
TCL/2K: THE 7TH USENIX TCL/TK CONFERENCE
February 14-18, 2000 Marriott Hotel, Austin, Texas, USA Brings together researchers and practitioners to publish and present original work on the latest developments in Tcl/Tk and scripting. Paper proposals due: September 1, 1999 WEB SITE: http://www.usenix.org/events/tcl2k
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All DFWUUG members are encouraged to exchange ideas and speaker leads for future programs.
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| Office | Officer | Phone |
| President | Greg Pratt | 972-376-7484 |
| Vice President | Stuart Yarus | 972-996-2322 |
| Treasurer | Leah Grove | 972-702-4503 |
| Secretary | Chris Pallone | 972-239-5544 |
| News Editor | Jim Wyatt | 972-516-4845 |
| Program Committee Chair | Gary Lelvis | 972-871-5842 |
| PERL SIG | David Aldrich | |
| Linux SIG | Dave Whitinger | |
| SysAdmin SIG | Chris Pallone | |
| Publicity | Kevin Frederick | 214-922-8947 |
| Sponsorship Coordinator | Kathy Hopkins | 972-238-0401 |
| Webmaster | Dee Parker | 972-361-3072 |
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UNIX Placement 817-329-8053 or 8058 Join our Pack!!
For information, please contact Susan Johnson at 972-386-8777.
Hewlett-Packard is proud to sponsor DFWUUG!
HP's Richardson R&D lab offers the opportunity to do development on the HP-UX kernel. We have positions for HP-UX operating system development, test development, test technicians, and simulator development. See http://www.jobs.hp.com for HP job listings, and contact resumes@rsn.hp.com or call Dean Sablotny at phone 972-497-4894 / fax 972-497-4626 for more information.
From our sophisticated on-line order entry and point-of-sale capabilities to our auto replenishment of merchandise to one of the largest private telecommunications networks anywhere, it's a world of change when it comes to technology. At JCPenney you'll work in an environment that encourages individuality and new ideas, fostering growth, advancement and personal development.
For career opportunities with JCPenney, please contact Alicia Boyd at JCPenney Co., P.O. Box 10001, Dallas, TX 75301-8115; FAX to (972) 431-2320; or EMAIL to: amboyd@jcpenney.com For more information on JCPenney, visit http://www.jcpenney.com
An International, IT Consulting firm with offices across the nation employing approximately 4,000 Consultants. We have the large client base and flexibility to offer the project you need to move your career forward. For a job that offers excellent benefits, competitive pay and great training, contact Lisa Statzer at 972-455-3403 or 800-527-4907 ext. 3403.
4000 McEwen Road South, Suite 200
Dallas, TX 75244
Neiman Marcus is currently accepting resumes for UNIX System Administrators with 3+ years of experience inclusive of shell scripting knowledge. Fax resumes attention: Lisa Blunt 972-401-6690.
Raytheon E-Systems is a worldwide developer and producer of electronics systems and producer of electronics systems products in the areas of intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance systems, command and control, specialized aircraft maintenance and modification, guidance, navigation and control, communications and data systems.
Stonebridge Technologies, Inc., with headquarters in Dallas, Texas, is a regional systems integrator focused on providing its clients with solutions to their business problems based upon open systems technologies. Stonebridge has developed strategic relationships with the industry's leading open systems manufacturers and currently has a staff of over 160 associates trained and experienced on open systems client/server technologies, products and services.
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http://www.unixtools.com/tutorials.html#unix
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http://www.unixtools.com/tutorials.html#java
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http://www.unixtools.com/tutorials.html#perl
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What is DHTML?
DHTML is the name given to the HTML 4.0 Specification, http://www.w3c.org/MarkUp/. Each browser implements these 'recommendations' in different ways. Netscape Navigator 4 was introduced prior the completion of the 4.0 spec. Internet Explorer 4 was introduced after the spec was released. While they both can do most of the spec, neither does them all. Treat DHTML as a time sensitive thing, there are better things coming.
Why use DHTML as opposed to XML?
XML is coming! And based on the amount of information that is heralding XMLs entrance, it will be a good thing. DHTML is where we are today, we are forced to earn a living in the here and now. DHTML provides a way to create a good, solid product for the customer. As Goodman observes "It wasn't all that long ago that becoming a web page authoring wizard required little more than an understanding of a few dozen HTML tags…. . Ah, those were the good old days…about two years ago.".
The books intended audience.
This book is intended for experienced HTML developer as a good reference. Goodman assumes that the reader has a decent grasp of HTML and what the 'D' adds to the picture. Goodman introduces a concept of how to create pages that function reasonably consistent across browsers and platforms. To implement this concept requires an understanding of JavaScript (an instance of ECMAScript, http://www.ecma.ch/stand/ecma-262.htm). I highly recommend the "JavaScript Bible 3rd Ed" also by Goodman. It is JavaScript that makes DTHML work.
The book is broken into four sections
Applying Dynamic HTML
This is a very short introduction to some of the main players (e.g., CSS1, CSSP, …) and how to script them across the two main browsers. There are better introduction texts, but this is used to set the environment.
Dynamic HTML Reference
This is the crux of the book. It is a very good reference to all of the tags and attributes and the information on how to script with them. However, the subtle differences in typeface/layout between a tag and its attributes make it easy to get lost. I find myself hi-lighting to separate sections rather than just to locate important information.
Cross References
This is an unexpected find. A mapping of attributes to tags. This is proving very useful.
Appendices
These include color names/values, HTML Character Entities, Keyboard Event Character Values and Internet Explorer Commands.
The author
Danny Goodman's web site, http://www.dannyg.com, has links to all of his prior works. He is my scripting hero. Goodman's first book, HyperCard Developer's Guide, helped ease the steep learning curve involved with container based languages. Updates, errata and source code are available on his web site.