Stephan Paukner :: syslog

We’re writing the year 1996. TV commercials start to add something like “www.companyname.com” at the bottom corners of the screen. Cell phones start to become popular. Some mates I met at the Austrian Federal Armed Forces used such things to phone with their girlfriends. As I didn’t have a girlfriend, I didn’t need a cell phone. It was the time when cell phones began to drop down from the managers to the rednecks, who carried them on their belts as if they were revolvers, always ready to draw.

It took me until October 1997 to receive my first one, due to opening a student’s account at a local bank. It was a Philips Fizz. I think I still have it somewhere at my parents, and it still should work, except for the display which has been broken by my brother. It was a cute thing. Philips seemed to have different designs which they didn’t distinguish. The antenna could be pulled out and the SIM-card had the size of a credit card. As I only had a prepaid card at that time, calls became rather expensive. I’m not quite sure if everyone was worth it.

I finally wanted to enable my users to relay mails via my own MTA, as it’s quite comfortable to be able to use the same outgoing mail server no matter what computing device you currently use or where you currently are. About three years ago there were no solutions enabling SMTP AUTH for Postfix without recompiling packages, so I had to wait until today where such features are now officially available within Debian. I found several HOWTOs about configuring SMTP AUTH with Postfix on Debian Woody or Debian Sarge, but things have changed (or will change, as Etch hasn’t been released yet). The Postfix version in Sarge is 2.1, whereas in Etch it’s 2.3. This is how I did it:

First, note that you don’t have to patch or (re-)compile anything. Etch’s Postfix package already supports TLS! First, I cared about configuring authentication with SASL, and after that I restricted authentication to TLS only. This makes debugging easier during the process. Because encryption already happens at the TLS-layer, I don’t need MD5 authentication and can stay PLAIN.

I’m planning to move my hosted domains to a virtual root-server. As more and more people are more and more relying on more and more services, I have to move the hardware-responsibility away from me. I don’t want to care anymore for breaking harddisks, aging CPUs or dying modems. I don’t want to care about network connection or power supply. I don’t want to hear my phone ringing because of such failures. I have better things to do than rushing out for new (old) hardware. I just want to care for the software. I’m interested in SPAM, not RAM.

Therefore I’ll finally move my server out of my house, maybe even out of my country. These are the possible candidates, in order of highest probability, all at a cost of about €15/month: HostEurope.de’s 15,000MB vServer, ARWeb.at’s 7,500MB vServer or Server4You.de’s 7,500MB vServer. As the first one offers a twice as high storage capacity than the others, it might be the one of choice. It even includes service monitoring. I want to set it up during January and migrate the services in February.

Hautamaeki? Oder haut a net?
Mogadischu? Oder mog a’s net?
Samariter? Oder samma kane?
Simmeringer? Oder simma kane?
Renitent? Oder rennst du?

I’m using Linux for some years now. It provides a very robust server operating system. With Linux you have high performance file systems, intelligent process handling, transparent configuration and very stable server software. You can have Linux for free, its software is open-source, thousands of programmers care for quality assurance. It really works.
But some think that Linux could replace Microsoft Windows on the PC. Windows is a great gaming platform, and some admins even go that far and use it on their servers! Similarly, some Linux enthusiasts placed Linux onto their PC or notebook. They believe, the time is now ripe for a desktop revolution. I also tried it, but, in my eyes, Linux is not usable on the desktop for ordinary people as long as:

• You have to know that there could be a hidden file named .lpoptions in your home directory which disturbs your printing system. Whatever you set in the print dialogs, that hidden file overrules your settings and makes you cursing why the prints are always rotated by 90° and therefore only covering one half of the paper.
• You have to know the exact names of your programs. Those names almost won’t have anything to do with their function, e.g., if you’re searching for an audio editor, you have to know that it’s called Audacity. If you want to use a video editor, install the package Cinelerra. If you want to use a CD-burning program, it has the dazzling name K3b. Your file-browser is called Nautilus. Or do you prefer Konqueror? Would you guess the function of Rosegarden or Lilypond? What about Evolution? Liferea? This list doesn’t end. Ask a Linuxian about which software you could use for this and that, he/she’ll answer you to use Crixycraxy, or something like that, and you wouldn’t remember that name even if you used that software. And: Your favorite web-browser Firefox might be called Iceweasel on some Linux distro. This is because Linux freaks don’t like software which becomes too popular.
• Programs don’t show error messages on the X-screen. Imagine you click on an icon to launch a certain program, but then nothing happens. You do it twice, nothing happens. WTF? You have to open a terminal, type in the name of that program (Do you know its name??) and then figure out the error messages on the terminal.
• You cannot play MP3s and DVDs legally on your PC. Boom! If that ain’t a reason not to use Linux!
• You cannot simply use the power-saving features of your notebook. This is because hardware manufacturers simply don’t support Linux. You have to search the web if some hacker already found a hack, but it would only work for another model, not for yours. And if something works, then only half. If you break your notebook, you’re on your own, because the hacker didn’t grant you warranty. GPL is like: Be so free, use it so freely, but never be safe.
• You cannot simply use WLAN. You have to put up another Linux box with a WLAN adapter and set up a VPN connection between your PC/notebook and that Linux box. At least that is what Linux gurus tell you to do.
• You have to be a real Linux expert to set up a GPRS modem connection via Bluetooth to your cellphone. There’s no software which does it for you. I can do it! Be sure your USB Bluetooth adapter is recognized and that the bluez-utils are installed and the kernel module is loaded. Curse around because you don’t manage to set up the Bluetooth connection because of that stupid PIN. Google around. Finally ping your phone successfully and copy its cryptic hardware number into the configuration file. Then set up a rfcomm mapping, the device /dev/rfcomm0 is then your modem. You have to configure a profile with the correct modem codes for use with GPRS. Then use it for your dialup configuration. It’s just as simple!

Linux is for hackers only. It always was and will always be so. Linux freaks waste their time compiling software, reading hundrets of e-mails on a text terminal, use IRC and Usenet and even browse the web in text terminals. Linux users don’t play games, at least no graphical ones. OpenGL is for stylish screensavers only.
Linux enthusiasts are pretty cool. They are hackers. Lots of textlines scroll over their X-desktop, just like in The Matrix. They encrypt their e-mails. If you want to be as cool, become it on your own. If you ask one of them to help you with your problem with Linux, they are unpolite and correct your misspellings. Linux freaks are assholes. I am one of them.

Um einmal niederzuschreiben, was ich bei der SOL4-IT alles so gemacht habe, habe ich mir eine Liste meiner Tätigkeiten erstellt. Das wäre ein Grundgerüst für die nächste Bewerbung. Um nicht zu viel zu verraten, habe ich hier die jeweiligen Kundennamen nur abgekürzt.

Beschäftigungszeitraum: 10.07.2003 - 31.01.2007.
Alle Aufgabenbereiche wurden in direktem Kontakt mit dem jew. Kunden abgewickelt.

Lotus-Notes-Development

• Ab 2004/06: S. S. AG: Einführung eines DMS unter Analyse und Abbildung der Kundenworkflows. Umsetzung umfangreicher Anpassungen und Erweiterungen. Implementation und Integration einer Artikel- und einer Projektverwaltung. Erweiterung des Helpdesksystems. Projektaufwandsanteil >110MT.
• Ab 2005/04: Implementation und ständige Weiterentwicklung des hauseigenen Produkts “Visual Team Calendar” in Kooperation mit der AdHoc, s.r.o. (Prag, CZ). Anpassungen für C. Z. GmbH (Geräteverleih), A. A. und A. A. GmbH.
• 2004, 2006: E. Reiseversicherungen: Implementation einer automatisierten Verarbeitung von Attachments eingehender Mails, Sortierung nach konfigurierbaren Kriterien, Datenextraktion. Erweiterung um FTP-Transfer.
• A. A. GmbH: Übernahme der Betreuung des DMS. Migration des angepassten DMS auf neue Version. Implementation und Integration einer Verkaufsunterlagen-Verwaltung.

Linux-Systemadministration

• Teilhabe an der Hauptverantwortung für den Betrieb des Webhostings, verteilt auf 4 IBM-Rechner: DNS von über 150 Domains, ca. 140 Webauftritte, ca. 330 User, Mailserver mit Virus- und SPAM-Filter, J2EE-basierendes CMS, Lotus-Domino-Hosting.
• Installation und Erweiterung eines Überwachungssystems inkl. differenzierter Alarmierung bei Ausfällen.
• Migration (Konsolidierung) von PostgreSQL auf MySQL.
• Wartung der firmeninternen Systeme.
Kundenprojekte:
• A. A. GmbH: Selbstständige Vorbereitung und Abhaltung einer fünftägigen Linux-Schulung für 4 Personen.
• F. H. GmbH: Wartung und Erweiterung des Mailservers durch SPAM-Filter.
• R. F. GmbH: Systemmigration auf RAID-Festplattenverbund, Backup-Implementation mit Transfer auf IBM AS/400-Rechner.
• Dr. K. & M. GmbH: Systemmigration auf RAID-Festplattenverbund, Lotus Domino Backup-Szenario.
• S. S. AG: Migration eines J2EE-basierenden CMS inkl. Webauftritt von Suse Linux auf Debian GNU/Linux.
• M. Handelsges.m.b.H., G. & H. OEG: Migration eines Windows-Fileservers auf Linux/Samba.

Web-Development

• 2003: Wartung, Betreuung und Erweiterung des Immobilienportals FMH (G. & H. OEG) in PHP/MySQL, z.B. Erweiterung der Suchfunktion.
• 2004/03-2005/03: Wartung, Betreuung und Erweiterung des Hotelportals H4Y (E. Verlagsges.m.b.H.) in PHP/MySQL und tw. JavaScript/DOM, z.B. Mehrsprachigkeit, Mitgliederbereich, Newsletterkampagnen, Veränderung der Reihung und Hervorhebung von Suchergebnissen, Erweiterung des CMS, Bannerverwaltung, Bannerrotation.

I stop working at SOL4-IT at the end of January 2007. From that time on I can work 100% on my Master thesis! But I don’t have to live from my savings: I’ll apply for a final degree scholarship (Studienabschluss-Stipendium). For 6 months I will (or could) be promoted with €1000 every month, with an additional (unpaid) timeframe of 6 months until I’d have to pay the amount back if I hadn’t finished by that time. I’ll not be allowed to hold any job during that phase. That gives me everything I need for a scientific work.