David Russell

The last few months, I have spent much of my free time really investing in learning Linux. (Free time, by the way, is time available after God, family, work, etc., and for me that has been unfortunately slim of late.) Sure, I’ve used Linux a lot in recent years and have almost always had at least one Linux VM on every machine I own, but for the most part I depended on the desktop side of Linux which, while great, isn’t really what holds the power of Linux.

Late last Fall, I converted a laptop that had a broken screen into a headless Ubuntu server. I have mostly set this up as a media and file server (to the PS3) and use it also as an HTPC hooked via HDMI to my HDTV. It’s great for both applications. But since I mostly manage the server remotely via SSH, I started getting really used to the command line.

So I started to do more there, but also on the plethora of existing external web servers that I manage, both personal and business. I’d figure out some really nifty way of doing something, like automating the backup of a MySQL database, on my personal servers, vet the process there and then incorporate them into the business side where practical.

Once I tasted the automation pie, I was thoroughly hooked on the power of Linux and the terminal. I started learning shell scripting, got pretty good at vim, firmed up some existing knowledge of CRON, and more. I also started learning more about Linux at the system and network levels, learning how to get data about running processes, analyzing RAM and CPU usage, viewing log files, manipulating data and configuring network interfaces. I’ve since set up several more web servers that are now in production for various sites, but instead of depending on a managed VPS with some prepackaged host configuration, I’m doing the work from scratch. Much more fun and rewarding.

I’ve used several distributions, mostly Ubuntu, but also Arch, Debian and CentOS, even toyed with FreeBSD. I’ve used CentOS a lot in web server environments, but I am currently using and loving Debian for home servers, web servers and just general use. It helps that my main introduction to Linux came by way of Xandros and then Ubuntu. But Debian seems to be just right for a solid server environment. It gives me the familiarity I want from my experience with Ubuntu (apt, etc.) but without all the extras that are mainly geared toward improving the desktop.

I still use Ubuntu for the main media server/HTPC in my home, but I have another server set up with Debian and have really enjoyed tweaking it for various uses. All my work servers are CentOS and that will remain. But I also have a personal hosted VPS running CentOS that I may change that out to Debian.

Now I’m into window managers, namely awesome. It’s a whole new blend of desktop and command line. I love the simplicity and speed of it. This entry is being written using Debian and awesome WM. Rad stuff.

I have a bunch of friends who love Linux and who will likely comment below to add their two cents on a fave distro or use for Linux. I’ve had some great inspiration along the way. But I have to give a lot of credit to Scott Wehrenberg (@swehren) who has been a go-to-expert for me these past few months. His full-time use of Linux and superlative command of the system has inspired me to really dig deep. And he’s always on for a 1:00 AM instant message session when I have a question about some syntax for grep or need a better approach to tune a bash script. Thanks, Scott.

The bottom line for me is that I am having a ton of fun learning Linux. Hopefully, that will inspire someone else to grab a distro and bash around a bit. :)

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I have been a little torn lately with where to publish the technical side of my life. Twitter seems to be morphing into more of a place where I talk about life and ministry and lighter tech as opposed to the heavier geek stuff. But I really have a passion for the technical, even though I’ve never considered myself much of a developer. I figure if I do have an outlet for more technical conversation, this is probably the best place for it.

So I might throw up a few posts over the next few weeks about things I have learned or are learning about Linux and UNIX. Perhaps it will benefit someone else.

A few months ago, I was making my rounds in domain-land and noticed a very high profile TLD had expired, davidrussell.net. Now, it’s not the most amazing domain in the world for most people, but it is the second most amazing domain in the world if your name is David Russell. And my name happens to be David Russell.

The previous owner, David Russell from New Zealand, must have let the registration lapse. After a few days monitoring whois, I noticed the domain move from the 30-day grace period and into the delete phase. Oh boy! I knew I might have a shot at this, so I read up on the subject at a four-year old article from Mike Davidson. The information still packs a punch today and I decided to take Mike’s advice and enlist the services of Pool.com to register the domain on my behalf as soon as the domain had been completely deleted from the registry and was available to the public.

On the delete day, I monitored whois like a hawk to see who would win the domain. (There could have been others interested and doing the same thing I was doing, so it was not a certainty that I would acquire the domain.) Domains usually delete starting around 2:00 pm ET and the actual drop can happen any time within a window of a few hours. So around 1:45 pm, I started querying whois in Terminal every 5 to 10 minutes. Around 2:45 ET I noticed the domain ownership had changed hands. I had checked only minutes earlier and the information hadn’t changed yet. So this new registrar snapped the name up fast! It was a domain registrar out of Canada called The Black Cow. I checked their home page and saw the Pool.com logo. I logged into my Pool.com account and saw the confirmation that the domain had been acquired on my behalf. Woo-hoo! Within about 20 minutes, the domain was actually resolving to my server at 1and1. Holy cow. That was blazing fast. (In order for this to happen, you’ll need to set up your DNS settings in your Pool.com account prior to acquiring a domain. They’ll automatically assign those settings to the domains they purchase on your behalf.)

So I’ve moved away from davidrussell.org. I still own it, of course, along with many other TLDs associated with my name. But davidrussell.net is my new official domain. The website migration is mostly complete. If you spot any dead or problematic links, let me know. Within a few days, I’ll have my email completely migrated as well.

If you are eyeing a deleting domain, I highly recommend Pool.com. I was absolutely impressed with the speed at which they acquired this domain for me.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times—if a top-level domain that matches your name is still available, you are not being wise leaving it unregistered. Snag it now! ...Now!

Pool.com

Gowalla is a new location-based game that was recently released for iPhone.

I’ve spent the weekend playing, and it’s quite fun! It tends toward geocaching at times, but is firmly planted in the virtual world with nothing physical involved except for you visiting and checking in at “Spots”. On the virtual side, once you reach a spot and check in, you are entitled to swap some Icons from your Pack with those that exist in the inventory of the Spot. If the icon is nifty (collectible), you can store it away in your Vault so it won’t be shared later on. All of this is managed in your Passport.

The game is finished enough to be very playable, but there is an active development team behind the game and app who are planning to continually improve things (including working out the few bugs that still exist.) The company crafting Gowalla, Alamofire, has a history of excellence, including the popular PackRat for Facebook. Their Washington Bureau Chief, Brian Bailey, is a particularly excellent Alamofirer.

Gowalla

If you are looking for an amazing Media Center for Mac, Apple TV or Linux, I highly recommend Boxee. Recently, Boxee entered public alpha. I was fortunate enough to be invited in the private alpha testing of Boxee and I have enjoyed this app immensely over the past couple of months. There is a Windows version of the app currently in private alpha, so the app will soon cover the three major OS platforms.

Boxee is built on the excellent Xbox Media Center and is very, very full-featured. You can view media from Hulu, Netflix, CBS, Comedy Central, YouTube flickr, and more. There is even BitTorrent and video podcast support built right in! This is the best media center application I’ve ever seen. Boxee rocks!

Boxee
Follow Me on Boxee

Today, ChurchMetrics left beta and is now open to the public. The application allows churches to record and track the metrics of the community in several areas: attendance, giving and occurrences of salvation and baptism.

ChurchMetrics is a free service from LifeChurch.tv, the creators of YouVersion and Open. We are measuring progress at NCC using ChurchMetrics. So far, so great!

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