The Departed

It seems that at my current stage in the journey of life, I can't help but notice the passing of others. As is the norm at birth you really don't have much to think about, life is good and it will always have been the good old days when you started. Then kindergarten, followed by primary school, high school, undergrad...I feel like I may be dating myself here, however, you get what I mean, I assume.

Now, yes now, you recognize the names of the departed, some you knew or at least felt like you did especially if what they had to offer had an emotional effect on you, whether it made you laugh, cry, think about it or it just affected you in some way or another. In the end it is true, the fact is we are not here to stay, this is a transient life. All in all the message is clear, every moment, second, minute hour that we are alive is precious and this we should keep in the forefront of our minds while we live. Every interaction, every word spoken, the sports or games we play, the social activities we engage in, our intellectual and professional endeavors should all be given our all, simply because when the time comes to join the departed we need to be able to say like Frank, "I did it my way" and hopefully it would have been the way designed by your maker.


I know it has been a while, and who knows when it will be again? Until next time, walk good.


Ai

The grep!

So after being away for a while, I am now back and with something to explain. Since time is of the essence here goes.

The grep command in UNIX and Linux.

g - stands for global
re - stands for regular expression or regex as it is affectionately called
p - print the regular expression if you find it.

In a nutshell "grep" meaning to do a global search on files or directories for an expression then print the files or directories that contain the expression if found.

grep has also evolved to egrep which has more advanced features.

Keeping it simple here is grep explained.

Until next time,
Walk good.

Being Thankful

On thanksgiving day (in the United States) one usually expresses what they are thankful for. The tradition and reasons for celebrating this holiday is well laid out in Wikipedia, and I am sure many other authoritative sources, for those not too familiar with the holiday. As for me I am thankful for many things; this life I would not want to trade for another.

In addition to family, friends, associates and other, I am thankful for Linux (the Kernel and everything above it, the GNU tools, apps etc.). I am thankful for Linux and what it represents. I am thankful for the freedom that Linux affords, the pleasure of working with it, the challenges that Linux and the associated use presents. In so many ways, Linux and I seem to be similar? On Thanksgiving Day 2010, I am thankful for family, friends, associates and Linux.

I am also thankful for the contributions made by everyone who has contributed to, and still continue to give to FOSS.

Until next time, walk good.


The Lion Roars On!
Ai

A New Direction

Sometimes it becomes necessary to focus on just one thing and make it your priority. This does not mean that you will no longer be flexible, however, in order to do, and become great one must focus on that which he/she wants to be good or great at, which is usually not more than one or a few things.

That said the new direction of this post will be focused on admin tips. What I mean by this, is tips or just things that I have found useful in my journey as a Systems Administrator. Most of the material will not be new, perhaps none of it will be new, however, it should be useful which is indeed the plan. On my part it will seek to address gaps, yes gaps in my knowledge as well as present concepts that at first appeared to be difficult to grasp but in the end turned out to be oh so simple :)

Perhaps the initial focus will be on Linux Systems Administration, however, many topics will be applicable to other operating systems and applications in general. Fear not, this journey will be enjoyable.

That said, here is your admin tip for the day:

A recommendation, the podcast called linuxreality this will be a good place to start if you are new to Linux and it should keep you occupied for a while. Chess the creator of the podcast was able to do 100 excellent episodes. Chess did such a good job with this podcast that I highly recommend it.

Until next time, walk good.

When you just can't say what you need to

Today, after many years here on earth I realized in a somewhat vivid way that we are not always able to simply say what we need to. I am not talking about the inability to speak because of some physical impediment nor because of language differences. What I am talking about is making an effort, doing everything we know we should be doing but still failing to say what we need to say. Fundamentally this boils down to communication and not just simply speaking. So perhaps the next time a situation appears to be not what you think it should be and your stress level begins to rise, stop and think for a moment and try to figure out if it is because you are not able to communicate. This could save you a lot of heartache.


Until next time, walk good!

Making it worth my while

I suppose at some point it has to be worth the time, effort and energy you spend. As you get older you realize how valuable time is and how little of it you have left and that you are simply counting down as soon as you are born. This is true except for that weird movie about the guy who grew younger and of course for the "Highlanders" like Duncan MacLeod of the clan MacLeod. I know some of you will be able to relate, though so many of the folks I come in contact with lately cannot. Perhaps I am moving with a different generation now? "So much has changed since we started it seems" is what I like to say. In time or should I say with time it will all become more clear as to the new direction.

Until next time, walk good.

What do you do when you miss the buss?

Today I wanted to be early, I needed to be on time. It was cold when I awakened, the entire region was in the twenties (Fahrenheit), it could not have been too much warmer when I exited the front door. I was prepared though, thermal underwear, ski hat and the works.

The still, cold and relatively dense air transmitted sound really well this morning, I could hear my bus at the stop before mine, for sure it was my bus, all the signature sounds were in check. I was not yet at my stop, I had been running but not for long, so I would need to pick up the pace, I could make it I thought, but the bus was just too fast, perhaps if I were a cheetah or Usain Bolt? I just was not quick enough, I watched it go by.

So what do you do when you miss the bus? I thought I would return home to now have the breakfast I was too late to consume and just wait for the next bus.

Today I wanted to be early, I needed to be on time. So when you miss the bus, just keep on moving.


Today is going to be a good day.
The Lion Roars On!

Walk good, until next time.
Ai