How I got PHP Eclipse running in Ubuntu 8.10 The Intrepid Ibex

First off, PHP Eclipse is awesome. (That's probably why Zend is repackaging it and selling it with all kinds of extra features.) Aside from code coloring, collapsing, and function assistance (which gPHPedit does great at as well), it also does some pretty awesome code completion and custom code tips based on your own code!

Basically if you are working on a project with custom classes, it will intelligently recognize your custom class's methods and variables, and will give tool-tips based on them if you have been adding comment blocks.

So, now that I've made you want PHP Eclipse (and I've already made you want Ubuntu 8.10), let's get to installing!

1. Open Add/Remove under the "Applications" Menu
2. Change the "Show" drop down to "All Available Applications"
3. Type "Sun" in the search box
4. Check Sun Java 6 Runtime
5. Click "Apply Changes"
6. When it finishes downloading and installing, click "Close"
7. Head over to the Eclipse website and download the latest version of Eclipse.
8. Extract it to a folder somewhere, then double click the eclipse script. (it should immediately run Eclipse.
9. Click Help>Software Updates
10. Click Add Site, and add the PHPEclipse 3.3-3.4 or 3.2 Repository
11. Check the box next to the new PHP Eclipse Repo and install any available software from it. (Accepting the license agreement, of course)
12. Close and restart Eclipse.
13. Open the PHP Eclipse IDE by going to Window>Open Perspective>Other and then selecting "PHP"
14. That's it!

Troubleshooting:
If you get some obscure message like "An error has occurred. See error log for more details.", that's probably because you are using gcj (an open source Java runtime) or an old version of Eclipse.

My solution to this was to totally uninstall anything gcj related via synaptic, and make sure I was launching the version of Eclipse I downloaded from their site.

If all else fails, you can always purchase and download Zend Studio for Eclipse. It works great and has a few polished finishing touches that makes it worth it for the avid PHP devloper. (I've downloaded it since I purchased it a while back, but I'm going to see how far I get on straght PHP Eclipse)

Rock on, Razzle Dazzle, and enjoy PHP Eclipse!

Jumping back to Ubuntu

Well, I'm making the jump again, back to the Ubuntu flavour of Gnu Linux. First thing I've noticed that I really like, is the British English, apparently flavor is a misspelling of flavour!

Actually, the first thing I noticed that I loved was how easy it was to install. As an IT Administrator that has installed numerous Windows Server 2003 instances (physical and virtual), along with way too many Windows XP and OS X Leopard installs, I'd say my experience with Ubuntu is somewhere in-between. (Unless you count Wubi, but that requires a working Windows install.)

Leopard has by far the simplest install, but then again it also has the least amount of hardware to deal with. (Kind of like getting things right 100% of the time at math, but only attempting addition and subtraction.) Don't get me wrong, OS X is a beautiful, simple, and reliable OS. I'm just the type of guy that would rather make his own coffee than buy it from starbucks. (eww, flash-roasted bulk-batches of coffee... it's like the McDonalds of coffee, seriously... local roasts in a French Press beats any espress drink from a chain any day)

Anyway, I digress.

I like OS X, I like Windows (there, I said it!), in fact I am still dual-booting because Gnu Linux doesn't meet all my needs!

I will point out a few things that blew me away, first the Con's (because I want to leave you with the Pro's)

Cons:

• Audio processing is misconfigured at fresh install, you have to tweak some settings to get it working decently.
• Skype was a little difficult to get configured as well, since it isn't set to use PulseAudio as a default playback device.
• The partitioning portion of the install was a bit ambiguous. According to the shiny graphic, after I chose "Largest contiguous free space" the graphic changed to say it was going to take up 100% of the partition, rather than showing the 2 Windows partitions already on the drive. (It installed properly, leaving my system and data volumes safe)
• DVD playback is still illegal in the United States (fair use rights are still a little blurry to congress)

Now for the stuff I actually liked about Ubuntu 8.10

Pros:

• The online Ubuntu community (already got help tweaking some stuff for my specific needs)
• When I clicked on an audio file in Firefox, it told me I needed a new codec (boo) then it asked if I wanted to install it, and when I said "Yes" it actually downloaded it, installed it, and began playing the media! When was the last time Windows Media Player actually downloaded the proper codec rather than just informing you that you didn't have it?!
• This is FAST! I have 3d effects cranked up, shiny semi-transparent reflections, and tons of stuff open at the same time, and I still use only about 25% CPU!
• This is FAST! Once again, I can throw in multiple views in blender and quickly change the lighting to see real-time results (even with textures enabled in all views!)
• This is FAST! Seriously, I click on Firefox, and my wife comments on how quickly it just pops up and displays my homepage.
• Networking and audio worked on first boot, video worked great with hardware accelleration after I enabled the restricted drivers (which it prompted me for, I didn't have to go searching)
• Installing additional software is rediculously easy, especially since I've trained myself to stick with predominantly open source software.
• Not only did the install leave my existing Windows data in tact, it is accessibile easily in Ubuntu so I can copy over files and continue working on them.
• The bootloader works great and lets me quickly jump into Windows whenever the need arises.
• Chicks dig linux (by that, I mean my wife puts up with me talking about linux)

Since I appear to really like bulleted lists, here's another one, that describes the software I've installed (in the order of installation... as well as I remember it) now that I've been using Gnu Linux again for about an hour:

• Inkscape (seriously, how can anyone use a computer without this?)
• Audacity (did I mention I record a weekly Christian technology podcast?)
• IRSSI (the best IRC client EVER)
  
• Blender
  
• gPHPedit (much cooler than I expected)
• RapidSVN
• Skype (A little difficult to set up, but works beautifully so far)
• CompizConfig Settings Manager (for all the cool 3d effects)
  
• PHP Eclipse (so easy, just installed Eclipse then added the proper Eclipse update site and installed PHPEclipse)
• Apache2
• PHP5
• MySQL5
• Amarok (one of the best media libraries and players I've ever used)

And that's it for now, then again I haven't used it much yet, but what I have done, I've thoroughly enjoyed. I'm of the mindset you find a tool for the job, you don't get the tool because everyone else has it. By that, I mean I have no problem running my business off of Inkscape, the GIMP, and Scribus (ooh, I should install Scribus, I forgot about that). The GIMP doesn't come close to replacing Photoshop in many areas, but then again, I want some more tea. (I didn't know how to finish that sentence, seriously, the GIMP isn't a Photoshop replacement, then again I don't need a Photoshop replacement since I have Inkscape.)

After many years of using the Adobe Creative Suite, Windows XP, OS X, and a little bit of Windows Vista, I can honestly say that I'm glad I don't have to choose. I like 'em all and will continue to use them all. They are all great pieces of code, regardless of what the Linux/Mac/Windows fanboys try to tell you. Seriously, Christ is worth following, but code isn't, so snap out of it! :)

Much love and a funny hat,

--
Chris "OneSeventeen" Adams
did I mention my awesome technology podcast?

Secret Santa: Likes & Dislikes

So our office has started their annual Secret-Santa gift exchange. The concept is simple: a small gift every day or so and a $15 gift at the end. I got a $24 gift on sale for $10, so I'm just putting free pamphlets and business cards in my person's stocking and blowing them away with the awesome gift in the end so they forgive me for cheesy gifts throughout the month. I may have to print out a label that says $24 for this to work though. No wait, MSRP is right there above the barcode!

Now, to make sure we don't all get horrible gifts (the spirit of the season after all is only getting what you want) an email was sent out requesting that everyone reply back with likes and dislikes, so the mediator can pass that information along to the appropriate people.

Because we want to only give small gifts, I wanted to make sure my secret santa didn't feel obligated to get me lots of high-dollar gifts, as people normally should feel compelled to do. Instead, I provided a simple list of likes and dislikes that I hope will result in avoiding "junky gifts for the office". Seriously, who needs a lightup snowman that holds paper-clips, I mean the winter is the worst time to require people to use their hands to remove small pieces of metal in order to read a document. (Plus you never know when a paperclip is going to come to life and start giving you advice on your current office document.)

So here's the list:

Likes:

• Un-ruled notebooks
• Pens
• Pencils
• Sticky-note pads
• Coffee/coffee related paraphernalia
• Stuff to make coffee breath go away
• Loving emails to the helpdesk requesting IT help
• Confirmation emails of canceled MySpace pages.

Dislikes:

• Sugar
• iTunes music (Amazon MP3’s rock, and are cheaper too)
• Stuff that takes up room on my desk (other than sticky-note pads and coffee cups)
• Computer-related stuff
• Unloving emails to the helpdesk
• MySpace
• The fact that the mediator now knows everything about everybody, and can use this to plot against us and gain unmerited favor from supervisors and eventually take over the company and fire us all, only to replace us with her friends that have similar Likes and Dislikes as herself so our office can finally have an annual superhero convention that previous office staff are not invited to with too high of an entry fee now that we no longer have jobs.

It should probably be mentioned that we do not have evidence (other than the superhero paraphernalia in her office) to lead to the final item on my Dislikes list. Then again, we have no evidence against this either.