My Confluence installation requires a JAVA_HOME envronment variable, but ever since I installed Confluence, I've been manually setting JAVA_HOME after every system restart**.  I just ran across this blog entry which suggests setting JAVA_HOME in Ubuntu's /etc/environment settings file. 

I haven't rebooted yet, but this looks like a good solution to my problem.


** ok, there really have only been a handful of system restarts in several months, and always due to my own negligence.  Kubuntu has been solid as a rock. 

I'm not quite ready to let go of Windows...there are still a lot of unanswered questions, but I'm learning...

I still feel a little blind working with Linux...like I'm constantly bumping into things, then feeling them to figure out what they are.  When I want to find them again, I sort of have to stumble around again and the process repeats.  It's getting better, but it's just a steep learning curve for a Windows-only boy like me...

My Own Confluence
I've managed now to get a Confluence personal installation running nicely (with hands-on help from Atlassian) inside Ubuntu 6.10. 

Confluence seems to be the perfect solution to a problem I've had in managing certain kinds of customer and company information...I can create a 'home' page for each customer, new pages for each of their computers/systems, pages for repair notes and site visits, etc.  So far, it's just about perfect...for one thing, all the information is available anywhere I can get an Internet browser fired up, and having complete searchability is a huge bonus.

One other nice benefit is I can configure each customers' entry in Business Contact Manager so their BCM 'home page' points to their 'Home Page' in the Confluence installation.  This links the two systems pretty cleanly, as I can quickly pull up their extended information in Confluence by clicking the link inside Outlook. 

Of course, Confluence is excellent for managing all kinds of information, and I'm using it daily to store all kinds of phone, meeting, and other data.  If I run into problems with this combination, I'll post it here; but for now, Confluence is perfectly filling a huge information management void for me. 

Version Control via SVN, too!
I've also now got SVN installed, configured, and working very well on that Ubuntu box.  Previously, I had 'local' SVN repositories on 3 different machines at 2 locations.  Having a 'real' SVN server means I can consolidate all those projects (sheesh, there are more than I thought!) in one place.  While I'm the only developer that uses them, it's nice to just have one system to worry about backing up. 

It's worth pointing out that while I found a lot of articles explaining how to install/configure SVN server on Linux/Ubuntu, this one was perfect in it's detail (for me, at least).  After that, this article was just as good at helping me move the subversion repositories from the Windows local repositories to the Linux server. 

OK, so I get a fair number of requests from clients to rescue, copy, and/or move files that are located on an old, damaged, decrepit, and/or broken Windows machine.  Usually the hard drive is fine, sometimes the machine might even be able to boot up.  Most of the time, we're talking about hundreds (thousands) of files; documents, QuickBooks records, and most importantly, family pictures. 

My usual (and pretty successful) approach has been dependent on whether the machine will boot into Windows.  If it won't boot, then I'll slave the machine's hard drive into one of my own machines and copy away.  If it will boot, the process depends on what version of Windows they have (or had, as the case may be).  Newer versions of Windows (98SE, 2000 Pro, ME, and all flavors of XP) support USB, so I can just plug in my handy external drive and copy away. 

If the old machine has Windows NT, 98 (First Edition), BackOffice Server, or something older, I'm back to slaving their hard drive into my PC for some copying. 

Here's the problem.  I don't like having someone else's old hard drive (full of who-knows-what) in my computer.  Also, I don't like messing around inside a computer that's close to a decade old...I find that the dust has settled just right, and to mess with any components could cause an oily-dust-shift (I just totally made up that term) that can kill a processor fan or short out a mobo circuit. 

Enter my new plan: a Knoppix Live CD.  As long as the motherboard can boot from the CD drive, I'm in business.  Boot to Linux, and I have read access to the entire hard drive (or drives).  Attach an external USB drive, Knoppix recognizes it, and I'm off to the races.  Copy, copy, copy, unplug the drive, take out the CD, and reboot the machine.  It's like I was never there. 

You gotta love Linux, if only for that kind of simplicity. 

Several years ago, I bought a Red Hat Linux CD at a local retail store.  I never figured it out...I couldn't get it to install, and didn't really 'get' the whole Linux thing anyway.  Recently, I gave Linux another look, after reading an article about how a bootable Live Linux CD might be useful in rescuing a Windows system that can't boot. 

Since then (just a couple weeks), I've tried both Knoppix and Ubuntu flavors of Linux.  I've booted both from Live CD versions, which is sweet for Windows users that just want to check it out without losing their Windows systems.  Essentially, Linux loads from your CD drive, and once it's loaded it acts like it would if it were the only operating system on the computer. 

Of the two, I like Ubuntu a little better, I think...for two reasons.  It comes in 3 different flavors (desktop, server, and alternative install), and if you boot from a Live CD and decide you love it, you just click a shortcut to completely switch over and ditch Windows. 

Anyway, I've decided I definitely 'like' Linux now...for several reasons. 

1. It works.  You just run the installer, and Linux figures out how to use the hardware you've got.  Printers are easy too...you add them much like you do in a Windows system (wizard style).  
2. It's intuitive.  Well, it's as intuitive for the casual user as is Windows.  You have nice, pretty UI's with meaningful buttons and labels...you can find what you want at least as well as on a Windows machine.  You can surf the Internet, check email, and type documents largely like you do in Windows. 
3. It's free...as in no money.  Even better, it lets you turn that old junk PC into a really nice server or extra computer for the kids. 
4. Related to #3.  It doesn't demand great hardware to install and run.  I have an Ubuntu file server runnning (amazingly well) with 128MB of RAM, a 6GB hard drive, and a 733Mhz processor.  
5. With Ubuntu at least, adding and removing programs is a breeze.  Much like the add/remove programs applet in Windows, you can easily see a list of programs installed on your computer.  The big difference is that Ubuntu lets you see a list of all the (free) software available for your computer.  If you want it, just check the box, and it installs. 
6. Updates don't force a reboot.  I'm only a beginner here, but Ubuntu has downloaded and installed hundreds of updates, never once complaining that it has to restart to apply the changes. 
7. Community support - It does feel strange for a Windows guy to be typing on the Linux command line (shell) all the time (sudo this, grep that, nano this, etc.).  The best part of that, though, is when you're stuck, you can Google the error you're seeing, and a half dozen forums and articles show up to guide you through.  To be fair, I'm comfortable with the Windows (DOS) command line because I've been using it for 12 or so years...I'm confident the Linux shell is just 'hard' for me because it's 'new' to me. 

I can see tremendous potential for many of my clients here.  Linux plays nice with Windows computers on Windows networks, can act as a file/print server, and a dozen other useful things.  The potential is that the price point is low, the reliability is high, and the price point is low (oops, did I already mention that?) 

As I get further into this, I want to post more about my experiences with Linux.  So far, though, what I've seen is very exciting and promises to help with a number of problems I've seen in the past.