Release 0.4

For version 0.4, I've packaged dxr-data, which contains mozilla-central and data which dxr uses.
Soon, before 0.5, I'll update dxr too, cause there are some changes in it. Following link will take you to .src.rpm:

http://matrix.senecac.on.ca/~mdvyas/MDRK/DXR/dxr-data/dxr-data-0.5-1.fc8.src.rpm

Making a custom Fedora CD

In this lab I've used a tool called 'pungi' to create Fedora custom spin.

The first step is to install pungi, so on the command line issue the command:
#yum install pungi -y

I used this kickstart file for lab:

repo --name=release --mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=fedora-9&arch=$basearch
repo --name=updates --mirrorlist=http://mirrors.fedoraproject.org/mirrorlist?repo=updates-released-f9&arch=$basearch

%packages --nobase
bash
kernel
passwd
policycoreutils
chkconfig
authconfig
rootfiles
anaconda-runtime

%end


Once you have the kickstart file, from command line you can issue the command:
#pungi -c NameofKickstart.cfg --nosource --force --ver=F9

This command will create a ISO image form that file. You can burn the image and try it out or you can even use the 'qeum' to test it first.

How to create a slideshow

In this lab I've used the tool called "dvd-slideshow" to create slides.

So the first step is to install it, on a terminal issue the command:
#yum install dvd-slideshow -y

You should have your directory ready with all the pictures. Say your directory is Pics

#dir2slideshow -n "Pics" -t 2 Pics/

There are many more options you can use and modify it, check the man pages for it.
If the above command returned an error like "Creating ac3 audio ERROR during ffmpeg execution!"
then you need to edit the file called /usr/bin/dvd-slideshow, edit line 661 to "ac3=0"

Try the previous command again and it should work. Now it has created a Pics.vob file which can be viewed using mplayer.

Creating your own Fedora Live CD

There are tools in Fedora repository for building live CD's. 'livecd-tools' is nice tool for generating live CD's on Fedora based systems including derived distributions such as RHEL, CentOS and others.
So first install this utility by issuing the command on terminal as root:
#yum install livecd-tools

After you install that utility, you'll see some kickstart files in /usr/share/livecd-tools dir. For my experiment I tried using one of the kickstart files from here. I choose the minimal kickstart file first. To create a ISO image of this file, issue the command 'livecd-creator --config=/usr/share/livecd-tools/livecd-fedora-minimal.ks'. Now you should have the ISO image for your kickstart file. You can test your live CD using QEUM. For that first install qeum (yum install kvm qeum -y).
Than issue the command #qeum-kvm -m 512 -cdrom YourFileName.iso.
I was not able to successfully create my live CD, I got some missing module error. Next I am gonna use some other kickstart file and try to create live CD based on it.

0.3 Release

0.3 release for our projects is coming very soon. After 0.2 I submitted one of my package for review at redhat bugzilla, but because they were creating a packaging guidelines for packages related to JavaScript, my package couldn't be approved. I've to wait till that guideline is finished. I am also planning to package DXR for 0.3, lets see how far it goes...

Tutorial for creating a mosiac

I've used a program called Metapixel to create a mosaic in this tutorial

First step is to install Metapixel, so on a terminal window, issue this command:-
#yum install metapixel -y

Secondly, create a Directory and dump all your pictures there (lets say "MyPics"). More pictures, better quality. Then create an empty directory (lets say "metapixel_prepared").

Get back to the terminal window and issue this command:
#metapixel-prepare -r --width=50 --height=50 MyPics/ metapixel_prepared/
'metapixel-prepare' command needs to be run before metapixel can be used to prepare source images so that they can be used to create photomosiac. The "-r" tells metapixel to browse through the given repository recursively.

Next thing to be done is to generate the mosaic picture. Place the picture you want to transform into a mosaic (lets say "mypic") and the "metapixel_prepared" directory in the same place, change into that dir and issue this command:
#metapixel --library=metapixel_prepared -s 10 -a 10 --metapixel mypic.jpg mymosaic.jpg

Magnet VS Torrent links

Magnet Links:
Advantages:
1. They do not need a central authority to issue.
2. They has open nature and platform independence, the same magnet link can be used as long as the system has the appropriate application.
3. They are more user based, easy to use. All the system need is an application that support magnet links.
4. Since it is user based, it is so easy to share resources.
5. Most Magnet links application has a search function.

Disadvantages:
1. Slower speed.
2. Less control on speed and on the contend that is being downloaded

Torrent:
Advantages:
1. Faster connection.
2. Easier to search through the web.

Disadvantages:
1. Trackers are needed when downloading a contend. If the tracker is down and there are no existing connection, the download may never be finished.
2. Most torrent client do not have search function. Torrents ususally would be find from the internet.
3. If a torrent was stored on web for long time, the tracker may be expeired already. It is almost impossible to find existing seed or leechers.