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Messages - Xepher

#2236
Technical Support / Lost in a Forum
September 04, 2005, 12:02:41 AM
So far it seems more reliable than MySQL, as that system involves a client/server architecture that has dozens of points of failure. SQLite, via the code library, reads/writes directly to a single file (per database) meaning much less chance of failure. On a lot of MySQL backed sites, (penny arcade springs to mind) you'll often see MySQL errors pop up on their site when the database goes down, but not the webserver itself. No such thing for SQLite, as if the scripting engine is up, then so is the database. And since it's directly writing to a file, it's a lot quicker, and a lot easier to manage. You can just directly copy the file and have a full database backup, and from the point of an admin, you no longer have to manage an entirely seperate permission and quota set for the database server.

The drawback to SQLite is that since it does direct file access, you have no sort of transaction queueing or user permission levels. In place of transactions, it compensates with simple file locking, basically making processes queue for file write access, which works just fine in 99% of situations. I wouldn't try to use it for say, bank accounting when you have a hundred thousand transactions a second though. As for user permissions... it's not that it's insecure, it's simply a matter of permissions to the file itself. That is, anyone who can write to the file can write to the database. This really only becomes a problem if/when you need to set varying permissions to certain columns and tables. Of course, the best way to handle this is to have those permissions set and checked in the program's code, rather than the database engine. I personally think that's a better solution anyway, but it does mean that in such situations where a program relied on that functionality, it can't be just a drop-in replacement for MySQL.
#2237
Technical Support / Lost in a Forum
September 03, 2005, 07:26:59 PM
*nods* The SQL bit is the same syntax, the only difference is in the function calls in PHP, where you'll use the something like sqlite_query() rather than mysql_query() The only other change (I think) is in what characters have to be escaped in text strings. Still though, should be a trivial difference if you're actually coding (and not fixing someone elses code.)
#2238
Technical Support / Lost in a Forum
September 02, 2005, 03:45:50 PM
When you get around to it, yeah. I'm talking about a year or so here though, as most of the Xepher.net backend itself runs on MySQL, so I have a lot of code to rewrite before I can ditch it completely. For now, I'm just trying to encourage everyone to move to SQLite when possible.
#2239
General Chat / House of the Rising Sun
September 02, 2005, 04:41:28 AM
Quote from: willsan...have you heard the one about the dyslexic devil worshipper who sold his soul to Santa?
No, but I heard the one about the dyslexic, atheistic, insomniac who stayed up all night wondering if there was a Dog.
#2240
General Chat / House of the Rising Sun
September 02, 2005, 04:20:12 AM
So, I was listening to music... and "House of the Rising Sun" came on my random playlist. I didn't realize the irony (in light of current events) until it was almost over. Then I had the urge to write better lyrics.

QuoteTo the tune of 'House of the Rising Sun'


There was a house in new orleans
Lost in the rising flood
And it's become a ruin of soggy wood
And now I fear a dud

My father was an oilor
He pumped the black gold seas
My sweetheart was a looter, lord
Down in new orleans

Now the only thing a looter sees
Is profit from other's loss
And the only time he's satisfied
Is when he's hauling dross

He fills his truck up to the brim
And he'll pass the guns around
And the only pleasure he gets out of life
Is shooting rescue choppers down

Oh tell our fellow cities
Not to do what we have done
Don't build below the ocean
Where we all will sink as one

Well it's one foot in the dome
And the other's in the rain
I'm goin' back to new orleans
But never shall remain

I
#2241
Hosting Q&A / ... Reopening?
September 01, 2005, 10:13:45 PM
I'm in the process of closing down the old forums this week. After that, I have to rewrite a few bits of the application rules to accomodate the new forum software... most notably there are no polls, so that part from the old rules is invalid.

I'd say a few weeks to a month at the outside. Things here are greatly influenced by my real-world life, work, and motivation. It's entirely possible I could go all hard-core productive this weekend and get it done. Or I could sleep 'till noon and spend the rest of the day riding my bike and enjoying this awesome weather. I know that's annoying from your point of view, as you're really just waiting on my whims, but... Hey, at least I'm being honest about it.

In the mean time, hang out, say hi, get to know some people. It can't hurt, and it usually helps.
#2242
Announcements / Google Talk
September 01, 2005, 04:03:03 AM
Open Source to the rescue!

http://www.adiumx.com/

OSX IM client that does Jabber (Google Talk) as well as AIM and others.

I will note that, technically, Gaim works for OSX as well, but it's a lot trickier to set up than adium.
#2243
Technical Support / Lost in a Forum
September 01, 2005, 03:58:09 AM
For the record, you should use SQLite, not MySQL whenever possible, such as with punBB. From your POV it'll simply be faster, from my view, it's way less of a headache to manage, and is more secure. I actually plan to do away with the MySQL server within the next year or so, as many of the hacks that come in through various forums are exploits in MySQL. Setting it up to use SQLite now will mean much less headache trying to convert later.
#2244
Hosting Q&A / Subdomains using server side .htaccess files
September 01, 2005, 03:55:06 AM
I don't have a config set up for the nameserver to point the site here, but the mailserver somewhere else. If you use the XN nameservers, then everything is going to point here, and all email to that domain will dump into your account here. If you use someone else... well then you need to tell all of those various subdomains to point here as well. So long as the domain name resolves to this server (and is *.databits.cc) it'll go to your account, from which the .htaccess things can be used to send it to a specific site.

Oh, and if you want to use XN for nameservers, it's ns1.xepher.net and ns2.xepher.net. Please don't use JUST "xepher.net"
#2245
Announcements / Google Talk
August 31, 2005, 09:52:22 PM
Quote from: Aetreis there a linux version? (dumb question #1)
What? You think I'd go and recommend something that work in linux? :-)
#2246
It is doable... what you're looking for is called "ModRewrite, the swiss army knife of URL manipulation." It's a built in part of apache, and so it's already running on the server. You just have to put the proper directives in the .htaccess configs. That's the hard part, as, from the offical documentation...
QuoteThe great thing about mod_rewrite is it gives you all the configurability and flexibility of Sendmail. The downside to mod_rewrite is that it gives you all the configurability and flexibility of Sendmail.

    -- Brian Behlendorf
    Apache Group
Also, like the docs say "it's voodoo... cool voodoo, but still voodoo"

As such, I'm simply going to point you at some useful docs, and then wish you the best of luck.

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/mod/mod_rewrite.html

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.0/misc/rewriteguide.html
#2247
General Chat / Any other WoW players here?
August 30, 2005, 11:29:43 PM
Yeah, they are slow to fix some things... on the other hand, most of the bugs I've complained about HAVE been fixed, usually by the next patch. The responses were always the same "We are work to resolve this..." response, so I just figured it was a brush off, but then things actually get fixed. As for people "spamming" well... I can't say much for it. Just imagine how hard it would be to try and manage a bunch of PAYING customers who complain about each other. They can't just kick someone for being a bit annoying here and there, and on the other hand, they don't have nearly enough resources to monitor people's behavior all the time. And while it may be "obvious" that people are being 'tards to you, it's not always so apparent when you jump into the middle of something. Anyone who's ever been a forum mod knows what I'm talking about... Now imagine only getting the last 10 posts, rather than the whole thread. Who's to blame? You just have people pointing fingers at each other, and no real evidence to go on.

P.S. Data: You spelled your title wrong. It should be "cigoL esreveR"

P.P.S. I'm suddenly saddened that I notice backwards mispellings by accident, yet have trouble properly spelling a vast majority of words forwards.
#2248
General Chat / Yay, back to school for me.
August 29, 2005, 11:52:48 PM
Ha ha! Suckers!
#2249
General Chat / You Know You're A Nerd When...
August 28, 2005, 11:07:44 PM
My bad again. It seems that Battlestar Galactica is the best television show in existence after all. :-)

In all seriousness though, I'm entirely amazed that there's this much good sci-fi around right now. I used to feel lucky to get one show a week that didn't suck, now I've got three, and in a few months Doctor Who starts up again, so that'll be four shows a week of excellent science fiction. Woot!
#2250
General Chat / Yet Another Favorite Band Thread...
August 28, 2005, 09:55:45 PM
Oh, trust me, that scene is quoted quite frequently in this house.