PHP5 XSLT on Debian.
August 15, 2008
Another side effect of using the unstable repo to install FF3 was that it messed up my apache. Debian does advice against using the unstable repo. That means it really isn't suited for anyone who wants to use the latest version of any software. There is a long gap between Debian releases and at that rate we will have to wait forever to see FF3 make it's way into the stable repository. That means there is no choice but to go with the unstable option.
I sorted out the apache issue by uninstalling and reinstalling it. Things went smoothly for a couple of days, until I needed to run an old PHP script. The script is nothing special it just does a bit of XSL transformation. It makes use of the PHP XSLT extension. The trouble is that is not part of debian!!
There is a PHP4-XSLT module and there is a PHP5-XSL module but no PHP5-XSLT how anoying. Once upon a long ago, I quite used to enjoy compiling things from source but now I am too old forit. Nevertheless it seems that I have no choice but to manually compile PHP5. I didn't get far - the PHP configuration script came up with this ridiculous statement
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) works... no
configure: error: installation or configuration problem: C compiler cannot create executables.
Turns out this is because libc6-dev is not installed. That is easily rectified but while installing libc6-dev, apt decided to uninstall xorg? how ridiculous is that. Looks like I will be limited to the terminal next time I reboot the machine.
But when I tried to compile PHP again, I ran into the same error once more. Close inspection reveals that APT had choked out with
Failed to fetch http://ftp2.jp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/g/glibc/libc6-dev_2.7-12_i386.deb
How anoying is that? when Fedora 10 is released, I am definitely switching back.
Posted by raditha at 6:59 AM
Dialog vs Lanka Bell
August 9, 2008
I am so fed up with Dialog Broadband's pathetic service that I decided to switch to Lanka Bell instead. Lanka Bell has recently announced WiMax services and already they have signed up more than 250 customers. Dialog on the other hand has less than 2000 inspite of being the first service provider to come up with the service nearly an year ago.
I haven't yet disconnected the Dialog link and that gave me an opportunity to compare the speeds of the two providers. I was disapointed to find that Lanka Bell is a bit slower.
Lanka Bell Dialog 
Two tests were carried out one with speedtest.net and the other with dslreports.com both reports show that Lanka Bell is slightly slower (they are both 2mbps lines)
Posted by raditha at 2:19 AM
Debian worse than Fedora?
August 8, 2008
Installing Firefox 3 (Iceweasel 3, if you want to call it that) on Debian turned out to be a very painfull task. Memories fade but I don't recall things being that difficult on Fedora. The trouble didn't end when the installation was completed, in fact, it was just the beginning. I am beginning to regret dumping Fedora in favor of debian.
After FF was put in I found that I couldn't click on many of the shortcuts to folders on my desktop. Well, I could click on it but the folder wouldn't open, a dialog would pop up asking me with what I wanted to open that 'file'. Crazy, it seems that during the FF3 installation, apt had removed both nautilus and konqueror!!!
I had to go back and reinstall them and a few more besides which had been pulled out by apt. On top of that whenever I try to upgrade an existing package or a new package I keep getting a warning that the package's authenticity has not been verified.
Posted by raditha at 6:43 AM
August 15, 2008
Another side effect of using the unstable repo to install FF3 was that it messed up my apache. Debian does advice against using the unstable repo. That means it really isn't suited for anyone who wants to use the latest version of any software. There is a long gap between Debian releases and at that rate we will have to wait forever to see FF3 make it's way into the stable repository. That means there is no choice but to go with the unstable option.
I sorted out the apache issue by uninstalling and reinstalling it. Things went smoothly for a couple of days, until I needed to run an old PHP script. The script is nothing special it just does a bit of XSL transformation. It makes use of the PHP XSLT extension. The trouble is that is not part of debian!!
There is a PHP4-XSLT module and there is a PHP5-XSL module but no PHP5-XSLT how anoying. Once upon a long ago, I quite used to enjoy compiling things from source but now I am too old forit. Nevertheless it seems that I have no choice but to manually compile PHP5. I didn't get far - the PHP configuration script came up with this ridiculous statement
checking whether the C compiler (gcc ) works... no configure: error: installation or configuration problem: C compiler cannot create executables.
Turns out this is because libc6-dev is not installed. That is easily rectified but while installing libc6-dev, apt decided to uninstall xorg? how ridiculous is that. Looks like I will be limited to the terminal next time I reboot the machine.
But when I tried to compile PHP again, I ran into the same error once more. Close inspection reveals that APT had choked out with
Failed to fetch http://ftp2.jp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/g/glibc/libc6-dev_2.7-12_i386.deb
How anoying is that? when Fedora 10 is released, I am definitely switching back.
August 9, 2008
I am so fed up with Dialog Broadband's pathetic service that I decided to switch to Lanka Bell instead. Lanka Bell has recently announced WiMax services and already they have signed up more than 250 customers. Dialog on the other hand has less than 2000 inspite of being the first service provider to come up with the service nearly an year ago.
I haven't yet disconnected the Dialog link and that gave me an opportunity to compare the speeds of the two providers. I was disapointed to find that Lanka Bell is a bit slower.
| Lanka Bell | Dialog |
| |
Two tests were carried out one with speedtest.net and the other with dslreports.com both reports show that Lanka Bell is slightly slower (they are both 2mbps lines)
Debian worse than Fedora?
August 8, 2008
Installing Firefox 3 (Iceweasel 3, if you want to call it that) on Debian turned out to be a very painfull task. Memories fade but I don't recall things being that difficult on Fedora. The trouble didn't end when the installation was completed, in fact, it was just the beginning. I am beginning to regret dumping Fedora in favor of debian.
After FF was put in I found that I couldn't click on many of the shortcuts to folders on my desktop. Well, I could click on it but the folder wouldn't open, a dialog would pop up asking me with what I wanted to open that 'file'. Crazy, it seems that during the FF3 installation, apt had removed both nautilus and konqueror!!!
I had to go back and reinstall them and a few more besides which had been pulled out by apt. On top of that whenever I try to upgrade an existing package or a new package I keep getting a warning that the package's authenticity has not been verified.
Posted by raditha at 6:43 AM
August 8, 2008
Installing Firefox 3 (Iceweasel 3, if you want to call it that) on Debian turned out to be a very painfull task. Memories fade but I don't recall things being that difficult on Fedora. The trouble didn't end when the installation was completed, in fact, it was just the beginning. I am beginning to regret dumping Fedora in favor of debian.
After FF was put in I found that I couldn't click on many of the shortcuts to folders on my desktop. Well, I could click on it but the folder wouldn't open, a dialog would pop up asking me with what I wanted to open that 'file'. Crazy, it seems that during the FF3 installation, apt had removed both nautilus and konqueror!!!
I had to go back and reinstall them and a few more besides which had been pulled out by apt. On top of that whenever I try to upgrade an existing package or a new package I keep getting a warning that the package's authenticity has not been verified.
