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Servers are go!
by cc0028 @ 2005-11-25 - 23:35:01

Sometimes you just have to be grateful for your friends.

I was intending to go into work this weekend to set up the two servers I need for my project. Actually, I was intending to go in and do as much as I could to set them up; but I knew I wouldn't get it all done. There's just too much I don't know - like the IP address of the proxy server and the password for it. I am a programmer after all and not a sysadmin.

Craig, on the other hand is a sysadmin. I spoke to him this lunch time to try to pick his brains about a few things, to try to ensure I at least made some progress when I came in. We talked for a while, and he told me how to get IP addresses allocated, and wrote down some stuff about gateway addresses and such, before I had to leave for a meeting.

When I popped back in to see him at four o'clock this afternoon to confirm a couple of things, he said, "Oh! I've just started them off. There didn't seem any point in your coming in this weekend when I could get it done in an hour or two."

By the time we left at four-thirty, the XP box was set up and the Linux box was busily updating itself with all the patches published since I bought the discs, some months ago. When we get back in on Monday there should be very little left to do.

What a pal. I think that's earned him a bottle of wine this Christmas.

The fact we both speak Welsh probably didn't hurt matters, either.

:)

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menhirmenhir [Member]
27/11/05 @ 18:25

Is this national preference quite PC?

Craig Sounds really helpful (Scottish name you'll notice). ;)

Good to hear from you.

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cc0028cc0028 [Member]
http://www.peredur.uklinux.net
28/11/05 @ 19:10

Probably not very PC, no. But it's a language preference rather than a national one, I hasten to add. I'm not a lover of the idea of nation states. Such things are a bit 19th century IMHO.

It also works for getting discounts in shops and on holiday rentals and such. I never trawl for it: but I don't turn it down, either.

Interestingly, Craig, although it is most certainly a Scottish name, means "Rock" in Welsh. Does it have a similar meaning in Gaelic; or is it a throwback to when most of the people south of Edinburgh/Glasgow spoke Welsh? Did you know that?

Some examples of other throwbacks (stop reading here if you're already bored!):

Edinburgh = Caer Eiddin (tr. Eiddin's fortress)
Glasgow = Glas Gau (tr. Green field)
Caledonia = Celyddon (... where Merlin hid from the battle)

The earliest Welsh poetry we know of was written, in the 6th century, in Edinburgh by poets called Aneurin and Taliesin. Especially famous is "Y Gododdin" by Aneurin, which describes how the men of what is now S. Scotland (Gododdin) went to fight the Saxons at Catterick (Catraeth) in N. Yorks:

"Y gwyr a aeth Gatraeth bu ffraeth eu llu
Glasfedd eu hancwyn a gwenwyn fu.
Trichant trwy beiriant yn catau
..."

(Most Welsh speakers - of my age at any rate - can recite chunks of it)

The Celts lost. Of course.

Peter

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menhirmenhir [Member]
01/12/05 @ 20:45

I even managed to work out some of that chunk though I am not sure if the pronunciation (in my head) was quite kosher.

Craig here is a crag or rock so ---yes.

I am no ancient language scholar but there is a lot of questioning about what types of languages were spoken and by whom. Where they travelled from, or even how languages travelled and changed or became absorbed.

BTW (another language development you notice)I was thinking about the assistance you received and the thoughts it evoked in you vis-a-vis programmers and sysadmin. Have you thought about noting that for possible use in your dissertation or is that tripping over the line into qualitative stuff. I guess you will have got the detail from Craig, on what he did do so that you can address replication if that's required. Please do excuse me if I am treading on toes - I don't mean to.

TTFN ;)

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cc0028cc0028 [Member]
http://www.peredur.uklinux.net
01/12/05 @ 22:14

There is nothing you could do to tread on my toes, Zelda :)

Oh! And I forgot the most obvious Welsh-derived placename - Strathclyde = Ystrad Clud (The valley of the river Clud (pr. Cleed. A 'u' in Welsh says 'ee', roughly)).

The history of the Celtic languages is fascinating. It's strange to think that Scots Gaelic is actually quite recent and results from settlement of the West of Scotland from Ireland. And of course we know next to nothing about the language of the Picts to the North of the lowland Welsh-speakers.

As for saying something about programming vs systems administration ... I'm not sure. It's a bit off topic really, although it is interesting. Someone could, I'm certain get a PhD by looking at personality types of programmers vs Sysadmins.

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menhirmenhir [Member]
01/12/05 @ 22:48

I was thinking more in the lowly terms of interdisciplinary communication, working, support, guidance etc. rather than a PhD on personality types. You've already gone beyond me there!

BTW isn't 'w'and 'y' an 'uh' sound in Welsh? I was just thinking about your bard Dylan and Betwsy etc

We've just got back tonight - so a wee bit tired and more unpacking to deal with. Brain not quite in gear.

BFN

Zelda

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cc0028cc0028 [Member]
http://www.peredur.uklinux.net
01/12/05 @ 23:16

>>
... isn't 'w'and 'y' an 'uh' sound in Welsh?
<<

Both 'w' and 'y' are vowels in Welsh. 'W' says 'oo'. 'Y', on the other hand is the only letter in Welsh with two sounds. It says 'uh' in syllables other than the final one in polysyllabic words and in unstressed monosyllabic words. The rest of the time it says 'ee'. There are some dialect differences, though. The people of N.Pembs tend to pronounce an 'y' as 'ee' all the time.

Once you know the rules, you can just pronounce Welsh words as they are spelt. You might sound a bit posh if you do, but you won't be wrong. For this reason, Welsh is very tolerant of spelling variations, where the variations occur to reflect the everyday pronunciation. For example, the word 'eisiau' (want) is often spelt 'isie' by S.Walians, or 'isio' by N.Walians, reflecting the appropriate accent.

You'll sleep now!

:)

Peter

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menhirmenhir [Member]
02/12/05 @ 07:53

Nope, Just woken up, rather early, got a cold and a 'rusty' throat. Got chilled parading outside the McEwan Hall in Edinburgh in my graduation gear just a bit too long - looking for the family in the throng.

prydwenprydwen [Member]
07/12/05 @ 21:28

Being from sysadmin background I have always found programmers a little 'strange'. Only flirted with programming for a short while C++ but prefer to get my hands on hardware.... Good luck with the design..

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cc0028cc0028 [Member]
http://www.peredur.uklinux.net
07/12/05 @ 21:38

Oh yes. We're definitely strange!

I understand why people have flame wars over which is the best programmers' text editor: vi or emacs. Such things are important to us.

When people ask me why I do what I do, I always tell them that computer programs provide for me the deterministic universe I've been searching for all my life. True is 1. False is 0. There is nothing in between, no doubt, no fear.

Of course I'm strange. So strange I actually prefer C to C++.

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