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I just released GeoIP 1.0.5 on PECL. An excerpt from the ChangeLog:

• Small bug in phpinfo() when printing version number could crash PHP. (in 1.0.4)
• Fix memleaks, bug #14851
• Small patch for MacPorts by jhohle
• Add geoip_time_zone_by_country_and_region() and geoip_region_name_by_code() (thanks to Sid Dunayer)
• Add continent_code field for City Database, only if using GeoIP lib 1.4.3 or newer

Since most of the features are very dependent on the GeoIP Library version you're using, I do suggest you upgrade the installed library on your system before upgrading the PECL counter-part.

I have also upgraded the PHP documentation, which should appear on the mirrors by next week. I am now working on documenting the added functions, mostly that FIPS 10-4 thing in geoip_region_name_by_code().

One thing to note about this release though is that the time zones returned by geoip_time_zone_by_country_and_region() with library 1.4.5 don't seem to make any sense here. I have opened up a bug report on SourceForge for libgeoip, will see if it gets resolved in the next release.

In the meantime, happy IP Geo Localization with PHP!

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 15:02 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Please welcome... wait for it... my new blog! (you need to use Barney Stinson's voice for that phrase)

Ok, so what's the catch? It looks like the other one, what's different? In fact, what changed is the machine behind.

After many problems with ServerPronto, I decived to move everything back in Canada. My new hosting company is now iWeb, right here in Montreal. I wasn't sure at first, since iWeb is a little bit more expensive than others. After trying it, I am more than pleased with the service.

For example, when installing my dedicated server, I wanted to switch my Debian to Gentoo. I knew it was risky, but I needed my server to run Gentoo, mainly for seldom ebuild development. Everything ran smoothly, but I unfortunately made a typo in the network config file. Upon reboot, I couldn't access the machine and was stuck with a bricked server.

With a simple support ticket, I was able to get an IP KVM connected to my server quickly and interacted with it to bring the network back online. It might seem like a trivial event, but I am not sure what would have happened if it was hosted elsewhere. I would have probably ended up paying someone to type the commands on the shell, which is not always an easy task when the other person is more than a thousand kilometers away.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 09:18 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Although this article might seem like bashing, it asks a very legitimate question about how much the PHPQuebec organisation should be money driven.

First, let's go back a couple of years in the past. I remember going to the annual conference when it was held at the École Polytechnique de Montréal. At that time, about the same amount of important speakers were there, I remember first seeing Derick talking about PHP bananas or something. That year, I think the ticket cost me around 150$, I was paying student price.

Years after that, the conference moved to big hotels with somewhat bigger conference rooms, but most of the time with awful food. The ticket went up, but I didn't really care, for two reasons: I stopped going every year, and I could get discounted PHP developer rate for my contributions on PECL.

Last year, it was the beginning of the end. The conference moved to a very fancy hotel, which seems to have brought the ticket price even higher. It was now around 500$ if I recall correctly, with no rebate for core developers. I then have a very painful discussion with Yann over emails, asking him why that rebate was gone. He decided to offer me a rebate price after all, it was just not published on the website.

This year, it seems the ticket was still highly priced. I've decided to email Yann, Sylvain, or anyone in the organization, asking if they could provide a rebate for core dev. Beginning last December, those conversations were one way, I have never received any reply on any email I was sending.

Now here comes the tricky part. While waiting for their answers.. ticket price went up. I finally decided not to go. Talking about this with Philippe Gamache, he told me he would email the group, asking why they could not provide a core dev price this year. Their answer was clear: "We don't have any special rate this year".

And bam.. why would they refuse to answer me last December with those words? I could have decided to go for the pre-sale price. I seems that at the end, the only thing matters: the money.

Don't get me wrong on this one, I'm not trying to get a free lunch or something, and I am willing to pay a certain amount to go to the conference. This being said, I don't see why I would pay the full price. The reason having a discounted core dev price, is that you want them to be there. You want them to evangelize about PHP and you want them to pass the torch to younger souls.

The reason I want to be there, is to talk to certain people about PHP dev. I have no interest for the conferences, although I might go see a couple of them. Last year, I think I've spent more time outsite the conference rooms, talking with Marcus and watching David suffer while Rasmus was trying to hack his Mac.

It's too bad though, as it seems the PHPQuebec organization doesn't want to provide that ecosystem anymore. So go on, pay full price, don't invest in a better future for PHP, and have fun. I guess I won't be there this year.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 08:19 | Comment (1) | Trackback (1)

It's finally there... after quite some requests by external people, I've created a doublemetaphone module on PECL.

After some house-keeping, version 0.1.2 was born. It is still alpha, although it should not segfault or anything. The only reason going alpha is because I'm not sure the API should stay the same. After some feedbacks, I'll ramp-up beta and GA.

So, after a pecl install doublemetaphone, you can enjoy using the new double_metaphone() function.

If you have any comments, or found bugs, leave a comment here, or on the PECL bug system.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 08:27 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)

Even if the GeoIP bindings for PHP have been available for more than a year on PECL, I have never took the time to write an ebuild for it on Gentoo.

Until now, I was using the PEAR installer, which is great for installing PECL packages. The only downside is that those packages won't be seen when doing a world upgrade with Gentoo. You then have two choices:

1. Do an emerge world followed by a pecl upgrade-all
2. Install PECL packages via Portage

Since I'm lazy, I like the fact to upgrade everything at one place.

The hard part now is to write the ebuild, which is really simple considering the fact that it is a PECL package and that eclass are available.

One thing to another, this ebuild is now part of the testing overlay for Gentoo. If no bugs are found, it should be part of the normal tree shortly.

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 10:06 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0)

Nothing fancy, but while configuring a Kerberos slave on a Gentoo server, an init script seems to be missing for starting kpropd.

While it seems some have difficulties writing init scripts, here is what I am using:

#!/sbin/runscript

daemon="MIT Kerberos 5 KPROPD"
exec="/usr/sbin/kpropd"

opts="start stop restart"

depend() {
        need net
}

start() {
        ebegin "Starting $daemon"
        start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --exec ${exec} -- -S 1>&2
        eend $? "Error starting $daemon"
}

stop() { 
        ebegin "Stopping $daemon"
        start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --exec ${exec} 1>&2
        eend $? "Error stopping $daemon"
}

restart() {
   svc_stop
   svc_start
}

Posted by Olivier Hill in Internet at 14:58 | Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0)