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Domain: lissard.org
Stories and comments across the archive that link to lissard.org.
Comments · 8
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Re:understandable (from they 're point of view) ..
[A]s usual some people really don 't get it (not a big deal - dynossaurs got extint anyway) and will try all sorts of dirty tricks like this one...
True, but by the same token, a lot of people do get it.
I'm the lead developer of LISSARD, an open-source school administration system. I am having discussions with someone in the U.K. who is very interested in free software, and in particular, using LISSARD in several of the schools he represents.
As I understand it, some U.K. courts have recently ordered their current proprietary administrative system to open up their database backend, opening that market to competition. That's where LISSARD comes in. Anyway, no one (in those schools, at least) likes the idea of being tied to a single vendor, which is why the open-source model is much more attractive. (Don't like it? Hire someone to change it.)
Also, this person is actively trying to deploy open-source software wherever possible, with moderate amounts of success so far. The real obstacle, as far as he can tell, is that most people are of the "you get what you pay for" mindset. (To which I respond "I'll take your money
All in all, good times to be OSS. -
Re:Barcodes have 666 encoded on them?
And to say anything about barcodes at all, let alone knowing the names of several different kinds of barcodes, is super nerdy.
Perhaps, but then again, I get paid to work on LISSARD, and one of my projects is to build a library system. That is why I know this.
Please take a break from your nerdiness and try to gather up the courage to talk with a female. You really need it.
LOL! -
Re:Does PHP need a good debugger?
Really, I've been playing around with PHP for months now, playing around with string functions, loops, databases, recursion, and the like and I've never need any debugging tool more advanced from echo.
Really? I've been writing a real-world application in PHP. I have created a device-independent output layer capable of writing XHTML, PDF, WML, and more with no extra coding, a flexible authentication system, a database-independent backend (far more nifty than it sounds), a module system that allows exporting individual pieces of functionality (including dependencies), a navigation system that's fully integrated with permissions, and lots of other things that come together to make a web application. Plus, I've written enough UI code to let a private high school do all of their functions (attendance, grading, transcripts, scheduling), and print all the reports they need (honor rolls, transcripts, attendance summaries, etc.). Total, this project has taken me seven months so far using my spare time, and I have written over 18,000 lines of PHP in this one application.
Guess what I use for debugging? I wrote a special error handler. Whenever an error occurs (except not parse errors), the error handler displays the snippet of code that it happened in -- complete with line numbers, syntax highlighting, and mouse-overs on the local variables that show their contents -- inside of a little box that I can open and close with a click. Plus, I can invoke this whenever I need, via the trigger_error() function.
Guess what made me write that error handler? echo ""` wasn't enough. When dealing with larger applications, you need to be able to look at what conditions prompted a failure, and a "print" is less than helpful. Honestly, even a dump of the offending code with the appropriate values inlaid isn't always enough; I would really like a backtrace, but I have to wait for PHP5.
<plug> If you want to develop something with my framework, hop on over to the website, grab it out of CVS, join the mailing list, and we'll be in touch. </plug> -
Re:Does PHP need a good debugger?
Really, I've been playing around with PHP for months now, playing around with string functions, loops, databases, recursion, and the like and I've never need any debugging tool more advanced from echo.
Really? I've been writing a real-world application in PHP. I have created a device-independent output layer capable of writing XHTML, PDF, WML, and more with no extra coding, a flexible authentication system, a database-independent backend (far more nifty than it sounds), a module system that allows exporting individual pieces of functionality (including dependencies), a navigation system that's fully integrated with permissions, and lots of other things that come together to make a web application. Plus, I've written enough UI code to let a private high school do all of their functions (attendance, grading, transcripts, scheduling), and print all the reports they need (honor rolls, transcripts, attendance summaries, etc.). Total, this project has taken me seven months so far using my spare time, and I have written over 18,000 lines of PHP in this one application.
Guess what I use for debugging? I wrote a special error handler. Whenever an error occurs (except not parse errors), the error handler displays the snippet of code that it happened in -- complete with line numbers, syntax highlighting, and mouse-overs on the local variables that show their contents -- inside of a little box that I can open and close with a click. Plus, I can invoke this whenever I need, via the trigger_error() function.
Guess what made me write that error handler? echo ""` wasn't enough. When dealing with larger applications, you need to be able to look at what conditions prompted a failure, and a "print" is less than helpful. Honestly, even a dump of the offending code with the appropriate values inlaid isn't always enough; I would really like a backtrace, but I have to wait for PHP5.
<plug> If you want to develop something with my framework, hop on over to the website, grab it out of CVS, join the mailing list, and we'll be in touch. </plug> -
Re:CUECAT
I cataloged my entire library with it. I scanned each book and used some software I downloaded that looked up each book's barcode on Amazon, Library of Congress, (or other sites) and added it to a database.
Coincidentally, I am currently writing software for a private high school, and the current project is to do exactly that -- make a library system that fetches information from a variety of sources and allows access in a flexible way. (Amazon is used for most info, LoC for LCCN, amazon.co.uk for book cover art -- that's already coded.) Further requirements include complex indexing capabilities (allowing 'sounds like' searching) and lots of other things, most of which are at least partially implemented.
Oh, and guess what? The school made several stops to various Radio Shacks a few years ago and currently has nine CueCats that they plan to use on the library terminals. Nine. They read Code 128 for free, what more could you want? -
Re:Well, let's look at the list
How many open source success stories are there, where the open-source solution is so clearly superior that it's used by everyone? Uh, zero.
Uh, let's see. All of the root DNS servers and a majority of other DNS servers run BIND, which provides likely the most key portion of the 'Internet' that people care about. Google runs Linux, because you can't do what they need on Windows. Apache serves more web pages than all other web servers combined. Also, sendmail and qmail run a majority of the world's e-mail servers.
Well, how about open source application that are good enough to compete with proprietary software?
See the above. Open-source software, in general, trashes proprietary software in the data center. Oracle, for one, is an exception -- but, in most cases, you don't need Oracle and MySQL (or Postgres) will suffice and be a lot cheaper.
How many are "up-and-comers" that just need good word-of-mouth to take over from a proprietary solution?
There's a lot of them; I just can't think of any because the word-of-mouth hasn't reached me yet
Seriously, though, my current project is already good enough to compete with the software it was designed to replace. (This is after four months of part-time development -- it will waste the proprietary solution by this time next year.) Of course, I am sure many other such projects exist, but lack popularity to make themselves known. -
Re:yea but...
As others have said, support is close at hand with the community of both users and developers.
As the primary author behind an open-source school administrative package, I understand this situation, and I understand that if something breaks someone will need to know what's going on. That is why I have the support policy that I do -- if someone is using LISSARD (the aformentioned software), they can go through the normal channels (mailing lists, etc.) in case of a problem or they can talk to me directly by phone, even at home.
No, it's not a promise of 24x7 support. But, remember that you're not dealing with trained monkeys on the other end of an 800 number, but rather someone that no only knows what's going on but why it happens that way and knows the situation backwards and forwards. In the end, my open-source project has better support than any of the other commercial offerings, because a resolution is reached within minutes rather than hours or (in some cases) weeks.
One more thing: the support contract never needs renewing. I will help whoever is using my software, because I know what it's like to be totally ignored. -
Re:yea but...
As others have said, support is close at hand with the community of both users and developers.
As the primary author behind an open-source school administrative package, I understand this situation, and I understand that if something breaks someone will need to know what's going on. That is why I have the support policy that I do -- if someone is using LISSARD (the aformentioned software), they can go through the normal channels (mailing lists, etc.) in case of a problem or they can talk to me directly by phone, even at home.
No, it's not a promise of 24x7 support. But, remember that you're not dealing with trained monkeys on the other end of an 800 number, but rather someone that no only knows what's going on but why it happens that way and knows the situation backwards and forwards. In the end, my open-source project has better support than any of the other commercial offerings, because a resolution is reached within minutes rather than hours or (in some cases) weeks.
One more thing: the support contract never needs renewing. I will help whoever is using my software, because I know what it's like to be totally ignored.