Maven community is sometime a strange world ...

3 years ago, I submitted a patch for the Maven antlr plugin. Something quite simple that took me 1 hour to whip, test and to send as a JIRA [1]

It took 6 months for this patch to be applied, something I can understand.

However, 3 years after the code has been patched, I can't get the plugin from the Apache repository, where it was before. Why ? Because the project has been moved from Apache to Mojo. The reason ?

"A release could be done shortly but I would like to move the maven-antlr-plugin and maven-antlr3-plugin (in sandbox) to Mojoproject.

During the last year, I am the main committer on this project. Recently, David Holroyd provided a new plugin that supports Antlr v3, and submitted some patches. Unfornately, he is not an ASF committer. I could take care of David's patches but I think it should be good to give a new life of this project in the Mojo land. It would be more easy to give access to David, so he could maintain it as he wants. " [2]

What's wrong in the Maven community if they can't make someone who is obviously proposing patches and is a wanna-be committer if they have to move the project out of Apache to get this guy working on the project ? Voting process is too complex ?

Seriously, I don't get it ...

PS : of course, I can get the plugin from the Apache repo, but not at the same place. It's now available on [3].


[1] http://jira.codehaus.org/browse/MANTLR-14
[2] http://maven.40175.n5.nabble.com/vote-Move-the-maven-antlr-plugin-to-the-mojo-project-td204608.html#a204608
[3] http://repo1.maven.org/maven2/org/codehaus/mojo/antlr-maven-plugin/2.1/

Twitter failures...

It seems that Twitter has reached is limits a few weeks ago, with daily failures since then.

I'm just wondering if Twitter's developpers are french, with a project manager named Domenech, and a top developper named Anelka.

Or maybe I'm mixing failures : in any case, if we use the french soccer team as a base to measure other teams failure, then Twitter is just experiencing small bumps on the road atm...

Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot

So today I received a phone call from the Microsoft 'client support' (so called) entity.

It's pretty clear that they are more into following a process, even if it's totally stupid, than helping customers. (remind me Dr Strangelove, when the guy can break a CocaCola machine to get the 10 cents he needed to give a phone call that would have saved the world ...).

Instead of solving my simple issue with a simple solution (namely, providing me the KEY that is associated with the installed product, which is different from the product we bought - a Windows 7 premium. Probably because the DVD was badly stamped before being put into the box), they keep going insisting that we install a new version, losing 2 more hours plus having to reinstall all the side products.

Seriously, it's time to think about switching to some more friendly system, people. Ubuntu is quite usable, so is Mac OSX (but you might face the exact same problem). In any case, making 25% margin is just a shame when the UQOS (unquality of service) provided is so high : basically, you are on your own.

Coupled to the fact that they have delegated the first level support to external companies in low cost countries (profits, it's all about profits), it makes it pretty obvious that Microsoft is equivalent to what IBM was back in the 1990.

The butterfly is now just an elephant, not a dancing one... Sea elephant on the shore.

Maven release failures

So today I had to generate the MINA 2.0.0 packages in order to launch a vote. We have a full page on MINA web site explaining how to cut a release : http://mina.apache.org/developer-guide.html#DeveloperGuide-ReleasingaPointRelease%2528CommittersOnly%2529

I must say that Maven Release plugin is either totally dumb, or that what it does is totally counter-intuitive, and broken, IMHO.

What is the problem ? The maven release:prepare follows the steps :

1) Check that there are no uncommitted changes in the sources : OK

2) Check that there are no SNAPSHOT dependencies : OK

3) Change the version in the POMs from x-SNAPSHOT to a new version (you will be prompted for the versions to use) : OK
(here, we went from 2.0.0-RC2-SNAPSHOT to 2.0.0)

4) Transform the SCM information in the POM to include the final destination of the tag : OK
(the SCM info is now scm:svn:http://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/mina/tags/2.0.0, as expected)

5) Run the project tests against the modified POMs to confirm everything is in working order : OK

6) Commit the modified POMs : KO!!!

What's wrong here ? Everything has been committed in the trunk instead of the expected mina/tags/2.0.0 !

Why is the maven release plugin modifying the SCM tag if it's to commit everything in a place which should store the next version, ie 2.0.1-SNAPSHOT ?

I could understand that this is done on purpose (don't see a single reason for that, but who knows...), but at least, can't it *ask* the user before messing with the trunk ?

Sometime, the Maven Way Of Doing Things (tm) is completely broken, and this explains the complaints found on the blogsphere...

Why I will find a key for Windows 7 on internet to install it on a computer

Microsoft forces me to be a pirat today.

From time to time, I'm helping the cheese shop owner down my street, because he is a great guy and he knows almost nothing about computer, but uses it everyday to manage his stock of cheeses and bank account.

Today, he told me that he has an issue with the computer he bought last september, with Vista(ss) on it. As he is using a Account Management system which is not compatible with Vista(ss), he decided to bought an upgrade to Windows 7.

So far, so good. He paid 119€ for the Windows 7 familly Premium upgrade from Vista(ss) Home Premium. Quite expensive, but, hey, you have to pay the price when you don't know that Linux is a pretty decent alternative.

After having installed the POS^H^H^Hsoft, he had to activate the key. But then a message said 'the key is not valid for this version of the product'. WTF ??? So he called me.

One hour on the internet, no help. I have to say that Microsoft web sites are probably some of the worst ever when it comes to find a valuable piece of information. In fact, there is *no* information available.

So I decided to call the Activation Center, because, hey, it's The Activation, Stupid !

I spend almost 2 hours being thrown like a ball from one person to another one, from Microsoft to HP and back, from the useless phone center somewhere in north africa, because it's probably cheaper to pay people there than in France (poor guys, being paid around 300€ a month to pick the phone and hear someone like me yelling ...).

At least, we were able to discover that the package labeled "Windows Premium" contains in fact a DVD labeled Premium but containing the Extended edition. Of course, the key is the Premium one, not the extended one.

At this very moment, I thought that the solution was damn easy : they just have to give me the extended edition key, and voilà.

Fuck me ! No way ! Those guys are so stuck in the middle of a huge swamp of bureaucracy, combined with a large dose of idiocy and fear about the consequences of breaking the rules to help a CUSTOMER (I emphasize this word, because, hey, you know what Microsoft, we are not only USERS, we also are CUSTOMERS !) that they can't provide me with those 24 chars and 4 hyphens (and UUID for those who know what it's all about).

So I told the guy (the manager of the manager of the technical guy I was talking to) that I have a better solution : go on the internet, get a hacked key and that will do the trick.

"But that would be piracy !!!" he replied.

You know what ? *yes*. And you forced me to do that, Microsoft.

Last thing : my fellow Cheese seller will buy a Mac next time. He saw mine, and found it quite wonderful.

Losers !

PS : If anyone from Microsoft read this, feel free to contact me to help me to help this poor guy. I won't charge you more than 125 € an hour to get it working. I already wasted 2hours of my precious time btw. Prove me that you are smarter than the system you are now stuck into. Remember USSR ?

PS2: feel free to re-post.

10 ans de Glénans !

(Exceptionnellement en français, mais je pense que cela ne concerne que les lecteurs francophones.)

Donc cela fait 10 ans que j'ai fait mon premier stage de voile aux Glénans. Il s'agissait de deux semaines de croisière semi-embarqué (moitié à terre, avec découverte de la voile sur petit quillard, et une semaine à bord d'un confortable Dufour 30).

Cassont les mythes : non, Les Glénans, ce n'est pas une école de voile militaire, ni comme on l'entend encore, les 'fachos de la voile'... En fait, je ne crois pas avoir passé de meilleures vacances - mais à l'époque j'avais besoin de changer d'horizon -, et depuis, je renouvelle cette expérience chaque année (voire autant de fois que possible).

Cela fait maintenant 7 ans que je suis moniteur, ayant encadré 14 stages différents (soit 2 semaines par an), sur des supports tels que le Glénas 5.7, Open 5.70, Sprinto, Dufour 30, Sun Fast 43, Sun Fast 32, Dufour 325, et Elan 31.

J'ai au l'occasion de découvrir des lieux magiques, comme le golfe du Morbihan au lever de soleil, l'Aber Wrach au coucher de soleil, le Ras de sein par pétole, Belle île, Houat et sa plage et Hoëdic, Groix, Brehat la mangifique, Batz, l'ile d'Yeu, l'Odet et le Belon, Pot Blanc, Porquerolles, les îles du Frioul, les calanques de Cassis, Sète, le détroit de Messine, les canaries, Cascais, et les îles Scilly.

J'ai à peine touché le fond deux fois : une au mouillage (calcul de marée foireux, et pourtant refait 3 fois, avec réveil à 2h59 du matin pour replanter la 'pioche' 50 mètres plus loin, et envasement bien collant à force de rester dans le secteur rose d'un feu à secteur ...)

Pas de spi explosé, quelques petites blessures, quelques départ au tas (spi en drapeau en tête de mat, départ au lof avec spi en coquetier et GV qui tombe, taquet défait par l'écoute de spi baladeuse, et gros vrac avec voile d'avant déroulée par force 8...) mais rien de grave.

Quelques frayeurs aussi, comme ce coup de 50 noeuds de vent soudain en baie de Loctudy (7 noeuds de vitesse à sec de toile avec 43 noeuds de vent réel...) "Vous avez eu peur ? Non, t'étais super calme, on a juste trouvé bizarre que tu prennes la barre pour ne plus la lacher..." (dixit mes stagiaires).

Et des rencontres assez étonnantes. Un chanteur d'opéra, un réalisateur de cinéma, une ancienne serveuse de café passant son aggregation de lettre à 50 ans, un éleveur d'oies, et même un prêtre ! ( et oui, les voies du seigneurs sont plus impénétrables que la coque de son navire, ce qui l'a conduit à étudier la navigation et les marées !)

Cela m'a aussi donné l'occasion de rencontrer Romain, skipper (http://www.globe-skipper.com/fr/index.html), que je salue au passage, qui me fait le plaisir de me convier à des convoyages me coupant du monde pour quelques jours : France-Cannaries ou France-Grèce, plus quelques trajets en méditerranée sur un voilier de 27 mètres (ex-bateau de course, assez monstrueux avec son mat de 37 mètres...)

Pour ceux que ça intéresse : http://www.glenans.asso.fr/

N'hésitez pas à me contacter pour plus d'information !

Some new LDAP browsers

Today, Stefan Seelmann pointed out that a couple of free LDAP browsers have been launched.

The first one is delivered by Symlabs (no clue about the license though) and the other one is a NetBeans plugin.

I can understand that the NetBeans team develops a specific plugin, but I don't get the reason why a private company develops something that is already available for years, actively developed and used by a hundred of thousands people. I mean, isn't it a waste of time and resources ?

Guys, there is room for you to join The Apache Software Foundation if you think you can give an hand, instead of playing in your own sandbox !

PS: none of those two projects come close to the functionalities we deliver with Apache Directory Studio.