Dependency-based & Event-based init daemons and launchd
With the recent announcement of systemd, I’ve noticed some increased confusion around Upstart and what it means to be an event-based init daemon. Now seems as good a time as any to try and clear that...
View ArticleEvent matching in Upstart
A little while ago I was asked to solve a problem that somebody was having with Upstart, and I realised that people weren’t understanding how things were actually working and were just muddling along...
View ArticleEvents are like Methods
In last week’s post I talked about how Events can be treated like Signals, this week we’ll be looking at how Events can be treated like Methods. That might seem a little surprising, since normally one...
View ArticleThe Importance of Being Tested
In addition to the regular posts documenting features of 0.6 and giving hints and tips about it’s usage, release announcements and so-forth; I’ll also be posting insights and anecdotes about Upstart’s...
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The Proc Connector and Socket Filters
The proc connector is one of those interesting kernel features that most people rarely come across, and even more rarely find documentation on. Likewise the socket filter. This is a shame, because...
View ArticleTracing on Linux
The Linux tracing APIs are a relatively new addition to the kernel and one of the most powerful new features its gained in a long time. Unfortunately the plethora of terms and names for the system can...
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A new release process for Ubuntu?
With the nomination period beginning for the Ubuntu Technical Board, big changes like Unity having arrived in Ubuntu recently, and the upcoming UDS for being what will likely be a new LTS release of...
View Articlegit smash
A common thing I end up doing while working on code is to make a series of commits, and then end up work changes in my working directory which I need to apply to an earlier revision in the history...
View ArticleRevision Control and Unit Tests Considered Harmful
I know that a lot of you visit my blog because I am the Internet’s apparent authority on how much git sucks, so I’m sure you’ll appreciate what I have to say here. Revision Control systems, and...
View ArticleGoodbye Ubuntu
Today marks the beginning of the end of me having an Ubuntu machine at home, and I have mixed feelings about that. By the weekend the last machine that I do have, my network file server and general...
View ArticleWell Poisoning
I wonder who Mark is referring to in his blog post: If you’ve done what you want for Ubuntu, then move on. That’s normal – there’s no need to poison the well behind you just because you want to try...
View ArticleiOS App Design Notes
Since iOS apps are now worth a billion dollars, here’s a few design notes worth bearing in mind when writing your new app: Users love receiving push notifications, and love it when you take them to the...
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How hard can it be?
When I was a boy, the first programs I ever wrote for a computer were computer games. They weren’t particularly good, but the sense of achievement of turning endless typing of BASIC code into a game I...
View ArticleGetting started with OpenGL
While the kinds of games I like to play have traditionally used isometric graphics, and those do have a certain retro appeal, I wouldn’t be happy as a player today with that. Even playing OpenTTD today...
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What is the Matrix (order)?
As if trying to drag memories of vectors and matrices out of the long-discarded parts of your brain reserved for high school mathematics wasn’t hard enough, another curve ball is thrown at you when you...
View ArticleCorrectly calculating time since last frame with CVDisplayLink
In a previous post, I repeated a piece of code retrieved from the Internet that was intended to calculate the interval since the last frame when using CVDisplayLink. Unfortunately that code was...
View ArticleThe most useful Sublime Text tip ever
Drop this in your User keybindings: [ { "keys": ["super+v"], "command": "paste_and_indent" }, { "keys": ["super+shift+v"], "command": "paste" }, ]
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First Screenshot!
Ok, this will go down in history as the least exciting first screenshot in the history of first screenshots, but here you go: There’s a whole bunch of experimentation going on here: The window contains...
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More experimentation
I’m steadily progressing through the OpenGL API and adding experiments to the test code as I go to make sure I’ve got the basics down. Here we can see the result of adding camera motion, texturing,...
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