RC1 of Testing Ready For Testing [Updated]

15. May, 2011

I’ve recreated the testing repository using the latest version of my Maven Tools 4 Eclipse.

To browse the repository, please use the Nexus interface.

If you pull in any dependencies from the repository, non-Eclipse artifacts will come from from Project Orbit. If you want non-Eclipse dependencies (like log4j) from Maven Central, you need to change your profiles.

Deactivate “m4e.orbit” and activate “m4e.maven-central“. From the command line, that’s “-P m4e.maven-central” but I suggest to put these into your settings.xml (add “<activeProfile>m4e.maven-central</activeProfile>” to it).

Note that you don’t need to deactivate the profile m4e.orbit. As soon as you specify a profile on the command line or via the settings, it’s deactivated automatically.

“mvn help:active-profiles” and “mvn dependency:tree” are your friends.

Let me know if you find anything missing, odd, broken by  filing a bug or posting a comment here.

UPDATE 2011-05-30

Some dependencies from the new repo can also be found on Maven Central. One nasty problem is that both repos contain org.eclipse.equinox.app but the version from Maven Central contains odd dependencies which break your build.

To fix this, add this to your parent/root POM:

  <dependencyManagement>
    <dependencies>
      <dependency>
        <groupId>org.eclipse.dash</groupId>
        <artifactId>dependency-management</artifactId>
        <version>3.6.2</version>
        <type>pom</type>
        <scope>import</scope>
      </dependency>
    <dependencies>
  <dependencyManagement>

This will limit all version ranges to the versions found in our new repository. Since Maven Central didn’t import new versions for at least one year, this should fix all problems.

Related posts:


Safe Browsing At Home

13. May, 2011
The logo of Mozilla Firefox 3.5 and 3.6 from t...

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re worried about security while you’re browsing the web (and you probably should), here is a simple solution that might actually work (or at least raises the bar quite a bit): BitBox (German)

In a nutshell, it’s a secured Linux system running Firefox 4 inside of VirtualBox. The browser can only access the resources of the virtual PC.

So to infect your real system, the hacker must: Break Firefox on Linux (which is hard), break Linux (hard), break through the virtual PC layer (not that easy either) to be able to infect your real PC (as opposed to just infect your PC).


Maven Tools for Eclipse: M2 Repository Analysis And Dependency Management

13. May, 2011

I’ve finished RC1 of my set of tools to import Eclipse plug-ins into Maven 2 repositories. You can find the source on github. It needs Python 2.7 and lxml. pip is your friend.

The new features: There is now a tool to analyze the M2 repository for oddities. Currently, it can find these issues:

  • Dependencies which are used but not part of the repository
  • Dependencies which are used with different versions or version ranges (i.e. when one POM includes a dependency with 1.0 and another POM pulls in the very same dependency with version 1.1)
  • Dependencies which are used without versions or version ranges or a catch-all version like [0,)
  • Several versions of the same artifact in the repository

Plus it prints a list of all POMs in the repo with files (jar, pom, sources, test-sources, …). Here is a sample report.

The last tool can create a POM file with a dependencyManagement element containing the versions of the POMs in the repository. You can use this to nail down all versions to the ones existing in your repository (so you don’t accidentally pull in something you don’t want).

Lastly, I’ve enhanced the patch tool. Instead of overwriting replaced dependencies, it will now move them into a new profile. This way, users of the repository can specify which dependency they want (the one from the repository or, say, one from Maven Central).

I will try to build a new testing repo over the weekend so we can start wrapping up the necessary patches for a release.

Related posts: Eclipse 3.6.2 Artifacts for Maven 2


How Your CV Could Look Like

12. May, 2011

If you’re like me, then you’re also struggling with your CV. What to write? What to omit? Does that sound too bashful? Or too timid?

How about this one: Hagan Blount CV.

My next CV will probably not look like this but it sure got me thinking …


AeroFS – A New Distributed File System

11. May, 2011

AeroFS is a new distributed file system (from their website):

Unlimited Storage

Using AeroFS, you can sync allthe data on your devices. No limits. No caps. You already have your storage, now use it!

Ultimate Privacy

AeroFS will never store your files in the cloud (unless you want to, of course ;-). Your files will only be shared with those who you invite.

Better Security

AeroFS encrypts your data end-to-end. This way, we are able to provide better security than most online storage services. Seriously.

  • Because AeroFS is completely distributed, even if we experience downtime,you won’t!
Sounds like an interesting solution. Especially since your data never leaves your country (unless you add foreign servers) and there are only very little cost for the company behind the service (you run all the involved servers).
With Dropbox and similar services, you can never be sure where your data ends up. They say it’s safe but that only holds true until a) the company goes bankrupt or b) some government agency knocks on their doors to hunt terrorists.

Use Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 in Ubuntu

11. May, 2011
VirtualBox

Image via Wikipedia

If you want to run IE6-8 on Ubuntu (or any other Linux distro that support VirtualBox), see this blog post: Use Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 in Ubuntu


Good comparison between JAXB and Simple XML

11. May, 2011

Here is a good comparison between JAXB and Simple – XML SerializationHow Does JAXB Compare to Simple?


31 Great Tutorials for Inkscape

10. May, 2011

If you like Inkscape, visit 31 Great Tutorials for Inkscape


When JIRA Hates You

10. May, 2011

Ever had the problem that JIRA would not allow you in? Every time, it would say “wrong user name and/or password”?

Using my crystal ball, I can see that you’re using Firefox.

You’ve been hit by the extra space bug. It’s open since October 2009.

I’ve opened an issue against JIRA: JSP-79797Password mail contains space after password

Let’s see who moves faster.


When Laziness Gets Expensive

9. May, 2011

According to heise online (German, video in English), Professor Dr. Eugene Spafford estimates the costs Sony‘s EPIC FAIL to secure their PSN servers to be 21 billion dollars.

Wow. 21 … fucking … BILLION … dollars. That’s 70’000’000 PS3s. 70 million PS3s. 36 million iPhone 4s. 700’000 cars at $30’000/each. They must be doing pretty well to be able to afford such a loss.

And it’s not that they didn’t see it coming. Sony knew for months that their servers were outdated and missing crucial security patches. Well, someone decided that it wasn’t worth to fix that. So: EPIC FAIL. Again. And again. Will they ever learn?

That feels like the same arrogance which led to the lawsuit against geohot and graf_chokolo.  Which probably made someone on the Internet so angry that they decided to give Sony this wedgy. Message to Sony: It’s not smart to be arrogant in the face of overwhelming odds.

You have, say, 1’000 people working to protect your assets. The world has a population of 7 billion (and you just lost 3 dollars to every and each of them) and the probability that one of them can kick you where it really hurts is about 1. At least.

Of course, the company is now using all its power to hunt down the little bastard. Sony, if you read this: Don’t be surprised if a 13-year old kid outwitted your whole security team.

Or rather the manager, who told the team not to fix those servers. But no, managers are never wrong. So the team must be punished. Fire them! All of them! Without supper! Serves them right! And don’t forget to sue the kid! Sue him to hell! Make sure he is not allowed to touch an electronic device ever again. EVER! It’s not your fault what happened! Try to create more DMCA-like laws! So you can sue more people! Get your engineering team to build a time traveling device so you can sue in advance! Force parents to divorce so they can’t breed anything threatening your revenue! Show the world who’s boss! Dictatorships never worked before but that should not stop you! It should rather encourage you! Grow by setting challenging goals!

See where the leads and why you can never win?

Making the world-wide security community hate you even more is your best bet! Trust me, I know at least as well as the guy who created this mess. And you trusted him, didn’t you?