Red Hat 8.0 and rpmbuild
So, building RPMs under 8.0 is a little different than before. First, "rpm -ba ..." is no longer an option; you have to run rpmbuild directly. Not too surprising, should have seen that one coming. Second, "%_unpackaged_files_terminate_build" now defaults to 1, which means files that a build just skipped before now cause a fatal error (which I found out trying to build an updated Apache...DOH!). Here's a reference for anyone else wondering about the options for stuff like this. Who knew rpm.org was being updated? *grin*
Red Hat 8.0 and Subversion
Builds pretty much right out of the box, with very few surprises. The catch, of course, is that Red Hat decided to not package up apr and apr-util (I don't blame them, they're quite a moving target; here's looking forward to 1.0), which affects mod_dav_svn pretty severely. You can do one of two things:
1. Snag the apr and apr-util from the 2.0.40 (plus patches) version of Apache that Red Hat ships, and build subversion against that.
2. Just go ahead and build your own updated 2.0.43 RPMs, and rebuild all the module SRPMS you use against the new server.
PHP is rebuilding as I write this. ;-) A quick note to save anyone else some time; 2.0.43 builds without a hitch, but you'll need to drop httpd-2.0.36-cnfdir.patch since it made it into the upstream version, and you'll need to hack up the OpenSSL version check patch to match the 2.0.43 check (I'm sure there's a good reason why Red Hat delivered an out-of-date OpenSSL, but I'm clueless about it). Oh, I also added /usr/lib/httpd/build/instdso.sh to the -devel manifest, since you're really going to want that if you try building any third-party modules via apxs. I've got an SRPM sitting here if anyone wants it; drop me a line if you do.
2. Just go ahead and build your own updated 2.0.43 RPMs, and rebuild all the module SRPMS you use against the new server.
Subversion and XML/XSLT
Mmmmm, I had no idea that svn had a mode for dumping raw XML with an XSLT stylesheet. The stylesheet from svn.collab.net works flawlessly in both Moz and IE 6, and looks a damn sight better than the plain 'ol HTML output (and, the added bonus that if you're not up on your DAV programming, writing a simple XML parser for the output is a snap).
Had a few minutes to kill at the bookstore tonight, so I flipped through a copy of the recently-released book about Cocoon from New Riders (Cocoon: Building XML Applications by Carsten Ziegeler and Matthew Langham). Having never had a chance to take a look at Cocoon before, I'm quite impressed; they've assembled a very nice website publication framework. I really need to get it installed on my little Tomcat playground here and see what I can make it do. Not to mention all the other projects up on xml.apache.org and jakarta.apache.org. (Why do I feel this incessant need to stay on top of every new toy that hits the 'net?)
Miscellaneous personal stuff
Not too much new on the job front; I'm playing phone tag with the director of education at a local-area college regarding an opening for a instructor (teaching an evening class on Red Hat Linux), and doing the waiting game on a few recruiters for full-time positions. <div class="shameless plug">I'm available for on-site systems integration, management, programming, or training in the Chicagoland area, or for telecommuting programming work elsewhere, either on a full-time or corp-to-corp contracting basis. Go ahead, send me an offer. You know you want to. :-)</div>
I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about the idea of doing an evening class; I've been wanting to start investigating a career change toward teaching, and this would give me a perfect opportunity to make sure that it's really something I want to do before investing a large chunk of my life into it (since I never completed my final year of University, coming up on ten years ago, I have an incredible amount of catching-up to do; the level I've focused on teaching at would need me to get my M.Sc at the very least, as real-world experience has very little to do with academics *grin*).
Still having incredible trouble sleeping; I haven't gone to bed before 3:00 am for nearly three weeks now. It's the same pattern every night: go to bed at a reasonable hour, then spend an hour tossing and turning while my mind races around the million things I need to get done, the bills that are starting to pile up, and our "drop-dead" date where I end up working at whatever job is available (retail, etc). So, I get up, and go work on something until I'm so exhausted that I can't see the screen clearly anymore, which pretty much guarantees that I'll fall asleep the moment my head hits the pillow (tonight's job: new Apache and PHP RPMs, with rev. 3348 of Subversion and a rebuilt mod_jk). Gah.
Ye ghods, I wish I could just go outside and work on the car instead of worring about this stuff. Things are so simple when it's just bolts and grease. Too bad the parts I want cost more than I'll be able to spare until at least next summer. Ah well, at least I know I'll be able to fairly easily hit 12 seconds in the 1/4 mile next year if I can build up the car according to plan. Going fast is addictive. :-)