IRC log for #gllug on 20100219

00:12.23*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@pcd417037.netvigator.com)
02:26.30*** join/#gllug boudiccas (~boudiccas@80.47.190.14)
04:01.10*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@www.scorefive.com)
10:19.20Mohanmorning
10:26.34Azundrisj0
10:51.15halimorning
10:55.13bilarhmorn
11:01.03zaarggood morning
11:02.02*** join/#gllug stu_ (~stu@dyn1247-34.vpn.ic.ac.uk)
11:24.15bilarhhow does "free memory" in linux work? is the cache usable by applications on demand as well?
11:24.41bilarhi.e. if someone says "how much memory is free on this box, for the purpose of running this app", is the answer the sum of free memory + cached memory?
11:25.05bilarhand/or is it a good enough approximation for day to day use?
11:25.08z00daxbilarh: pretty much, but depends on how one asks
11:25.31z00daxif you question is along the lines of how much can i malloc at one shot - thats realfree+cache+swap
11:25.32bilarhok, good enough for my purposes :)
11:25.43bilarhyes, but if you don't want to end up swapping
11:25.59z00daxright, so you can do some funky kinds of malloc's to make sure you stay out of swap
11:26.14bilarhthink "generic java app"
11:26.29bilarhand "generic fortran app(s)"
11:26.30z00daxis not smart, you will need to manage ram on the machine outside the JVM
11:26.31bilarh:)
11:26.47bilarhit's not even about management of memory
11:27.05bilarhit's about PHB wanting a way to warn users if a machine is about to run out of memory if they start something
11:27.30z00daxhumm thats tricky, specially if you want to do it right
11:28.17bilarhi think something along the lines of "this app usually takes about 10 gb of memory. if free_memory < 10gb, then tell user"
11:28.38bilarhthat'll be near enough for the purposes of satisfying PHB
11:30.11rhowebilarh: I would've thought some kind of job running system should take care of that
11:30.28rhowebilarh: Just have constraints in it saying "job foo requires resources x, y & z"
11:30.29bilarhthis is for interactive apps
11:30.33rhoweAh
11:30.41bilarhotherwise, yes
11:31.05AndyMillarbilarh: just do "echo 1 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches"
11:31.10AndyMillarand then see how much free memory you've got
11:31.21z00daxcache what you need is trending analysis, to build a knowledgebase around the app and the circumstances / metadata like user stats and performance metrics
11:31.26bilarhbut that's bad from a performance POV, because then the cache has to be populated again
11:31.27rhoweWrite a wrapper that does malloc($ram) || die "Not enough free RAM, sorry" before exec() :)
11:31.39z00daxs/cache/actually/
11:31.48bilarhrhowe: well, that's roughly what i'm doing now, minus the malloc :)
11:32.11z00daxthen be able to tie that into the app history and add some monitoring around that. uncle bob's all the way through
11:32.26bilarhz00dax: yes, that's true... i think there is some consensus about how much memory our apps take in "normal" use
11:32.44bilarhso i've got a wrapper script that is reasonably intelligent to take care of it
11:32.47z00daxif you have a ballpark figure, thats half or more of the complexity gone.
11:32.52bilarhyeah
11:32.59bilarhi just wanted to make sure that cached memory could be regarded as free :)
11:33.03bilarhfor the purpose of the above
11:33.13z00daxthe problem is that ram usage changes - sometimes drastically - depending on 'associated' factors.
11:33.22z00daxis thinking ruby more than java here.. but
11:33.22bilarhyeah
11:33.37bilarhanyway, i'll implement it and see how the users get on
11:33.42rhowebilarh: Just make sure you keep on top of any changes in the apps, or you'll start promulgating a myth that $app requires 10G of RAM, when it only reqired 10G of RAM 5 versions ago and now it only needs 5GB :)
11:33.46bilarhs/users/test users/
11:33.50z00daxslow db, for example, can cause the app to ballon on ram usage as it now has more connections and more data in/out than would normally be the case.
11:34.17bilarhrhowe: oh no, i'm not maintaining it... it's got a nice little config file the $maintainer can update with different memory requirements :)
11:36.09AndyMillarbilarh: if the app "needs 10GB", really erally allocate 20GB for it :)
11:36.46bilarhandymillar: i'll delegate that to $maintainer ;)
11:36.58bilarhi'm but a very small cog in a very large machine
11:37.04rhoweOh FFS
11:37.15rhowejust figured out why his cron jobs weren't behaving as expected
11:37.23rhoweMon,Tue,Wed,Thu.Fri
11:37.24z00daxcrond not running ?
11:37.48z00daxyeah, Fri isnt really a TLD yet :)
11:43.57ChoHagIs it bring your sprog to the office day? Enforced child labour?
11:48.37ChoHagAnd then there were two. I think there's some mitosis going on.
12:20.29*** join/#gllug DiscordianUK (~ch@fedora/DiscordianUK)
12:27.17z00daxnot many people in this office seem to have kids
12:38.36j0nranyone use curlftpfs?
12:42.05j0nrwhen i mount a nas drive using curlftpfs, it seems to mount (no error msgs) but then ls in the parent directory shows:
12:42.12j0nrd????????? ? ?    ?       ?                ? fnd
12:42.19j0nrfnd is the mount point
12:54.32*** join/#gllug dick_turpin (~sales@2001:0:53aa:64c:c8e:25c:26dd:5ce1)
12:55.05dick_turpinAfternoon all
12:55.14wethrinhello you trendy man
12:55.39dick_turpinRead it and weep baby
13:34.01ChoHaghttp://i.imgur.com/GxzeV.jpg
13:39.12dick_turpinwethrin: Ready for today's funny?
13:39.49dick_turpin"I dunno what we are going to do with this bloody Genuine Advantage"
13:40.17dick_turpin"They fall off the chair when you tell them the price of MS Office"
13:41.05dick_turpinthat's the idea and it works in our favour, they either have to buy or they can pay for us to put Open Office on"
13:41.22dick_turpinOpen Office is shit
13:41.35boudiccasbut shit that works
13:41.45dick_turpinthen they will have to pay for MS Office
13:42.16dick_turpin"I dunno how Microsoft thinks we can make a living"
13:42.47dick_turpinwhat? er buy not breaking the law for a start
13:43.37dick_turpinThis is now followed by 5 minutes of dick_turpin shaking his head
13:45.29dick_turpinOh and another one
13:46.09dick_turpin"Hey I've got a fix for that Genuine Advantage tool, just run this .exe"
13:46.19dick_turpinOK
13:46.49dick_turpinEr Office is asking for the code key now, where is it?
13:47.00dick_turpin"Oh don't you have it?"
13:47.03dick_turpinNo
13:47.17dick_turpin"Oh, er um, ooh"
13:47.47dick_turpinSo its not a fix, it just rips the code key out the registry then?
13:48.04dick_turpinshakes his head for 5 minutes
13:52.51dick_turpinboudiccas: I think I killed wethrin
13:53.10boudiccaswhat did you do?
13:54.19dick_turpinBored him to death
13:54.57boudiccasoh! are you a bull??
13:55.17boudiccasoh no, sorry! thats /gored/ him and not 'bored'
13:55.29DiscordianUKIn the library with a golf club
13:56.00boudiccasand thats cluedo
13:56.12DiscordianUKIt is
14:06.35Mohandick_turpin: Install MS office and dont update . you wont have WGA problem :)
14:08.49dick_turpinMohan: Yes, but I want the problem. This will highlight all the hooky copies then they will have to buy proper ones :-)
14:09.44MohanThey are more likely to update as it would show as an Important security update.
14:27.20*** join/#gllug wethrin (dankolb@hades.eco.li)
14:27.45wethrindick_turpin: Always ready!
14:28.14dick_turpinAhahaha
14:28.24dick_turpinwethrin: Did you miss it?
14:28.35wethrinNo, I saw it
14:28.39wethrinYou work for morons
14:30.08AndyMillardick_turpin: oops
14:30.25AndyMillarwait, your employer is installing hacky copies of windows for clients?
14:30.37dick_turpinwethrin: Where did you acquire this perceptive skill from?
14:31.44dick_turpinAndyMillar: Erm, no but there might be the odd customer who has gone "Here's my disc and the key is on that bit of paper"
14:41.57AndyMillarye gods
14:44.18AndyMillaroh god... $boss just said "use the source, luke"
14:46.31wethrindick_turpin: From you!
14:49.26dick_turpinwethrin: ? Sorry mate I don't understand
14:55.26wethrinWell, not the skill. But the perception
15:00.01dick_turpinwethrin: Oh, yes, Bwahahahaha
15:27.45*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@pcd417037.netvigator.com)
16:04.03*** join/#gllug wethrin (dankolb@hades.eco.li)
16:19.32ChoHag"The amount of WEEE Britain throws away is increasing by around 5% each year"
16:19.48wethrinThey're just pissing it away?
16:20.31dick_turpinchuckle
16:20.56ChoHag"... the lead and other toxins it contains can cause soil and water contamination."
16:21.34wethrinSurely the point of WEEE is that it doesn't happen?
16:21.50wethrinand the council tips have special places for computer equipment
16:22.35dick_turpinwethrin: Yes, my employers
16:42.14kjsyo
16:42.24*** join/#gllug rcp (~k@netzen.gotadsl.co.uk)
16:45.24*** part/#gllug dick_turpin (~sales@2001:0:53aa:64c:c8e:25c:26dd:5ce1)
16:52.04kjswhere can i get a huge whiteboard from?
16:52.12wethrinCPC
16:52.15kjsYes
16:52.19kjsgood answer
16:52.38AndyMillarthe internet
16:55.20kjshumm just found a 1200x900 board
17:00.17boudiccasstick white paper to an internal window and just draw on the glass, that way you cna have it as big as hte window is
19:34.55*** join/#gllug DiscordianUK (~ch@fedora/DiscordianUK)
20:45.05*** join/#gllug DiscordianUK (~ch@fedora/DiscordianUK)
21:00.17*** join/#gllug DiscordianUK (~ch@fedora/DiscordianUK)
22:10.33*** join/#gllug shai_ (~Shai@l192-117-110-233.cable.actcom.net.il)
23:08.38*** join/#gllug Leeds (~richardc@pcd417037.netvigator.com)

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