When using a package manager it is helpful to know how to search for available packages. You can search for part of the package name, so that mysql- returns both mysql-server and mysql-client …

On Debian-based systems:

sudo apt-cache search mysql-

On Fedora-based systems:

sudo yum list "*mysql-*"

On Mac with MacPorts:

port search mysql-

I find it odd that Microsoft seem to be dedicating so much TV air time to their "I'm a PC" response advertisments to the Mac vs PC ads of a few years back. The odd thing is, i never remember seeing any of these ads on television. And i would remember because they were done by Mitchell and Webb in the UK. I've only seen them on Youtube when browsing for amusement's sake. I reckon there could be plenty of people who are completely bemused by all these people saying, "I'm a PC" when they have never seen the original ads for reference. Maybe Microsoft will awaken people up to the realisation that actually, Windows is not the only option.

Here's one of the Mitchell and Webb ads: The Naughty Step.

I actually thought it was illegal to make direct comparisons between your product and a direct competitor's product in an advertising campaign, so i don't know how Apple got away with this whole series of advertisements.

Somebody should do an ad called "I'm a free-thinker!" I haven't sold my soul to Microsoft or to Apple. I don't owe anybody any money. I just owe a debt of gratitude to thousands of volunteers who willing donated their time, knowledge and expertise to create the world's best, most secure, most reliable, most flexible, freely available, freely modifiable and freely redistributable operating system.

Actually, IBM did a Linux ad, ages ago. Linux: The Future is Open. Has anyone done anything like that since?

Before i started using TextMate i heard that some people switch to Macs just so that they can use TextMate! I didn't believe a word of it … but now i am in that exact position! Ruby on Rails is so much easier to program in TextMate, particularly writing and running RSpec tests. Just to be able to press Cmd+Shift+Down to switch to the spec (and create it if necessary) and using Ctrl+r to run the specs, or Ctrl+Shift+R to run a singe spec. Last night i was writing some test specs and it was unbelievably painful without TextMate!

But i have long been a fan of opensource, free software. I don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on expensive hardware and expensive operating system just so that i can use TextMate! Somebody seriously needs to make a Linux version of TextMate. People would pay for it! I have been using gedit as best i can but it's the snippets and macros that make TextMate really good.

One of my colleagues uses and recommends jEdit. I'm going to give it a try. Apparently you can run specs quite easily within it, so i reckon it's got to be worth a go.

Oh yeah, and i can borrow my boss's old MacBook to use at RailsConf so i'll look like one of the cool kids! ;)

I feel i have settled in extremely well at my first week of my new job. I love the people, the environment, the work we do … it's fun and enjoyable, challenging, inspiring, makes me feel worthwhile. Most of the week i have been learning and paring with others, watching what they do, asking questions and making suggestions. Today we switched around and i was doing the typing, with help from one of the others.

They are very opinionated about how to do things – what works and what doesn't. We follow test-driven development rigidly: before we start any task we write a story about it. We run the story to see that it fails which means we need to write code. But before we do we write specs for the code. We run those to see them fail, then we write just enough code to make it pass. We keep iterating in small steps until we have it working, then we go back to the story which tells us what is to be done next. It sounds long-winded but it really works well. I am embarrassed at how haphazardly i wrote the code for MyChores … but i didn't know any better! MyChores is going to become so much more reliable, i can tell!

The other great thing is we are using Git and, now that i understand the power of branching, merging and rebasing, i realise what an awesome tool it is to use! It's so exciting when we're all working on the same project, Git allows us some very fast simultaneous development … and gitk makes it very exciting to be able to visualise what is going on! :)

Anyway, this is not interesting for the vast majority of my readers, so i will stop now!! Instead i will give you some pictures!

Here is a nice picture i took of the poppy fields near where i work. I love the accidental over-exposure of the sky!

This evening, inspired by the iMacs we use at work, i made a Leopard-style wallpaper!

Good, good. That's all for now. I'm going to go watch someone get evicted from Big Brother! :)

Have you ever done a search in Windows, and kept the search window open for a really long time? That ridiculous dog starts going crazier than usual!

Here is the dog, not looking at its best …

In case anyone is worried i drugged the dog, or forgot to feed it or something, don't worry! It perked up later on!

I don't want to be accused of cruelty to pixellated animals, heh!

Today i found out that a 24" iMac is waiting for me at my new job! WOoooHOooo!! I have been watching videos, boffing up on how Macs work! I have never seriously used one before, but i'm very excited! I'll be able to honestly compare Windows, Linux and Mac. It also means that Microsoft products will no longer be a part of my life!

This final week seems to be going terribly slowly. I can't wait to get started at my new job!