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Tried out user mode linux today. http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net. Basically, it's a Linux application that allows you to run an entire Linux operating system inside another.
It sounds crazy, but they can actually accomplish it without too huge of a performance penalty. You can use perfectly normal Linux applications, and they run just fine.
I'm excited about this for a couple of reasons. First, I've been looking to get some sort of failover solution for the website; something where I could have double DNS servers, double webservers, etc., all synchronized somehow. Up till now, I haven't tried to do that because I didn't have a couple of spare machines to work with. But now I do. I can run two UML virtual servers (even on the same box) and have them talk to each other, simulating the mirrored environment.
Probably, I'll eventually run the whole website like this: with two UML servers running as applications on other Linux box(es). Maybe Eric will let me run a Linux box in his house...
The other thing that I think is interesting is that this allows me to muck around with the Linux kernel without risking any of my real hard drives and installations. I can alter the kernel source, build new versions, and watch them panic, all without actually having to ever reboot any hardware.
Even cooler, UML has a COW (copy-on-write) mode for its disks. UML "disks" are just files on the host filesystem. You can have multiple UML instances mount the same disk in read-only mode; their changes (and only their changes) get written to a different file. So I can save off a file which is my "good" Linux install - the one with a kernel that I know works. I can then do all my kernel hacking in a COW disk; if I ever break the disk so badly that I can't recover it, I just delete the COW file and I am automatically back at the "good" disk.
Now, I just need time to do things...
I have more to do on the website. I have at least 3 more features I know I want to add.
First, I'm planning to set up a "bios" section. Unlike the rest of the uploads, this will only allow you to upload one bio per user - although you will be able to upload multiple pictures of yourself if you so desire.
The bio page will let you describe yourself, your interests, your family, how you got started at the Village, whatever. I might even add (optional) fields where you could post your phone number so other Villagers could find you. (I wonder if there are spiders that search the Internet for phone numbers, like they do for email...)
I also plan to include poetry and art pages; poetry will let you post the text (later we might let your format it, but for the first shot it'll be pretty simple), and art will let you upload images.
I'm thinking (right now) that I probably won't include a website upload feature like I'd thought before. The way I figure it, there are already sites (like geocities) that allow you to do that. The only reasons I can think of to not use geocities are:
1) You want a villagersonline.com address
2) You want to post an mp3, and geocities won't let you
3) You want to post a file too large for geocities, or you exceed your bandwidth limitations there
We can always link somebody's geocities page from the villagersonline.com website; it's not quite as good as hosting, but it's close. And if somebody has such a large file (or so many hits) that geocities isn't workable, then we probably aren't a better solution.
(sigh) Perhaps someday. Maybe someday I'll let villagersonline.com users have their own UML virtual servers???
Oh yeah, one last thing. I do need to add a capability for Eric to post news items. I guess that's pretty fundamental to the website :(
Well, off to a movie (T3) today and more work on the website tomorrow (maybe)
Russ | 
