OpenBSD CD: When the Net Install Fails

You can call me biased (or an evangelist), but my favorite free open source operating system is definitely OpenBSD because it's secure by default (turning off open ports off any Unix-like system should indicate incompetence rather than system admin machismo), easy to install and to manage. If you're like me coming from the so-called third-world country and cash-strapped, you can't afford the original CD (along with the heck of cash customs will make you bleed with) or worse, your internet access isn't fast enough to use the network install ISO provided by the project. So what are we to do to appreciate this very elegant, secure, free and functional Unix-like system? We can create our own installer ISO (provided that you don't have broadband access to use the network install ISO that will download the installation files).

What will you miss out when you go through the process we'll discuss in this article? You're missing out on the freebies that comes with the original CD: the nice artwork and a song (some swear by the stickers). But most importantly, when you buy the original CD, you support funding the OpenBSD project, so that they keep churning out new versions with new features and functionality while not compromising system security, safe in the knowledge that you have a system that's a labor of love.

My Oh My! This is How MySQL Daemon is Done in OpenBSD

If you were to setup a secure Unix-like server, don't walk, run for OpenBSD, probably the most secure operating system on the planet. On databases, I frankly have personal and professional bias for PostgreSQL, but for the benefit of the uninformed masses, most prefer MySQL.

Putting two and two together, one way or another, being a systems administrator, you will one day need to setup an OpenBSD to house a MySQL server. As of this writing, OpenBSD is version 4.8 going to 4.9.

Flick Your RedBean: The Alternative PHP ORM

Object Relational Mapping or ORM according to Wikipedia, is a programming technique for converting data between incompatible type systems in object-oriented programming languages. This allows flexible processing of data to and from any database system with a given object-oriented programming language.

When it comes to PHP-based ORM systems, the usual suspect or most popular choice is Doctrine, but as in any programming endeavor there are many ways to skin the cat, and one of the alternatives I found online is RedBean; the project's website highlight the virtues and merits of this ORM like ease of use, implementation and prototyping while being fast and lightweight (I wonder if it be in kilograms or pounds).