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Join Elliotte Rusty Harold for a look at some hard unit tests made easy through mock objects — more specifically, the EasyMock framework. This open source library saves you time and helps make your mock-object code concise and legible.

[Looks like IBM/developerWorks got a visual overhaul. Nice! -- Sander]

The modern workforce is increasingly mobile, with many jobs performed in the field, far from standard workplace tools, such as desk-bound computers and wired networks. Even for more mobile devices, connectivity is limited to wireless accessible areas. Learn about the development of a Mobile Workforce Framework based on the open source Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) for supporting teams who must work in remote areas with limited or no network access. This article focuses on the value of a common open source platform to myriad remote teams, the reduction in paper and travel to perform synchronization, and improved paper-free access to critical information when "off the net."

Linux ordinarily uses Cron to automatically perform routine system maintenance, such as rotating log files and updating spam filtering rules. This works well for servers and other systems that are powered on 24/7. If, however, you want to save power by shutting off the computer when it's not in use, as is common for desktop and laptop systems, Cron can't run. Not running Cron routinely can result in monstrously large log files and other problems. The Anacron utility provides a solution, enabling the computer to run regular maintenance jobs whenever the computer is powered on, even if those times are unpredictable.

In this article, learn how to use the open source Clonezilla Live cloning software to convert your physical server to a virtual one. Specifically, see how to perform a physical-to-virtual system migration using an image-based method.

Web servers are one of the many public faces of an organization and therefore are potentially an easy target. As a public resource, a Web server is like "shark bait" for some. But it doesn't have to be: Learn how a Web server can be public and safe at the same time.

You've probably heard the phrase "Write once, run anywhere." But if you want to write for an application that runs in a cloud, you really have to know what you're doing. Here in Part 2 of this "Realities of open source cloud computing" series, learn how to write an application using PHP to run on the Aptana cloud computing platform. Explore some of the critical design differences between a cloud application and a traditional N-tier application. The concepts are illustrated with a seemingly simple application, using familiar open source technologies, that taps into the strengths of cloud computing.

Synchronizing two machines (such as a laptop and a desktop computer) is easier and faster when you use rsync, which boasts an efficient algorithm and options for just about everything you might need. And if a command-line operation isn't your thing, several graphic tools make using rsync easier still.

The PHPCompute node is a new general-purpose programmable node in IBM® WebSphere® Message Broker that embeds the IBM WebSphere sMash runtime for PHP. This article shows how you can use the PHPCompute node to write PHP scripts that transform and route messages in WebSphere Message Broker. You will then be able to expand your use of the PHPCompute node to many more tasks that will help you solve problems and increase productivity.

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) applications, apart from connecting to servlets in time-honored Java™ fashion, can also use PHP Web services to send and receive data in XML. You'll explore methods to generate XML documents and process them, both in the Java language and in PHP.

Relational databases define a strict structure and provide a rigid way to maintain data for a software application. Apache's open source CouchDB offers a new method of storing data, in what is referred to as a schema-free document-oriented database model. Instead of the highly structured data storage of a relational model, CouchDB stores data in a semi-structured fashion, using a JavaScript-based view model for generating structured aggregation and report results from these semi-structured documents. CouchDB has been developed from the ground up with Web applications as the primary focus and has its sights on becoming the de-facto database for Web application development.

XML provides a way to identify data items and subcomponents within any structured data set, but has its roots in documentation development and production. Robust, open standards for XML document markup and a rich set of freely available tools for XML document parsing and format conversion make it easy to install and configure a complete documentation development and formatting environment on any UNIX® or Linux® system.

This is the second article in a two-part series that looks at a hands-on approach to monitoring a data center using the open source tools Ganglia and Nagios. In Part 2, learn how to install and configure Nagios, the popular open source computer system and network monitoring application software that watches hosts and services, alerting users when things go wrong. The article also shows you how to unite Nagios with Ganglia (from Part 1) and add two other features to Nagios for standard clusters, grids, and clouds to help with monitoring network switches and the resource manager.

Learn to scale your UNIX® Python applications to multiple cores by using the multiprocessing module which is built into Python 2.6. Multiprocessing mimics parts of the threading API in Python to give the developer a high level of control over flocks of processes, but also incorporates many additional features unique to processes.

Life's certainties include death and taxes but also the advancement of the GNU/Linux® operating system, and the last two kernel releases did not disappoint. The 2.6.28 and 2.6.29 releases contain an amazing amount of new functionality, such as a cutting-edge enterprise storage protocol, two new file systems, WiMAX broadband networking support, and storage integrity checking. Discover why it's time to upgrade.

The most intriguing and powerful phenomenon in the digital age is the impact of social-networking applications on the consumer and business markets. Marketing professionals are changing how they interact with prospective clients, peer groups can easily form, and, as demonstrated in the fall of 2008, social networking can be part of a successful political campaign. Combined with the popularity and power of the BlackBerry platform, you have the makings of a dynamic combination. Part 3 of this "Create BlackBerry applications with open source tools" series explores how the BlackBerry is a great device for writing and deploying social-networking applications.

Learn how the Squirrel Shell provides an advanced, object-oriented scripting language that works equally well in UNIX, Linux, Mac OS X

Authentication is a the key component of security-based solutions. In client-server models designed over UNIX® systems, distributed network security is of significant importance. In order to meet the stringent security requirements necessary in client-server models, either multi-layer authentication or multifactor authentication or combinations of both are being used by existing systems.

WordPress is the largest self-hosted blogging tool in the world, used on hundreds of thousands of sites and seen by tens of millions of people every day. Learn how easy it is to use Eclipse tools to extend WordPress functionality

4 tips to avoid or fix Linux system cannot mount rootfs errors at boot time. As a Linux® administrator, you may encounter rootfs errors like cannot mount rootfs and kernel panic when you try to reboot a server after attaching volumes from external storage or even after installing a new Linux operating system.. This article outlines the Linux booting process on an x86 platform, shows why this problem happens, and offers four tips to avoid it or fix it.

Benjamin Franklin: scientist, scholar, statesman, and . . . systems administrator? Yes, 200 years or so before the birth of UNIX®, Franklin scribed sage advice to keep systems humming. Here are 10 of Franklin's more notable tips.