Engadget Interview with Jonathan Schwartz

Just read the Engadget interview with Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's CEO, on porting Java to the Google Android platform, and mobile platforms in general. According to Mr. Schwartz, not only is he using an iPhone, Sun's committed to delivering Java for the device. When asked about Google's Android platform, Schwartz turned attention to the upcoming JavaOne conference. Anyone who's used some of Google's developer products (GWT for example) already knows that Sun is working very closely with Google.

I have an iPhone also. I've been playing with the iPhone SDK, developing a couple of test apps. While I like the phone, I'm less excited about developing applications for the iPhone than I am about it having a Safari browser. I'd much rather use GWT to develop Ajax applications that can be run on IE, Firefox, Safari, Mozilla, and Opera browsers.

Think about it, developing rich client programs for browsers opens up a world of web enabled devices to you.

Installing Eventum on Mac OS X

Last weekend while attempting to install Eventum, a MySQL/PhP based issues tracking system, on my Mac, I ran into a common problem. I say common because of the number of questions I found on the web relating to it. In order to successfully install the software, you have to modify your php.ini file and set allow_call_time_pass_reference = On...which turns out is not an easy task.

First, it's not easy to find the php.ini file. The Finder app will not find it. The best way to locate the file is to create a one line php file on your webserver that contains a php.phpinfo() ? statement. Chances are you did this as part of your php installation anyway, particularly if you used Entropy PhP for the Mac. Running this php app will reveal the location of your php.ini file. On my system, php.ini is located at /usr/local/php5/lib/php.ini (the location on your system may vary).

The next issue becomes, how to get to /usr/local/php5/lib. The easiest way to do this (and maybe the only way) is by pulling up the Terminal application found in your Utilities folder. This app takes you into the Unix shell. Note: Before you do this, make sure that a) you are signed in as the Administrator, b) you are comfortable working in Unix. To get to the directory in Unix, you type cd /usr/local/php5/lib. Once you're there you'll quickly realize that you the php.ini file is read only. In fact, the entire directory is read only. To modify the file, you'll need to back up one level to the /usr/local/php5/ directory and do a chmod 755 lib to allow the files to be modified. Next, go back to the lib directory and vi the php.ini file. Now you're ready to successfully install Eventum.

Good luck, and let me know if you have a better solution.