cmurray.org

I recently installed on my LAMP machine at home (the very machine that hosts this blog) VMWare and VNC. VMWare, remarkably to me, allows me to create a virtual Linux server (or several other OSs) inside of the main Linux machine. This virtual host is a stand-alone device complete with its own IP address. Once I have built this machine to my liking, I can clone it to make a second, identical virtual host. The two hosts communicate within their own private network but also are not only aware of the outside network to the internet but can be connected to from outside as well.

While the LAMP box itself runs RedHat Linux, I chose to use Ubuntu for the virtual servers. Ubuntu is a very slick package and simple to install. I especially like the apt-get features for installing new applications and servers. This is a command-line interface that reaches out to repositories on the internet to find, retrieve, and install packages. Quite simply, I could type on the command-line $apt-get install apache2, and the service will get it and install it for me.

Because I do not have a monitor attached to my LAMP server, I needed a way to display back the machine so that I could use the VMWare workstation tools. I installed the VNC server on the LAMP box and the VNC client on my laptop PC. When I connect to the LAMP server, I get a window displaying its desktop as if I were really on that machine. This is an ideal solution for inside my home network but because of the amount of data being streamed to constantly update the display it may not be a great idea from anywhere more remote. Then again, I really only need to be “on” the machine when building and cloning virtual machines, which after the first instance will be fairly infrequently.

This week I bought a 250GB hard drive (TigerDirect, $79 after $50 rebate), and intend to rebuild the LAMP server (perhaps with Ubuntu as the core) and then buy a licensed copy of VMWare Workstation ($180; I have been using the 30-day trial), leaving me with a virtual server farm that acts as both development and production environments. In fact, next time I write a blog entry, if all goes well, it will appear from that virtual space.

Remarkable stuff.

So, where do I pick up my check?

Hrmm … maybe I’ll wait … post more pictures of pigmy elephants and birds with squirrels in their grip … drive up the price …

Several weeks ago I wrote about my discontent with the open-source CMS Joomla. Well, I take it all back … most of it anyway.

I was bemoaning a lack of substantive corporate intranet, while also figuring communication methods for the online team. Rather than blasting lengthly email updates throughout the organization, I wanted to send summaries with links to more content, newsletters if you will. But where to store that linked content?

So with renewed determination I returned to my Joomla install. And to my surprise, within only a couple hours I had a full-blown intranet site (shown in the capture above), complete with news sections for the various teams, corporate blog, linked forums using SMF, aggregated news feeds, and a corporate phone and email list. Once I had a better idea of how content is managed and displayed within the tool, the administration was fairly straight-forward. There also are available many modules and add-ons, such as a file explorer for uploading files to the server, and a polling module (that actually limits you from voting more than once). In addtion, the administrator has lots of control over who can contribute and to which sections. There even is a support desk ticketing system, but I’d like to make some code modifications to that. I am very excited to roll this puppy out!

I believe also that this tool is the closest thing to filling that CMS gap discussed in other posts by myself and David Churbuck and others. I can easily see a company using this tool as a publishing platform where a WordPress may not be enough and a Vignette or Interwoven is out of reach. Joomla is a serious contender.

I am a staunch advocate of the corporate intranet: it fosters greater communication, encourages participation, promotes pride among employees, and is a mechanism with which to build a corporate culture. Now, using our new newsletter delivery system, we can send weekly and monthy updates that drive the company to the intranet.

Factoid: The name Joomla! is a phonetic spelling for the Swahili word “Jumla”, which means “all together” or “as a whole”.