The October meeting for the MissoulaLUG will be held downtown at Break Espresso on Thursday, October 11th at 6:00pm.

While it is obvious that I've been using OpenVZ for some time now, a lesser known fact is that I've also been using Linux-VServer at work. Linux-VServer is a lot like OpenVZ only different. Huh? Well, Linux-VServer is also a form of OS Virtualization but rather than the term "container" the Linux-VServer folks prefer the term, "security context".

From a feature and operational perspective, Linux-VServer and OpenVZ are very similar but from a design and implementation standpoint, they are quite different. The Linux-VServer setup I've been using at work pre-dates my employment there and it is quite old (based on the Linux 2.4.x kernel)... but it has been running flawlessly so I haven't seen the need to update it. As a result, I've really fallen behind with Linux-VServer's development and how it has changed, matured, and added features over the last couple of years.

Ken Dyke asked me at the BozemanLUG meeting the other evening... if I had found any more good technical videos on Google. I usually search every day... but somehow hadn't found anything worth sharing for a while.

Practical MythTV by Michael Still, Aug. 16, 2007

The second video is about DTrace which is the kernel debugger for Sun's Solaris... but given the coverage on LWN in an article entitled, On DTrace envy which talks about DTrace vs. Linux's SystemTap kernel debugger... more info in DTrace is probably a good thing.

I attended two of the keynotes at LinuxWorld Expo 2007 and here they are as nicely recorded by the LinuxWorld folks. If only these videos were downloadable.

I put the second one on the full story page. It is a talk by one of the founders of VMware about the future of virtualization technologies.

Who: A gathering of those interested in forming and participating in a Missoula Linux Users Group.

When: Wednesday, September 5th, 2007 6:30PM

Where: Break Espresso 432 N Higgins Ave, Downtown Missoula

Why: To meet with, learn from, and share knowledge with other Linux users in the Missoula area, promote the use of Linux, and tell jokes.

Additional information at: Ubuntu Forums - Missoula users

Users of ALL distros are strongly encouraged to attend.

Note: This meeting will probably focus less on using Linux than it does on just the dull bureaucracy of getting the LUG off the ground. So, if you don't currently use Linux but are interested in doing so, you'll probably be more interested in watching out for meeting #2, possibly in early October, maybe earlier, or later. Honestly, we don't know yet.

I had the opportunity to be part of the OpenVZ booth at the recent LinuxWorld Expo in San Francisco where I met the OpenVZ Project Manager, Kir Kolyshkin. He was kind enough to answer some questions for me via email.

About the OpenVZ Project

ML: Please tell me a little bit about yourself... education, hobbies, family... what jobs did have before SWsoft / the OpenVZ project?

Kir KolyshkinKir: I graduated in CS from Ukhta State Technical University, it's in the city where I was born and lived, somewhere 1500 km north from Moscow, the capital of Russia where I live now.

While in the university I had a chance to work and play with not only boring DOS/Windows, but also OS/2, HP-UX, SCO, Novell Netware, and some other operating systems, including Linux of course. My first Linux distro was some ancient version of Slackware, I only remember it came with kernel 1.0.9 and the CD also contained patches for up to 1.1.50. I immediately fell in love with Linux and free software model.

Before I became the project manager for OpenVZ, I worked at a few companies, including positions at Deutsche Bank and at the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom. As for SWsoft, I did a few projects there -- a search engine (ASPseek, now mostly in oblivion), a few projects for Virtuozzo (lead development of vzctl, then kernel testing, then template tools).

I just recently started playing around with installing desktop environments inside of a VPS. It takes a little work as you really don't want to accidentally replace your vzdev package with a distro's stock udev package. Anyway, the video below was resized for embedded flash playback and there is no sound. If you want a MUCH higher quality video, you can can right-click and save as: openvz-via-vnc-with-migration.ogg.

Read the full article for the embedded video because I didn't want it to stretch out the front page.

I took my video camera hoping to do some interviews but given the fact that my first experience using it led to a visit from security telling me I couldn't record anything but the booth I was in... I was a bit wary about recording after that.

Along came a guy (although I didn't catch his name) doing what he called, "50 second .org videos". I latched onto that... and filmed him filming several of the .org booths.

Enjoy if you can a mish-mash of 36 minutes worth video clips. You'll see the following booths: Fedora, OpenVZ, Joomla, The Linux Foundation, Pentaho, and Ubuntu... although technically the Ubuntu booth was not in the .org Pavilion.

I got Carla's permission (from SWsoft) to film the presentation she did on Virtuozzo at the Intel booth... but she let me know up front that it was geared more towards how Intel and SWsoft work together rather than a general presentation on Virtuozzo. That part is about 10 minutes and it isn't too bad.

As usual with any show, the last day on the exhibit floor is very light. Both Marc and I were scheduled for the morning and Scott was not scheduled at all Thursday. We didn't always stick to the schedule though. Marc didn't get in until after 1pm and Scott was there most of the time anyway. Both Kir and Kostya made their rounds to see other exhibits as well did Scott. Not much swag was left, but it was fun to speak with others. In some cases it turned into just a cold-calling out on the floor.

OpenVZ Volunteers
Today Scott and I had plenty of time to get breakfast at Burger King on the way to the Mascone Center! Food at the food court is not very cheap. So I just didn't eat much yesterday. Had planned to eat with the OpenVZ/SWsoft group Tuesday evening but the location they were at when they called was about 1.4 miles away and we were on foot having just finished walking a mile already back to the apartment. So we had to bag out of going. The offer was up again for dinner tonight but Kir and Kostya needed to go to the airport (SFO) to try extending their stay here in SF. Before departing I let them know it would probably be a bit late for us to be out walking the streets. We are not in the better neighborhoods to be out and about on foot.