Time for a human readable privacy policy?

Up until now TurnKey hasn't had an explicit privacy policy, and that seemed ok because no one ever asked about it. But now that the latest release integrates TurnKey appliances more closely with the TurnKey Hub (e.g., TKLBAM, geo-ip auto apt mirror) and the Hub gets access to sensitive data as part of its normal operation, I felt it was about time we gave this some more thought.

TurnKey Linux 11 released (part one)

Ladies and gentlemen, part 1 of the TurnKey Linux 11 release is now officially out, including 45 new images based on Ubuntu 10.04.1. We pushed out the 11.0 release candidates 3 months ago, and with the help of the community have tested the images and resolved the few remaining issues.

Practical guidelines for beautiful Python code

Every now and then Liraz and I find ourselves chatting about how much we love Python, but more so the lessons we have learned from coding, and how to apply them to create beautiful Python code. I've tried to refine some of the "lessons" into practical guidelines that I apply religiously to all new code I write, and the refactoring of old code I written.

Secure, flexible and scalable Amazon EC2 instance preseeding

I'd like to introduce Joe. He is a good looking, experienced sys-admin and like all good sysadmins, he has more stuff to do than time to do it.

Joe wants to get up and running on Amazon EC2 with a Wordpress installation, and chooses to do so with a pre-configured appliance. These are the steps Joe performs:

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TurnKey website refreshed

I've just finished updating the TurnKey website with a range of improvements designed to smooth over existing rough spots and better accommodate the needs of the project as it expands with the upcoming release. 

Veteran community members using modern browsers may also notice the site looks just a bit more visually pleasing now. Otherwise I've just been obsessively tweaking the stylesheets for nothing.

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Git - Fixing commit mistakes

I use Git. I use it a lot. I basically use it for everything I do, from code revision control to revisioning my notes, my journal, even my email archive (don't ask, it's a long story).
 
As with anything you do, you are bound to make mistakes.

Making TurnKey more turnkey - the end to default passwords

In our quest to make the upcoming TurnKey 11.0 release more "turnkey", I set out to extend the firstboot inithooks to include application specific configuration hooks such as setting of the admin password, email and domain to serve (where applicable).

I'm glad to announce that the quest is now over, and that puts the end to default passwords.

Tweaking Django exceptions with custom middleware

When settings.DEBUG is set to False, exception tracebacks will be sent to settings.ADMINS. To make it simpler to track down how and why the exception was raised, it's beneficial to know which user caused the exception.

It's quite simple to do this using some custom middleware. In the Hub, we include the associated users email address in the exception with the following:

Headless PHP Drupal script deletes spam zombie user accounts

For for the last few months automatic bots have been creating hundreds of zombie accounts per day on the TurnKey web site. I'm not sure why they bother. I assume it has something to do with spamming, but they never log in. Besides, spam almost never gets past our content filter (Mollom) and when it does we always nuke it. Zero tolerance.

Brains...

Meanwhile these zombie accounts are polluting my precious database, and that bothers me. Besides, call me prejudiced, but I just hate zombies. You're either alive or you're dead. Pick a side!

Announcing the winners of the first TurnKey development contest

Ladies and gentlemen, by now you are all shuddering in anticipation, dying to find out who won the very first TurnKey appliance development contest... in the history of the universe!

The stakes couldn't be higher. In truth, all three of our winners will lavish in (varying proportions of) unending fame and riches, but only one man will get the exotic, elusive embodiment of the Django pony goddess. Oh ye most blasphemous infidel will ask, why thee persists in worshiping a pony, thus pink and plush. Hush I say, tis not any earthly pony we worship, but the very symbol of the holy bond that ties all open source communities together. So say we all!

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