More Docker Moo

This weekend I finished updating my ToastStunt docker images to fix an issue with some file names and to also add support for PUID and PGID variables so that the containers can be run under a host user.  I'm pretty proud of these containers.  I owe a lot of thanks to the ToastStunt server community and to Lisdude specifically for helping overhaul one of my scripts that was not handling some parameter values with spaces in them properly.  Now it should be a piece of cake for anyone to fire up a ToastStunt moo server in a docker container.  Next I need to go back and add PUID and PGID support to the Lambdamoo server docker images as well.  One step at a time!

Edgerunner Moo and Docker Too

I recently dusted off the old server source code for the patched Lambdamoo server I used to run back in the day along with the rpg core I was building then.  I had thought the core might have been corrupted or that it would never load again due to using various server patched functions that don't exist in the base server, but I was wrong.  It then occurred to me that running my Moo from a Docker container would be an ideal approach.  After a quick search for Lambdamoo dockers and some testing, I realized that I didn't really care for the Moo dockers that existed, so I set forth to building my own.  During this journey I also decided that I needed to move my core to ToastStunt server, which seemed to be the clear winner of the various possibilities out there, since the Lambdamoo server source hasn't changed in over a decade.

After two weeks of speed learning, trial and error, I had working Docker images for both Lambdamoo server and ToastStunt server.  Since then I have been working to improve both images with community help and feedback.  Docker is absolutely wonderful to use, though developing for it has quite the learning curve (especially when your Linux knowledge is lacking).

It really is a wild ride to dive back into a passion project from nearly 25 years ago and learn many new skills as part of that project.  I have also shared a git repo of my moo server docker projects so people can see how the images are built.

DotSerialize

Well I finally have my first fully functional beta release for DotSerialize and I've now posted it on nuget (wooo!).  It's not quite as performant as I'd hoped speed-wise, but it more than delivers in other aspects so I'm still quite happy.  I have now moved onto new projects.

Coding Fever

Lately I've been hit with the urge to code like mad again.  Most of the time work manages to crush any urge to code on my own projects out of me.  By the time I get home I don't even want to think about code (the curse of your main hobby also being your job).  Lately though I've found myself back in the groove and being quite productive.  I published a new library on codeplex called DotSerialize and am working on an article for CodeProject detailing how to customize it to serialize complex data structures.  I'm also working on some commercial enterprises again.  I don't know how long this will last, but I hope I can keep up the steam for another 6 months at least.  Any other programmers out there stay in near perpetual burnout thanks to your job?

I finally watched the Hobbit ...or did I?

I finally watched the first two movies in the Hobbit movie trilogy.  I knew they had added new story elements but I was not prepared for the hatchet job they made of mr. Tolkien's work.  Given how faithful to the original material Jackson was with "Lord of the Rings" I was astonished to see him butcher "The Hobbit".  Over half the film is comprised of completely made up story or heavily modified pieces of the book.  Very little of the original work makes it through untouched.  The result is a movie that loosely follows the story outline of "The Hobbit".  They even change minor story points that don't need changing.  It's as if Jackson said to himself "Tolkien did some good work, but I can make it better for the screen".  I feel like Azog the orc was added to the movie for merchandising purposes.  I will always treasure Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, but I wouldn't wipe my ass with his version of "The Hobbit".  The fact that "The Hobbit" started as a two movie production and then was later changed to a trilogy smacked of a cash grab as far as I was concerned, so I was already prepared for some changes.  The original book would barely fill two movies, so to make it into three meant they would have to add a lot of material never in the books, which is just what they did ... in spades.  I expected better from Peter Jackson.