Trisha Cornelius

Figuring it out as I go

Step Zero and a Half (Take 2)

Yes, I know it’s been a week. I have been very busy 🙂

We are trying to get Vagrant up and running. Last change was enabling the Linux services on Windows. (We being me, with Riaan at my side for tech support 🙂 )

It turns out that was the trick.

This time round, I just needed to run the commands. I got the error that the directory already existed and is not an empty directory, but did an easy fix of going in and deleting the folder. To find the path the command was pwd.

So, on to the next steps.

False alarm, I forgot that we had reached this point last week. So I spent a bit of time searching the Sitepoint forums and I am definitely not the only person who has experienced this error.

Riaan suggested actually installing the WSL. So that’s what’s going on at the moment. The instructions to install WSL are found here.

Ubuntu installed on Windows. Now the next step is to run the vagrant setup through this. Fingers crossed.

So trying to run the install command per the instructions didn’t quite work. The error message was unable to locate package virtualbox, and then the same for virtualbox-dkms and vagrant. Riaan told me to run sudo apt-get update. That’s now running. There is definitely some wait time involved. And while I know that this isn’t actually compiling, it made me think of this XKCD comic:

Installing a new environment also seems to be a legitimate excuse.

This process has been time consuming and despite me having over 30 gigs of free space, the install ran out of space due to Windows grabbing most of that free space to allow for installations to take place. So when the installation failed I needed to run yet another command, and another, and another.

As we sat down to supper, Riaan suggested that I actually follow Vagrant’s instructions instead of those in the book. So that’s what I plan on doing tomorrow.

So to be continued…again 🙂

Step zero and a half: Getting Homestead Set up

The next instruction is actually getting Vagrant to work. And at a first pass the instructions are intimidating and look a lot like Greek to me.

So, deep breathe. Read all the instructions and take it one step at a time.

First command runs, no problem. Breathe a sigh of relief.

Second command – error can’t find the directory. Okay, let’s open up file explorer and see if its there. Found it. But I don’t think that it should actually live in System32. I think that’s going to cause me issues down the line.

Let’s go back three steps.

Run cd.. on Command Prompt. Thanks Dad. I remember you teaching me this before I went into standard 4. Go into my documents path. Now, let’s step forward to the first command again. Actually, before I do that let’s create a folder named PHPNinja. It will be neater that way. Try and switch to it in the cmd prompt. Get an error. Run dir *.* see that I actually named the folder PHPNovice (internal facepalm). Rename the directory. Re-run the change directory command. It works. Small sigh of triumph.

Now, I can really, run that first command again. Run through previous commands using arrows (such a cool trick). Success, again. Will I be able to get past the second step? Let’s see.

Yes success. In the my_project folder. Step 2b. Run mkdir -p Project/public. Get an error. “The syntax of the command is incorrect.” Ok let’s go two steps back again. Run the command exactly as it is in the instructions. Get an error “The system cannot find the path specified.” Let’s run dir *.* to see if my_project is there. The folder is there. Hmm?

Trying the first command again, appending number 2 to my_project. Let’s see if I can make it work.

No dice. I am relatively confident that I have followed the instructions precisely. Let’s switch over to the blog post referenced for more instructions. Same instructions. Same result. Okay, close cmd. Open Git Bash. Success.

Only problem is I am not entirely sure of where the files are now. That’s a problem for later. Let’s see if I can run the final command in the sequence. Success!

Now, background things have been done. Step 4 is to bring up the box. I enter the command and I press enter. And I wait. My cursor flickers. I wonder if anything is happening. After about 10 seconds (I am using an old machine) the command box begins to populate. I think it is now done. What’s the next instruction? I pause, and actually read the command box. It’s busy downloading. So, time to wait. … and wait … and wait some more… 20 minutes and counting (but for more than just the download).

So after lots of waiting, there’s a new error message: default: chown: cannot access ‘/home/vagrant/.composer/’: No such file or directory
The SSH command responded with a non-zero exit status. Vagrant
assumes that this means the command failed. The output for this command
should be in the log above. Please read the output to determine what
went wrong.

A quick Google search shows that the issue should be resolved. I try my luck and re-run vagrant up. It seems to be running. Oops, false alarm. I call in technical support (aka Riaan) after running a vagrant status check. He recommends that I enable the Windows Linux Subsystem. We do that.

But I need to take a break and go and do grocery shopping.

I’m not going to lie. This is frustrating. But I am very grateful for my perspective and background. When this is happening and I have followed all of the instructions, I am not taking it personally or as an indictment of my capacity. And I know that the slowest thing about getting started with any coding project is setting up the environment.

To be continued…

Getting Set up to learn PHP

As I said yesterday, I am getting back into some development. And this means that before I can actually get anything done I need to get the pre-requisites sorted.

My two main editors that I have worked in with HTML and CSS have been Notepad++ (which I love using to share with people because of its incredibly low barrier to entry and being free) and Sublime (which has very cool code completion and pretty themes). However, my Sublime license is more than 3 years old. So before laying out any money for an upgrade I had a quick chat with Riaan and he recommended that I check out JetBrains WebStorm.

Finding the tools

So to get started I am installing:

  • Git
  • VirtualBox
  • Vagrant
  • JetBrains WebStorm – Not free, but Riaan probably has a license available in his purchases. Downloading a trial version for now.

(Interruption to parent) ( And back online.)

All of the packages are downloaded. Let’s unpack and install

Installing Git

Okay, lots of things that I don’t fully understand here. I am going with if there is a check in a checkbox use that one, and leave everything else blank. Setup completed without any error messages so far, so good.

Installing VirtualBox

Second run (it was in the process of installing Virtual Box that I checked my 2017 assumptions) of installing VirtualBox went smoothly. I do find it interesting that the “Always Trust Software from…” is checked by default. It annoys me in terms of my views relating to consent being ongoing rather than a check-box once off event. But that’s an entirely separate blog series (that may or may not happen).

Remember that things you needed to do in 2017 might not be necessary at the end of 2021

One of the trouble-shooting things that I needed to do nearly five years ago was check whether programs were installing to Program Files(x86) instead of Program Files. And it sort of became an ingrained habit to install to (x86), and I found it interesting that the default path for both Git and VirtualBox didn’t go to (x86). So I did a quick check about the reason that it was necessary to use (x86) and it comes down to needing a work-around for the 32 bit Windows installs. This means that the old habit can be tossed away. And this is a reminder to check my assumptions.

So I had a quick diversion to uninstall Git and VirtualBox, before re-installing them.

Installing Vagrant

Ooh, an MIT license. That’s cool. (Yes, I am a weirdo who will look at which licensing terms are used. Acknowledging that there is a minimal choice in terms of actually accepting the licenses and participating in society…another separate blog post about why organisations like the EFF matter. (The Electronic Frontier Foundation). This is quite a time consuming install.

Installing WebStorm

Or rather the entire JetBrains Toolbox, because as Riaan says, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing.” Everything is installed. Oh wait, this is just the toolbox and I actually need PhpStorm not WebStorm. WebStorm is for JavaScript not PHP. Good call on installing the toolbox, and now PhpStorm is doing its installation thing.

And now, ready to restart and get things ready to go. It’s taken about 45 minutes to get things installed. Time for a system restart and then fingers crossed, everything will work.

Getting back into some development

Hello world,

It’s been a while. The good news is the family and I are all as healthy as can be expected in the middle of a global pandemic. It also means that things have not entirely gone according to plan (If they had I would be in second year of a Bachelor of Education degree). But, its perfectly okay to press pause when necessary.

So I am currently not enrolled for an education degree, but I will again. I am aiming to go back to studying in 2023 and although the shortest duration is 4 years I have set a schedule that will probably have me complete the degree in 7 years.

And I have the teeniest bit of time on my hands. I decided that I want to build a library web app with WordPress for my tutor centre. A few years ago I picked up a copy of Building Web Apps with WordPress by Brian Messenlehner and Jason Coleman after hearing Jason speak at WordCamp Cape Town in 2017 with the idea of learning a bit more. (In 2017 I was very much more focused on the website design and development journey).

I am very close to an absolute beginner when it comes to PHP. So when I read the introduction I saw that I need to take a few steps back and dive back into learning PHP. With that in mind, I have logged into my neglected SitePoint premium membership and have chosen to work using PHP & MySQL: Novice to Ninja.

I have also decided to blog this journey – because, I like seeing others learn.

So, here’s to a coding adventure.

Love and coding,
Trisha

Constantly Evolving

“Once we were blobs in the sea, and then fishes, and then lizards and rats and then monkeys, and hundreds of things in between. This hand was once a fin, this hand once had claws! In my human mouth
I have the pointy teeth of a wolf and the chisel teeth of a rabbit and the grinding teeth of a cow! Our blood is as salty as the sea we used to live in! When we’re frightened, the hair on our skin stands up, just like it did when we had fur. We are history! Everything we’ve ever been on the way to becoming us, we still are. […]
I’m made up of the memories of my parents and my grandparents, all my ancestors. They’re in the way I look, in the colour of my hair. And I’m made up of everyone I’ve ever met who’s changed the way I think.”

Terry Pratchett – A Hat Full of Sky

Hello blog,

It’s been a while. Much has changed in the past year. Firstly, there was Riaan’s diagnosis with Juvenile Onset Parkinsons Disease. Then, I helped out with tutoring some English.

When that happened I relearned something. I am an utter and total English nerd. I love being able to deploy words like hyperbolic and hydraphobic in conversation when the opportunity arises.

And so, I made a decision. I am no longer aspiring to be a WordPress professional. I will continue to love WordPress. I know that I will stay involved in the local community. I am still keeping going to WordCamp Europe and WordCamp US on my bucket list. (And to get WordCamp Africa or Southern Africa to happen.)

Now, I will continue to play with code and I am pivoting to teach English professionally.

Love and Evolution,
Trisha

How to Create a Welcoming Space in Your Tech Environment

Slides and notes from WordCamp Cape Town Talk 2018

I was privileged to give a talk about making a tech space more welcoming at WordCamp Cape Town this year.  This is an interesting topic, because there is so much information on it, and it blends some objective reality with subjective experiences.

This post will include links to my slides and some of the sources that I used in creating this talk.

I am incredibly grateful to the organizers of WordCamp Cape Town for allowing me to present on this topic as it is much easier to ignore the unpleasant realities than to have the difficult conversations.

I would also like to point out that as a cis hetrosexual white woman I am pretty high up on the privilege chain. I hope in this case I used my privilege for good.

Slides

Sources used in creating this talk

As an aside, thank you to the creators of Evernote for allowing me to keep track of a lot of these sources. I am not the most diligent user, but this talk would have been much more difficult without my notebook.

Probably the most valuable resource that you can invest in is Nene Molefi’s book  A Journey of Diversity and Inclusion in South Africa – Guidelines for Leading Inclusively, you can buy it from Takealot.com or Loot.co.za you can also buy the ebook directly from KR publishers.

Blogs, videos and articles etc that I used in formulating this talk

These links are presented in no particular order at all. A few of them are found on sites that are not safe for work or minors and are marked NSFW. I am erring on the side of caution and marking the post NSFW if the site deals with any adult topic regardless of whether the post itself does or not.

In all honesty, this talk was pruned so ruthlessly in an attempt to get it to the 35 minute mark (which I failed at, thanks to Gareth for letting me go over time) that it is likely that some of these resources weren’t directly used, but they all influenced and helped shape the presentation. As such, I am including them here:

Good general websites

Resources if you are harassed at work

If you are the victim of harassment or discrimination at work, here are some resources that might be helpful:

Mental Health Resources

As being harassed or abused can have a negative impact on your mental health you might want to reach out to the South African Depression and Anxiety Group for specific resources in your area.
Open Sourcing Mental Health provides some resources to help you to become stronger than before.

Indirectly related resources

  • Brene Brown’s writing, specifically Daring Greatly
  • Thordis Elva and Tom Stranger: South Of Forgiveness

Conclusion

These are difficult conversations to have. Very few people delight in other people’s suffering. But, it is up to us to step up and be brave. To listen to people who are different from us.

We have the power to make the world better, so let’s do that.