[TAG] Jim, HELP needed, 5-minute solution needed by computer industry

[Aviongoo Sales]

Ben,

Sorry, but I have no idea what "We'd all really apreciate it if you didn't 
top post, either." means.  So, if I've done it again please explain.

In my opinion, trying to teach PHP as an object-oriented language is simply 
wrong!  PHP was not designed to be an object-oriented language and I do not 
use a CLASS in anything I develop.  And, most of the PHP code I see 
implemented by others is not object-oriented either.

On the other hand when an advertisement specifically asks for a PHP5 person, 
I always ask if they have ever implemented object-oriented PHP.  Often they 
are seeking a replacement for someone that has left them a whole bunch of 
PHP5 code they do not understand.

And, who in their right mind would use "->" for anything other than 
something to do with "minus" or "greater than"!!!!!  Whomever did that in 
PHP development was just not thinking.

Of course, I've been writing PHP code for well over a decade so there was no 
attempt at object-orientation back then.  I was previously a VB 6 programmer 
and before that I coded in ASM, BAL, Fortran, Algol, COBOL, APL, PL/I, C, 
C++ and several other languages.  Out of all the languages my favorite is 
PHP.  I love it because of all the functions that exist to do precisely what 
you need to accomplish.  I hate to reinvent the wheel.  I find PHP to be 
very flexible as a language on the server.  There is not a server-based 
application development project where PHP can not be used.

You said, "Why not configure your PC to connect to your server via, say, SSH 
and download the files that you want?".  The task I defined is UPLOAD not 
download.  Secondly, I guess I am still not explaining myself well.  I'll 
try again.  I'll explain it in terms of 1) what I want to accomplish, and 2) 
what I want to do to achieve what I want to accomplish.

1) I want to implement a file upload program where a custom PC-based 
application can determine and specify the file to be uploaded at a specific 
time without human intervention
2) I want to go to Google and enter something like "vb.net code to upload a 
file to Linux server" (without quotes).  I want working code to be displayed 
that I can copy and use.  I want to have a solution implemented within five 
minutes (300 seconds) and no more.

As I said, I already have a solution.  While I thank you for your "SSH" 
suggestion (I usually use PuTTY), and while I might develop a solution that 
uses SSH - your suggestion misses the point.  Using "SSH" in a google search 
"code for programmatic use of SSH to upload a file to Linux server" does not 
come close to presenting me with code I can use.

Seriously, the key point is this - I find it incredible that after entering 
numerous Google, Bing, and Yahoo queries similar to "vb.net code to upload a 
file to Linux server" and not a single one has produced a result where I can 
copy and paste working vb.net code or even old vb code.  When code was 
displayed it was usually in the form of a question i.e. "why doesn't this 
code work?".

I simply can not believe a working solution has not been documented and 
indexed in Google.  But it hasn't!

And that is why I thought the Linux community would be interested.  Since 
Linux is not close to replacing Windows client machines, at least Linux 
should want to make it easy for programmers to do basic client/server 
operations - such as implement a file upload under program control solution. 
I guess I was wrong that the Linux community would be interested.

PLEASE, ANYONE ON THIS LIST, DO NOT SEND ME A SOLUTION.  I already have a 
working solution.

Thanks,
Bill




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ben Okopnik" <ben at linuxgazette.net>
To: TAG <tag at lists.linuxgazette.net>
To: "The Answer Gang" <tag at lists.linuxgazette.net>
Cc: "Aviongoo Sales" <sales at aviongoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2009 9:09 PM
Subject: Re: [TAG] Jim, HELP needed, 5-minute solution needed 
bycomputerindustry


> Hi, Bill -
>
> [Please remember to CC the list the next time. We'd all really apreciate
> it if you didn't top post, either.]
>
> ----- Forwarded message from Aviongoo Sales <sales at aviongoo.com> -----
>
>> Ben,
>>
>> I love PHP.  Unfortunately not all people do.
>
> I teach the stuff - just came back from a week of teaching an advanced
> course at a major insurance company - and I don't love it at all. PHP
> is, in my opinion, unforgivably buggy, has *way* too many functions and
> way too little flexibility, makes it too easy to write bad code, and has
> too few testing/validation tools. It's relatively easy to learn/use
> initially, but it quickly runs out of power; it uses a horribly-broken
> imitation of OO which is missing much of the point of OO methodology,
> and it is responsible for more than a third of *all* vulnerabilities in
> the National Vulnerability Database last year (it was almost _half_ of
> all vulns back in 2006.) The only way to make it even marginally better
> requires using a closed-source app with a truly weird licensing scheme
> (Zend), and even that solution is less than wonderful.
>
> In essence, PHP reminds me of those brightly-colored ices that are sold
> by ice cream trucks: they're pretty and sweet and pleasant on a hot day,
> but in just a few minutes, they melt and run all over your clothes,
> staining them forever with potentially toxic chemicals.
>
> But that could just be the result of intense contact with it over the
> past week. A month down the road, I'll probably have a somewhat milder
> opinion of it. :)
>
>> I was forced into writing
>> part of a solution using VB.NET on a PC to connect to my PHP software on 
>> a
>> Linux server.
>>
>> And, I've already cobbled together a solution to meet my personal needs.
>>
>> However, the bigger issue remains the same.  Before I developed my own
>> solution (I used command-line ftp code - MSDOS lives!!!!), I searched for 
>> a
>> "PHP-VB.NET solution".  I can understand the Microsoft community not
>> wanting to provide a solution, however, I can not understand why the PHP
>> community would not document a solution!  Throughout my searches I have
>> never discovered a "drop in the code and go" solution.
>>
>> I even have an Apache server and PHP installed on my PC - but that 
>> solution
>> does not work all the time.  For example, currently my ISP seems to have
>> configured something so that Dynamic DNS does not work.
>
> Why not configure your PC to connect to your server via, say, SSH and
> download the files that you want? At that point, it doesn't matter
> whether DynDNS works or not; as long as you have network connectivity,
> you'll have your files.
>
>> So, in my mind it is a PHP community task to be able to talk to any 
>> client
>> - after all, PHP is primarily for servers.  I especially think the PHP
>> community is missing the boat by not providing a simple seamless solution
>> to connect a Windows client to a Linux server.
>
> Why do you consider that to be something that PHP should do? This is
> like saying that PHP should include a web browser: from some odd
> perspective, that may sound reasonable (after all, PHP is designed to
> work with the Web, it's a programming language, and so on), but in
> reality, it makes no sense at all.
>
>> That's why I mentioned a
>> "5-minute" solution.
>
> What I've suggested above won't take much more than that - assuming that
> you already have the tools installed on your machine.
>
>> Because these days when you want to get a project
>> done, there is no time to search for hours for a solution.  You either 
>> find
>> it from a search or build it yourself.  But, when you build it yourself, 
>> it
>> is generally a custom solution.
>>
>> Are you telling me that a simple solution to programmatically upload a
>> single file from a VB.NET application to a PHP server is not somthing 
>> that
>> would be useful to the PHP community?  I beg to differ!
>
> If VB.NET supports something like a 'system' call, then you're already
> done. The PuttySSH site, for example
> (http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/) provides you with
> a Wind0ws version of 'scp'; that's really all you need.
>
>
> -- 
> * Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *