[gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Greetings,

a somehow offtopic topic ... ;-)

I assume most of you are sysadmins and IT guys, employed or running
their own company.

How do you track your work for customers?

Especially the everyday tasks, which sometimes are very short and lots
of them are done, hopping from one server/customer to the next.

Do you use something like the gnome hamster applet? I lost track of it
since gnome-3 ...

I am still searching for an efficient way to track my work as I often
get the feeling that I lose money by not keeping enough logs of my
everyday work. Also the many todos are often hard to maintain, I don't
really like creating tasks in Lightning, for example.

I'd like to hear your opinions and recommendations, for sure I'd be
happy to hear that the tools are available within portage.

Thanks, Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Mar 6, 2012 5:57 PM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>
>
> Greetings,
>
> a somehow offtopic topic ... ;-)
>
> I assume most of you are sysadmins and IT guys, employed or running
> their own company.
>
> How do you track your work for customers?
>
> Especially the everyday tasks, which sometimes are very short and lots
> of them are done, hopping from one server/customer to the next.
>
> Do you use something like the gnome hamster applet? I lost track of it
> since gnome-3 ...
>
> I am still searching for an efficient way to track my work as I often
> get the feeling that I lose money by not keeping enough logs of my
> everyday work. Also the many todos are often hard to maintain, I don't
> really like creating tasks in Lightning, for example.
>
> I'd like to hear your opinions and recommendations, for sure I'd be
> happy to hear that the tools are available within portage.
>
> Thanks, Stefan
>

Well, I use Gleeo Time Tracker on my Samsung Galaxy W phone... that way I
don't have to power up my laptop just to record time...

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 06.03.2012 13:58, schrieb Pandu Poluan:

> Well, I use Gleeo Time Tracker on my Samsung Galaxy W phone... that way
> I don't have to power up my laptop just to record time...

I installed it and will have a look, thanks.

It depends on the workflow, I'd want something accessible from the
desktop as well. But I test ;-)

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Mar 6, 2012 8:24 PM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>
> Am 06.03.2012 13:58, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
>
> > Well, I use Gleeo Time Tracker on my Samsung Galaxy W phone... that way
> > I don't have to power up my laptop just to record time...
>
> I installed it and will have a look, thanks.
>
> It depends on the workflow, I'd want something accessible from the
> desktop as well. But I test ;-)
>
>

Well, of course sooner or later, you'll have to use a desktop to produce a
billable report. Gleeo is perfectly able to export to CSV, and you can
tabulate the data using LibreOffice.

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Mick]

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On Tuesday 06 Mar 2012 13:30:46 Pandu Poluan wrote:
> On Mar 6, 2012 8:24 PM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
> > Am 06.03.2012 13:58, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
> > > Well, I use Gleeo Time Tracker on my Samsung Galaxy W phone... that way
> > > I don't have to power up my laptop just to record time...
> > 
> > I installed it and will have a look, thanks.
> > 
> > It depends on the workflow, I'd want something accessible from the
> > desktop as well. But I test ;-)
> 
> Well, of course sooner or later, you'll have to use a desktop to produce a
> billable report. Gleeo is perfectly able to export to CSV, and you can
> tabulate the data using LibreOffice.
> 
> Rgds,

* app-office/taskcoach
     Available versions:  
			1.2.31 "amd64 x86" [libnotify]
		~	1.3.8 "~amd64 ~x86" [libnotify]
     Homepage:            http://www.taskcoach.org 
http://pypi.python.org/pypi/TaskCoach
     Description:         Simple personal tasks and todo lists manager

Don't know if there is a phone version too.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 06.03.2012 14:30, schrieb Pandu Poluan:

> Well, of course sooner or later, you'll have to use a desktop to produce
> a billable report. Gleeo is perfectly able to export to CSV, and you can
> tabulate the data using LibreOffice.

Sure. What I meant is that it sounds a bit strange to have to use my
smartphone to track work while I sit at my
2x22"-displays-fully-powered-workstation-with-keyboard all day long ;-)

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Mar 6, 2012 9:46 PM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>
> Am 06.03.2012 14:30, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
>
> > Well, of course sooner or later, you'll have to use a desktop to produce
> > a billable report. Gleeo is perfectly able to export to CSV, and you can
> > tabulate the data using LibreOffice.
>
> Sure. What I meant is that it sounds a bit strange to have to use my
> smartphone to track work while I sit at my
> 2x22"-displays-fully-powered-workstation-with-keyboard all day long ;-)
>
>

Ah, I see :-)

My workflow happens to be jumping from a station to another, so I try not
turning on my laptop, reserving its battery for the times when I truly need
it. That's why I prefer having my time tracker on my phone, which stays on
24x7.

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 06.03.2012 16:55, schrieb Pandu Poluan:

> My workflow happens to be jumping from a station to another, so I try
> not turning on my laptop, reserving its battery for the times when I
> truly need it. That's why I prefer having my time tracker on my phone,
> which stays on 24x7.

Makes perfect sense in your case. Do you have each customer as a project
or how do you organize it?

S

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Mar 7, 2012 12:06 AM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>
> Am 06.03.2012 16:55, schrieb Pandu Poluan:
>
> > My workflow happens to be jumping from a station to another, so I try
> > not turning on my laptop, reserving its battery for the times when I
> > truly need it. That's why I prefer having my time tracker on my phone,
> > which stays on 24x7.
>
> Makes perfect sense in your case. Do you have each customer as a project
> or how do you organize it?
>
> S
>

Yes, each customer is a project, then I create the following taskslots
immediately: Planning, Preparation, Deploy, Test, Final. I may add or
delete taskslots as I see fit later on during Planning.

Then, I just tap on Gleeo's "play" icon whenever I begin working.

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 06.03.2012 18:25, schrieb Pandu Poluan:

> Yes, each customer is a project, then I create the following taskslots
> immediately: Planning, Preparation, Deploy, Test, Final. I may add or
> delete taskslots as I see fit later on during Planning.
> 
> Then, I just tap on Gleeo's "play" icon whenever I begin working.

I will "play" with it for a while to see if it fits ;-)

The gnome hamster applet would be helpful if it worked against a DB
somewhere ... have it on the desktop and the thinkpad and just press the
shortkey ....

gotta check how it works with gnome3 now.

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 06.03.2012 21:32, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:

> The gnome hamster applet would be helpful if it worked against a DB
> somewhere ... have it on the desktop and the thinkpad and just press the
> shortkey ....
> 
> gotta check how it works with gnome3 now.

The dev has some work done for an extension for gnome shell:

https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension

Something for my todo-list. If I had some ;-)

S

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Pandu Poluan]

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On Mar 7, 2012 6:07 AM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>
> Am 06.03.2012 21:32, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
>
> > The gnome hamster applet would be helpful if it worked against a DB
> > somewhere ... have it on the desktop and the thinkpad and just press the
> > shortkey ....
> >
> > gotta check how it works with gnome3 now.
>
> The dev has some work done for an extension for gnome shell:
>
> https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension
>
> Something for my todo-list. If I had some ;-)
>
> S
>

Most important IMO is the capability to expert as CSV; then you can slice
and dice it every which way you want :-)

Rgds,

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Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Bryan Gardiner]

On Wed, 7 Mar 2012 07:38:08 +0700
Pandu Poluan <pandu@poluan.info> wrote:

> On Mar 7, 2012 6:07 AM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
> >
> > Am 06.03.2012 21:32, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> >
> > > The gnome hamster applet would be helpful if it worked against a
> > > DB somewhere ... have it on the desktop and the thinkpad and just
> > > press the shortkey ....
> > >
> > > gotta check how it works with gnome3 now.
> >
> > The dev has some work done for an extension for gnome shell:
> >
> > https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension
> >
> > Something for my todo-list. If I had some ;-)
> >
> > S
> >
> 
> Most important IMO is the capability to expert as CSV; then you can
> slice and dice it every which way you want :-)
> 
> Rgds,

I'm going to throw out that org-mode is also excellent for tossing
around notes, scheduling, and time-tracking, though my experience
with the time-tracking portion of it is limited so I'm not sure how
well that would serve you.

And it's all just text(TM) with a nice simple syntax.  Definitely worth
a look if Emacs is your editor of choice.

Cheers,
Bryan

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 2012-03-07 07:12, schrieb Bryan Gardiner:
> On Wed, 7 Mar 2012 07:38:08 +0700
> Pandu Poluan <pandu@poluan.info> wrote:
> 
>> On Mar 7, 2012 6:07 AM, "Stefan G. Weichinger" <lists@xunil.at> wrote:
>>>
>>> Am 06.03.2012 21:32, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
>>>
>>>> The gnome hamster applet would be helpful if it worked against a
>>>> DB somewhere ... have it on the desktop and the thinkpad and just
>>>> press the shortkey ....
>>>>
>>>> gotta check how it works with gnome3 now.
>>>
>>> The dev has some work done for an extension for gnome shell:
>>>
>>> https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension
>>>
>>> Something for my todo-list. If I had some ;-)
>>>
>>> S
>>>
>>
>> Most important IMO is the capability to expert as CSV; then you can
>> slice and dice it every which way you want :-)
>>
>> Rgds,
> 
> I'm going to throw out that org-mode is also excellent for tossing
> around notes, scheduling, and time-tracking, though my experience
> with the time-tracking portion of it is limited so I'm not sure how
> well that would serve you.
> 
> And it's all just text(TM) with a nice simple syntax.  Definitely worth
> a look if Emacs is your editor of choice.

oh, sorry, vi(m) here :-P

thanks, S

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan Schmiedl]

Am 08.03.2012 20:00, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:

> oh, sorry, vi(m) here :-P

I'm using a plain text file (ok |-separated values) for this and a 
single macro:

   imap <localleader>m <SPACE>\| <ESC>"=strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")<CR>pa¶

Then, in insert mode \m appends " | <now>" after the cursor,
and you have just fixed the start or stop time for the entry.

My work log looks like this:

client | item | start | stop

and once it's been run through my billing script, the billed items
are tagged

client | item | start | stop | billed

s.

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 09.03.2012 14:37, schrieb Stefan Schmiedl:
> Am 08.03.2012 20:00, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> 
>> oh, sorry, vi(m) here :-P
> 
> I'm using a plain text file (ok |-separated values) for this and a
> single macro:
> 
>   imap <localleader>m <SPACE>\| <ESC>"=strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")<CR>pa¶
> 
> Then, in insert mode \m appends " | <now>" after the cursor,
> and you have just fixed the start or stop time for the entry.
> 
> My work log looks like this:
> 
> client | item | start | stop
> 
> and once it's been run through my billing script, the billed items
> are tagged
> 
> client | item | start | stop | billed

interesting approach, thanks!

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 07.03.2012 00:02, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> Am 06.03.2012 21:32, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> 
>> The gnome hamster applet would be helpful if it worked against a DB
>> somewhere ... have it on the desktop and the thinkpad and just press the
>> shortkey ....
>>
>> gotta check how it works with gnome3 now.
> 
> The dev has some work done for an extension for gnome shell:
> 
> https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension
> 
> Something for my todo-list. If I had some ;-)

I added the overlay "ephemeral" via layman and emerged both:



[I] gnome-extra/hamster-applet
     Available versions:  2.32.1 (~)9999[1] {{eds libnotify}}
     Installed versions:  9999[1](15:47:50 20.03.2012)
     Homepage:            http://projecthamster.wordpress.com/
     Description:         Time tracking for the masses

[I] gnome-extra/hamster-shell-extension [1]
     Available versions:  (~)9999
     Installed versions:  9999(15:54:18 20.03.2012)
     Homepage:            https://github.com/tbaugis/hamster-shell-extension
     Description:         Shell extension for hamster applet

[1] "ephemeral" /var/lib/layman/ephemeral


Restarted gnome-shell, activated extension ...
but it only works partially.

I can track an activity but "Show Overview" does not work.

I get stuff in "dmesg":

hamster-windows[25178] general protection ip:7ff1e10e2a5f
sp:7fff91696ed8 error:0 in libc-2.14.1.so[7ff1e0fca000+181000]
hamster-time-tr[25186] general protection ip:7fef32f88a5f
sp:7fff85612168 error:0 in libc-2.14.1.so[7fef32e70000+181000]
hamster-windows[25461] general protection ip:7ff9229baa5f
sp:7fff44d46388 error:0 in libc-2.14.1.so[7ff9228a2000+181000]
hamster-windows[25671] general protection ip:7f69819dfa5f
sp:7fff9adcf3d8 error:0 in libc-2.14.1.so[7f69818c7000+181000]

I couldn't find matching bugs in their project-bugzilla.

Could it be that my libc.so is too new?
Does anyone of you run that stuff?

Stefan

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 20.03.2012 18:47, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:

> Restarted gnome-shell, activated extension ...
> but it only works partially.
> 
> I can track an activity but "Show Overview" does not work.

just to extract my hamster.db to be able to write invoices:

exported the db via a working hamster applet (gnome 2.32) in a vm
running a live dvd ... ;-)

S

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 20.03.2012 18:47, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:

> hamster-windows[25671] general protection ip:7f69819dfa5f
> sp:7fff9adcf3d8 error:0 in libc-2.14.1.so[7f69818c7000+181000]
> 
> I couldn't find matching bugs in their project-bugzilla.
> 
> Could it be that my libc.so is too new?
> Does anyone of you run that stuff?

update on this:

on my ~am64 thinkpad it works ... on my ~amd64 desktop it does not work.

I even tried a new user, still no hamster-overview in Gnome3.

recompiling piles of stuff already ;-)

Re: [gentoo-user] tracking IT work

[Stefan G. Weichinger]

Am 03.04.2012 17:53, schrieb Stefan G. Weichinger:
> on my ~am64 thinkpad it works ... on my ~amd64 desktop it does not work.

pragmatic approach (again):

quickpkg on thinkpad, copy over, emerge -k ...

works.