"Honey, I just built a Linux RPM package for UPS!"
And my wife says, "UPS? You mean the those cute guys with brown uniform?"
And I said, "Nooo, :) I meant Uninterruptible Power Supply!"
I bought a UPS from Amazon.com about a year ago. It was pretty inexpensive one. I only paid $56.99 with no Tax and no Shipping & Handling. But I've been using it as nothing but an expensive power-strip since I didn't think there was any UPS software for Linux with the UPS I bought. I was wrong.
The true power with UPS comes from Shutdown Management Software that controls the UPS from a computer when there is a power outage. Of course, you need to connect your UPS with some kind of cable. Mine (F6H500-SER) came with a serial cable but newer model now comes with USB cable. You can tell by reading the model number ends to "SER" or "USB" on Belkin Catalog web site.
As a Linux user, I feel left out when ever I see an ad says:
"...Comes with XYZ Software thats compatible with Windows XP, 95/98, 2000, NT..."My UPS was no exception. The box also says:
"Comes with Bulldog Software thats compatible with Windows XP, 95/98, 2000, NT"
So I wondered is "Bulldog" an UPS software?
Do they even have an UPS software for Linux?
My first stop was Belkin's Support site and I narrowed it down to following URL:
http://web.belkin.com/support/download/download.asp?download=F6H500-SER&lang=1&mode=
"Oh great nothing for Linux"
But my disappointment soon became a joy when I found by accident a LINUX directory when I inserted the CD-ROM that came with UPS.
As usual, it was a tarball but not a nicely-built RPM package. So I told myself. "How hard could it be to build an RPM package for Fedora Core 1 based on their tarball? For next 10 hours, I did nothing but typing and testing the RPM package and I finally built a Linux RPM package for UPS called bulldog!
See next page to see the result
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