Oracle Database XE 11g beta

Last week Oracle announced database XE 11g beta:

The beta edition supports only two operating systems:

So what about using the Linux x64 edition?
But first: You should consider the following licensing restrictions (see here):

• Only one CPU will be used.
• Only one installation on a single computer allowed.
• The maximum amount of user data in an Oracle Database XE database cannot exceed 11 gigabytes.
• The maximum amount of RAM that an Oracle Database XE database uses cannot exceed 1 gigabyte
• HTTPS is not supported natively.

The installation itself is straight forward:

1. Log on to your computer with root permissions.
   
2. Go to the following Web site:
   

   http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/database/xe

   
   
3. Click Free Download and follow the instructions to select and download the Linux version of Oracle Database XE.
   
4. Run the Oracle Database XE executable oracle-xe-11.2.0-0.4.x86_64.rpm to install Oracle Database XE.
   

   $ rpm -ivh downloads/oracle-xe-11.2.0-0.4.x86_64.rpm
   

   
   

   The installation displays a status of its progress.

   
   
5. When prompted, run the following command:
   

   $ /etc/init.d/oracle-xe configure
   

6. Enter the following configuration information:
   
   • A valid HTTP port for the Oracle APEX (the default is 8080)
     
   • A valid port for the Oracle database listener (the default is 1521)
     
   • A password for the SYS and SYSTEM administrative user accounts
     
   • Whether you want the database to start automatically when the computer starts
     If you enter Yes, then the database starts immediately
     
   
   

That's it.

Linux Shell Programming: Converting hex to binary

What about:

• You have to convert a hex value into a binary value
• Your only tool is a linux shell
• You have to start in 30s
• You have to do it for >10000 hex values

Write a small program in c or java or whatever you would prefer?

What about this:

schroff@hades:$ echo "ibase=16;obase=2; 10 "|bc
10000
schroff@hades:$ echo "ibase=16;obase=2; 1F "|bc
11111

ibase: base of input value
obase: base of output value
The following bases can be used:

• 16 -> hex
• 10 -> decimal
•  8 -> octal
•  2 -> binary