NonLatin symbols in MySQL

While developing my recent program in databases I found that my program on C# doesn't work correctly with onlatin chracters. It happend with recent version MySql.Data connector assembly from MySql. But there was no such problem when I've used old ByteFX.Data assembly. But old connector has some other error (at least when it works with server 5.2). After digesting a problem I found how to make my program work correctly with nonlatin characters. The solution is obvious: program must use a unicode, so here I'll show that to change in configurations of database and cliet software.

1. Encoding of connection must be Unicode. For this in connection string add this parameter: CharSet=utf8;
2. Encoding of database also must be Unicode. In my.cnf file following variables must be set to utf8: default-character-set and chracter-set-server
3. However this helped me only on Linux machine, on Windows MySQL crashed after string with such prameters. So on Windows I found another possible solution: specify charset only for database: CREATE DATABASE dbName CHARACTER SET = utf8;. This solution is more flexible than previous because it affects only your database and not whole server.

Ubuntu — first try

Recently I've tried to use Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. On virtual machine.

I've tried Linux and FreeBSD a few times before. Not very successful. Though I have to say that these attempts make my brain to think how to use, not just simply "install and use". However I wasn't able to move from familiar Windows environment to unknown *nix.

Some days ago I've decided to try Ubuntu on virtual machine. I've used two of them: VM and VirtualBox.

VirtualBox was the first. What was bad: progress bar of user interface which must be orange was instead almost invisible. But that is not serious bug. Much worse was that while installing OS on virtual HDD it failed on some step without any warning and I wasn't able to start OS from hard drive, the only choice was live-cd but that is not very good because I need to install some software on my OS to feet my purposes.

Then I've tried VM player. It hadn't got problems with progress bar and it installed successfully and now I can run it from virtual HDD. But... I couldn't find how to switch my audio card to OS (that was rather easy on VirtualBox) and, what is much more worse, it had problems with Internet. Internet is too much important for me to use OS without access to it.

As a result of this faulty attempts I've putted Ubuntu on virtual machine in a long-term box and decided.... to try it on real machine. I've already wrote that I'm studying C# now, so I don't think I could leave Windows for a long time, but I could try Ubuntu as an OS for browsing Internet :) Time will show...