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Contents: |
The work being done with the LG is great! As for ideas, taking into account that most known applications are those which are for the PCs ( DOS based or Windog based ) why not a section dedicated to those ( like me ) that wish that soon we will get a Linuz that will be filesystem wise, a Linux wich will run DOS applications without having to distinguish from those meant for Linux/Unix, and things like that.
-- Bye/Francisco :)
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 97 11:24:23 -0500
Subject: Request
From: Bill R. Williams, brw@etsu-tn.edu
Actually, this is more a request than a "Letter to the Editor"; however, you may use it as/if you see fit.
A fundamental element of security is the use of "shadow" passwords. Linux (and some commercial un*x!) systems do not necessarily include this feature by default. (I have thus far always used Slackware and it does not install with the Shadow Password Suite (SPS) configured.)
I consider SPS absolutely essential to any un*x (Linux) system which is accessable by users. In other words: No, I don't need it on my home Linux because that system is not connected to a network and I'm the only one using it. While there are worse things than having to install the SPS it is a task that I really dread. Makes me very nervous.
So here's a question for those of you who have evaluated the various Linux distributions: Do any of the distributions provide Linux with the SPS installed and all the appropriate utilities and other pre-built packages built against the SPS? (Such as sudo and wu-ftpd.)
A related question which is not immediately obvious: Using a given distribution -- Red Hat or Debian or whatever -- are there any potential hazards in bringing in packages which may not be part of that distribution? Since I have no experience with anything other than Slackware I do not know what is involved in the packaging software used by other vendors; however, I am aware that some vendors do have utilities which can track the levels of various components. If I were to install some software package which might not be part of the "installed" distribution what is the probability that I will "step on" the original installation's package tracking? As a trivial example: Suppose I want to install 'Doom' from my old Slackware CD-ROM onto my "Miranda v0.01" distribution of Linux. Am I going to have a problem over this when I go to update my "Miranda" with a new release? (Linus had a new "Miranda" in January! See, it could happen. ;-)
And on an entirely different subject... There has GOT to be, somewhere, a utility which can be used to CORRECTLY configure the monitor settings for XFree! I have tried. I really have. Every time I come across an item on this subject I read and study it, but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get it through my thick head as to what's what. The supplied servers can figure out the video cards with no problem, but then there's the stuff dealing with the monitor and refresh rates and Hz and KHz and bandwidth and dot clocks and... this is where I lose it completely. Something with heuristic abilities which would allow me to just type in everything in my monitor's manual which the program would parse out into the significant lines for the XF86config file such than when I start X I have *no* modes which cause the output to skew off to the side and thereby causing me to worry that I've fried the tube. (*sigh*)
I have the new X (v3.4?) with the graphic setup utility. Better. But there are *still* modes which are frightening to see. "...push down one place it just bubbles up somewhere else."
Comments, articles, and/or suggestions on all the above from the fine folks at "Linux Journal" and the readers thereof will be much appreciated!
Bill R. Williams
Date: Sat, 01 Mar 1997 20:49:13 -0800
Subject: X Windows Depth...Linear Addressing Problem.
From: Nicky Wilson, benson@znet.com
After fiddling with the xf86config file in a concerted effort to coax X into displaying 16 bit color, I was dismayed to learn that with my current hardware (16 megs RAM and a Cirrus Logic GL-5426) 16 bit color is *impossible*...not because of any hardware incapability, but because of a certain limitation of X Windows itself...a problem with linear addressing. Seems that to have 16 bit color under X, one must have linear addressing enabled, which only works if the system has *no more than 14 megs RAM*.
(*blink*)
So I'm just two megs from the 16 bit color I so took for granted under Win95. I can't even pull out two megs (downgrading my system to work under Linux?!) because of my one 16 meg memory chip.
There has *got* to be a way. I was hoping to work on my graphics stuff under Linux, but 256 colors just doesn't cut it.
Does anyone at Linux Gazette have a solution? I heard something about making a two meg "memory hole" (?), or a program that fools the system into thinking that there's less RAM than there actually is. Any ideas? (I wonder if the X development team are working on this problem?)
Thanks for any input.
Your Friendly Local Neighborhood Novice,
Nicky
Date: Sat, 15 Mar 1997 03:41:04 GMT
Subject: Soundcard under Linux
From: L Hatch, tn00607@ibm.net
After recompiling my kernel I managed to get my soundcard working under Linux ... the only problem is that I have to boot into dos first to set up the card ... the card is softset through my autoexec bat ... its an ESS Audiodrive .. any suggestions
Another question as well ... I want to connect two machines together using a modem dialup connection .. I want to be able to dial from a standard comm prg under dos, win, win95, etc and turn control of the terminal over to the person on the other end so that they can use a linux shell in their comm prg ... managed to do it under dos by getting a mdm connection and then doing a ctty com2: at the command prompt to turn control over to them ... they would get a C:> and be able to enter commands, and get the output in their comm prg ... any suggestions of how to do it under linux thanks
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 1997 15:11:45 -0800
Subject: Stupid question
From: Steve Arnold, sarnold@rain.org
Howdy: I just searched your site looking for an answer, but failing that, I'll just ask directly:
What the heck is the screen-blanker that runs under the console by default (ie, what is the name, where is it started, etc)?
In the old RedHat 2.1 (kernel 1.2.13) it was disabled after X starts, but in the new Redhat 4.0 (kernel 2.0.28) it still kicks in under X, even when running xlock or something similar.
What binary and what switch do I throw to disable the console screen-blanker under X?
Thanks in advance, Steve Arnold
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 1997 11:55:35 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Linux Question
From: Peter Pereira Stamford,
stamford@bme.unc.edu
Hi, I am a gazette reader and have a question that might be of interest to others too. It's a mixture of hardware + software problem. Before I sent this mail I did a quick overview of all the gazette's table of contents and Linux How-To's. I didn't find any help in these two places. If this is a common question and I missed it please forgive me.
With the spread of different systems, many can end up owning several small monitors. Instead of acquiring a new, bigger, more expensive, monitor one can use two monitors that can work as one big screen.
I am trying to install a second monitor to effectively get this bigger screen, since I have an extra monitor and card. I'm not trying to display the same image on both monitors. It is my understanding that MetroX (comes with my redhat version) permits me to have X divided into multiple virtual screens (forgive the lack of the official technical terms) and view two X virtual screens side by side on separate the monitors (I'm sure others Xservers do the same). Thus I can have different applications opened in each virtual screen avoiding clutering. (I'm tring to be precise because I have tried to get info before and was missunderstood).
My work place has an extra monitor and video card that I am willing to take advantage of. But currently when I have both video cards installed, I can't BOOT. I have been told that this is because only one of the video BIOS is accepted by ROM BIOS, requiring the second video BIOS to be turned off. My cards don't have this option (I don't think). Others told me that it is a setting on the mother board.
The software configuration of Metro-X for this seems easy and intuitive, but how do I set up the hardware? Maybe an explanation on X86Free on this would be good, but my problem is setting up the hardware.
Could you please help? If I need a special card is there a recommended one?
Date: Tue, 04 Mar 1997 20:02:22 -0500
Subject: broken issue14
From: Pinwu Xu, pxu@perigee.net
Hi there,
It's true that the issue14.html was broken. But one can fix it using
the Netscape editor (or save/print directly from the editor). That
works for me.
Thanks for your excellent work.
-- Pinwu Xu
Date: Wed, 05 Mar 1997 18:39:17 -0800
Subject: thanks
From: arne, asnow@cdepot.net
Just a note to say thanks for your work on the Linux Gazette. I'm a brand new Linux user and I have found the articles geared toward the new user invaluable. Thanks again.
Arne, Rocky Road Ranch
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 1997 16:08:06 -0500
Subject: Love the service
From: Thomas L. Gossard,
tgossard@ix.netcom.com
I've been using Linux for aprox. 2 years now and have been a subscriber to "Linux Journal" for about a year of that. I like what you have even better. I love the 2 cent section, has great tips and ideas. If you sold this as a magazine on the news stands or subscription I would be an avid buyer. As it is I've got this link at the top of my bookmarks. Keep up the great job.
Thomas L. Gossard
Date: Sun, 09 Mar 1997 01:19:54 -0600
Subject: Netscape
From: Anthony Scott,
ascott@Interaccess.com
Could you please tell me where Netscape for Linux is located....How much does is cost.
thx, tony (You can download it free from Netscape's home page. --Ed.)
Date: Sat, 8 Mar 1997 18:25:28
Subject: Thanks
From: Lance A. DeVooght,
devooght@flash.net
Just a note of gratitude for all your hard work in producing the BEST online magazine! Also, kudos to the sponsor, Infomagic. Rest assured I won't forget them next time I'm going to make a software purchase. And finally, I am very impressed with the fine writers you've assembled.
In Your Debt,
Lance DeVooght
Date: Thu, 20 Mar 1997 11:01:23 +0100 (GMT+0100)
Subject: Good non-fiction book! The Cuckoo's egg
From: Tomas Brostroem, tbc@rcc.se
A nice book that should interest all Linux-fans. "The cuckoo's egg" by Cliff (Clifford) Stoll.
Computer-security at it's worst.
I.m.h.o. the best non-fiction book I've ever read.
Regards, Tomas
![[ TABLE OF
CONTENTS ]](../gx/indexnew.gif)
![[ FRONT
PAGE ]](../gx/homenew.gif)
More 2¢ Tips!
How to ftp Back Home
Date:Sat Mar 30 14:23:24 (PST)
From:Phil Hughesphil@ssc.com
Many businesses place a firewall between the Internet and the inside systems. This is good protection and it just makes good sense. One common firewalling technique is to serverly restrict access through the firewall from the outside but allow a user on the inside to do most anything through the firewall to the outside.
When I am at home, I routinely need to move files between home and work. But, because of the firewall, I can ftp from work to home but not the other way around. What this means is that I need to establish an interactive connection (using ssh) from home to work and then initiate the ftp from work to home.
So far, so good. But, what I call "home" consists of various locations, all connected with a dial-up connection through one of four ISPs. All four ISPs use dynamic IP addresses meaning that each time I connect I have a different IP address for my home system. Even though the ISP knows what the current IP address for my system, the name server at work doesn't.
The solution is to enter the IP address of my home system into the ftp command at work. First, I need to find out what the IP address is. To do that, I execute the ifconfig command on my home system:
The Mailbag!
$ /sbin/ifconfig
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:127.255.255.255 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP BROADCAST LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:2000 Metric:1
RX packets:19 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
TX packets:19 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
eth0 Link encap:10Mbps Ethernet HWaddr 02:60:8C:8F:A2:08
inet addr:198.186.207.131 Bcast:198.186.207.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:969719 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
TX packets:971132 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
Interrupt:9 Base address:0x280 Memory:d8000-da000
ppp0 Link encap:Point-Point Protocol
inet addr:206.125.79.118 P-t-P:204.157.220.30 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP POINTOPOINT RUNNING MTU:296 Metric:1
RX packets:5434 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
TX packets:5545 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0
$
The inet addr for the ppp0 interface (206.125.79.118) is the number I
need.
Now, on my system at work I enter:
$ ftp 206.125.79.118ftp then prompts for a login and password. I enter my standard login and password for my home system and ftp is up and running.
Checking if You're Root
Date: Sun Mar 23 23:20:51 1997 (PST)
From: Kevin Lyda kevin@faxint.com
In the march gazette raul miller suggested that the most portable way to test if you're root is [ -w / ]. that won't work if you're root file system is read only. [ -w /var ] might be a better method.
kevin
XV vs Xli
Date:Wed Mar 5 16:32:49 1997(PST)
From:Michael Hammel, mjhammel@emass.com
I wasn't aware of Xli (rather, I haven't looked at it), however your statement that xv can only tile image on the background. xv allows qutie a bit of command line control. I use the following to put up a background image at work (non-tiled, takes up the whole background):
xv -root -max -quit /export/home/mjhammel/lib/images/emass3.tga
The initial image is 601x339, with a root display of 1152x900. Since the original image is 24bpp the enlargement is very accurate in details.
Michael J. Hammel
Bash Shell Scripting
Date:Thu Mar 20 12:22;34 1997(PST)
From:Paul Sephton paul@inet.co.ca
I have been enjoying the fruits of the Linux Gazette for a number of years now. Recently, I had one of my users accidentally type rm *>bak, and immediately noticed something was amiss by the incoherent screams eminating from her office.
In an attempt to ensure this would not have the same disasterous effect again, and to protect my eardrums in future, I spent a couple of days excersising my bash shell scripting skills, and came up with what I believe to be a decent mechanism for maintaining versioned backups.
My attitude with regard to the normal cludges like aliasing rm and so on, is that it will not protect you against other programs which unlink files. (To date I have yet to write a C program that shells rm in order to unlink a file :)
Whilst writing the set of three scripts, it dawned on me that although some more complex tools do exist which perform the same sort of function, the Linux community might be interested in what I did.
Although it's not much more than a creative excersise in the use of the 'find' command, and suffers from the usual limitation of being restricted to the one file system, I include the three scripts for your perusal and possible inclusion in the gazette at your discretion.
Don't hesitate to contact me if you need more information.
Kind regards, and many thanks for the gazette.
Paul Sephton
Bash Shell Script 1
#!/bin/sh
if [ -z "$SAFEDEL" ];then
SAFEDEL=/u/safedel
fi
NDAYS=5 #Erase files after 2 days
MAXVER=6 # Start Overwriting versins at this count
BINDIR=$SAFEDEL/bin # Binaries directory
DATADIR=$SAFEDEL/data # Where links are to go
LOGFILE=$BINDIR/safedel.log # Output messages go here
ERRLOG=$BINDIR/safedel.err # Error output messages go here
DIRLIST=$BINDIR/safedel.dirs # List of directories found here
LOCKFILE=$BINDIR/safedel.lock # Lockfile to prevent re-entry
# Process the file $1 by creating a symbolic link in the data directory
# and an entry for the file in the index.
process-file()
{
SRC=`dirname $1`
FNAME=`basename $1`
VERSION=0
if [ ! -d $DATADIR$SRC ]; then
mkdir -p $DATADIR$SRC
# OWNER=`find -name $SRC -printf "%u"`
# chown $OWNER $FNAME:$VERSION
fi
cd $DATADIR$SRC
while [ -f $FNAME:$VERSION ]; do
VERSION=$[ $VERSION + 1 ]
done
if ! ln $1 $FNAME:$VERSION 2>> $LOGFILE; then
echo "Could not link file $FNAME:$VERSION" >> $LOGFILE
return
fi
echo -e "Linked $FNAME:$VERSION \t \tin $SRC" >> $LOGFILE
return
}
# Erase a file
erase-file()
{
echo "Unlinking $1 $2" >> $LOGFILE
rm -f $1
FN=`echo $1 | cut -f 1 -d ':'`
if ! { echo "$ERASED" | grep "$FN" - } ; then
ERASED="$ERASED $FN"
fi
return
}
# We want the version numbers to follow on each other, so that the next
# file we create gets a bigger version number. This makes sure they follow.
reorganise()
{
if [ -z $1 ]; then
return
fi
FN=$1
FILE_LIST=`ls $FN:* | sort -n -t: -k2`
if [ "$FILE_LIST" = ":*" ]; then
echo "All [$FN:*] files erased" >> $LOGFILE
return
fi
echo -e "File list to be moved is:\n$FILE_LIST" >>$LOGFILE
VERSION=0
for FNAME in $FILE_LIST; do
if [ "$FNAME" != "$FN:$VERSION" ]; then
echo "Moving $FNAME $FN:$VERSION" >>$LOGFILE
mv $FNAME "$FN:$VERSION"
VERSION=$[ $VERSION + 1 ]
fi
done
}
# The main shell script starts here...
cd $BINDIR
if [ -f $LOCKFILE ]; then
exit 0
fi
touch $LOCKFILE
date >> $LOGFILE
cat $DIRLIST |
(
while read SRC ; do
if [ `echo $SRC | cut -b 1` != "#" ]; then
echo "Finding files in $SRC" >> $LOGFILE
echo "Point 1 ($SRC)"
for FNAME in `find $SRC -type f -xdev -links 1 -print`; do
process-file $FNAME
done
fi
done
ERASED=""
echo "Point 2"
for FNAME in `find $DATADIR -type f -links 1 -ctime $NDAYS -print`; do
erase-file $FNAME "(older than $NDAYS days)"
done
echo "Point 3"
for FNAME in `find $DATADIR -type f -name "*:$MAXVER" -print`; do
FN=`echo $FNAME | cut -f 1 -d ':'`
erase-file $FN:0 "Too many versions (VERSION > $MAXVER)"
done
echo "Point 4"
for FNAME in "$ERASED"; do
reorganise $FNAME
done
) 2> $ERRLOG > /dev/null
rm -f $LOCKFILE
Bash Shell Script 2
#!/bin/sh
CURRDIR=`pwd`/
if [ -z $SAFEDEL ]; then
SAFEDEL=/u/safedel
fi
DATADIR=$SAFEDEL/data
BINDIR=$SAFEDEL/bin
cd $DATADIR$CURRDIR
if [ -z "$1" ]; then
echo
echo "Restores files unintentionally deleted"
echo
echo "Useage <salvage <filename>[:version] [dest]> from within the directory"
echo " in which the file was deleted."
echo
echo "The following is a list of your backed up files and their versions:"
echo " Salvageable Files:"
find . -xdev -type f -maxdepth 1 -links 1 -printf "%P\n" | column
echo " Files Currently in Use:"
find . -xdev -type f -maxdepth 1 -not -links 1 -printf "%P\n" | column
else
FN=`echo "$1:end" | cut -f 1 -d ':'`
VER=`echo "$1:end" | cut -f 2 -d ':'`
EXIST=`find $CURRDIR -name "$FN"`
# echo "[$EXIST]"
if [ -n "$EXIST" ]; then
echo "Incorrect file specification: File(s) are not deleted. ($FN)"
exit 0
fi
if [ "$VER" = "end" -o "$VER" = "*" ]; then
VER=""
fi
FILE_LIST=`find . -name "$FN:*" -printf "%f "`
FLIST=""
# echo "FILE_LIST is $FILE_LIST"
for FNAME in $FILE_LIST; do
FN=`echo "$FNAME:end" | cut -f 1 -d ':'`
FOUND=0
# echo "Looking for [$FN] in [$FLIST]"
for F in $FLIST; do
if [ "$F" = "$FN" ]; then
FOUND=1
fi
done
if [ "$FOUND" = "0" ]; then
FLIST="$FLIST $FN"
fi
done
# echo "FLIST is $FLIST"
for FNAME in $FLIST; do
if [ -z "$VER" ]; then
VERSION=0
NEXTVER=1
while [ -f $FNAME:$NEXTVER ]; do
VERSION=$NEXTVER
NEXTVER=$[ $NEXTVER + 1 ]
done
else
VERSION=$VER
fi
if [ ! -f $FNAME:$VERSION ]; then
echo "File $FNAME:$VERSION not found"
exit 0
fi
if [ -z "$2" ]; then
DEST=$CURRDIR$FNAME
else
DEST=$CURRDIR$2
fi
if ln $FNAME:$VERSION $DEST 2> /dev/null; then
echo "File $FNAME:$VERSION successfully recovered"
else
echo "Cannot link $FNAME:$VERSION to $DEST"
fi
done
fi
Bash Shell Script 3
#!/bin/sh
if [ -z $SAFEDEL ]; then
SAFEDEL=/u/safedel
fi
BINDIR=$SAFEDEL/bin # Binaries directory
DATADIR=$SAFEDEL/data # Where links are to go
# Erase a file
reorganise()
{
if [ -z $1 ]; then
return
fi
FN=`echo "$1:end" | cut -f 1 -d ':'`
FILE_LIST=`ls $FN:* | sort -n -t: -k2`
if [ "$FILE_LIST" = ":*" ]; then
echo "All [$FN:*] files erased"
return
fi
# echo -e "File list to be moved is:\n$FILE_LIST"
VERSION=0
for FNAME in $FILE_LIST; do
if [ "$FNAME" != "$FN:$VERSION" ]; then
echo "Moving $FNAME $FN:$VERSION"
mv $FNAME "$FN:$VERSION"
VERSION=$[ $VERSION + 1 ]
fi
done
}
# The main shell script starts here...
CURRDIR=`pwd`/
echo "Safedel: Purging extra versions in $CURRDIR"
cd $BINDIR
find $DATADIR$CURRDIR -type f -maxdepth 1 -links 1 -exec rm {} \;
for FNAME in `find $DATADIR$CURRDIR -type f -maxdepth 1 -print`; do
reorganise $FNAME
done
|
Contents: |
Hardware Forums in Dallas, Texas
Readers in the Dallas, Texas area may be interested in two forums for purchasing hardware that may not exist in other areas. The first is the North Texas PC Users Group meeting. This monthly meeting is held at the Infomart in Dallas (I-35E at Oak Lawn). The meeting is held on one Saturday a month and opens at 8:00 AM. A number of reputable local vendors show up to sell hardware and software. (In fact, a few months ago the vendor area was moved from the basement to a larger room because they were running out of space.) Prices at the NTPCUG meeting are generally cheaper than these vendors have in their own stores, and these vendors offer warranties and support as well. Call NTPCUG at ? to find out when the next meeting is. And stop by the local Linux User's Group booth and say hi, or ask them to load Linux on your newly purchased machine for free.
The other venue is truly unique. The First Saturday Sale is a monthly flea market held (surprise) on the first Saturday of every month. It is held outdoors under the Ross Street bridge. Take the Pearl Ave. exit to get there. Hang a left on Ross and follow the crowd. Selling officially starts at 6:00 AM, but feel free to show up earlier. Again, many of the vendors own local storefronts and offer the same service and warranty their storefront customers receive.
While these markets may not be the best place for a beginner to shop, a knowledgeable buyer can walk away from either of these markets with a crate of new gear at significant discounts.
-Matthew Mucker
Bedford, Texas
COMDEX/Spring '97
Linux International (LI) will be hosting a Linux Pavilion at COMDEX/Spring '97, which runs from June 2 - 5 in Atlanta, GA.
On June 7 & 8, the weekend following COMDEX/Spring '97, LI and the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts (ALE), in cooperation with COMDEX, will be hosting the Atlanta Linux Showcase. The Atlanta Linux Showcase will feature vendors of Linux hardware, software, and services as well as conference sessions on various Linux topics. Attendees of COMDEX will be admitted to the showcase floor for free, and pre-registrants to the Atlanta Linux Showcase will receive free passes to the COMDEX trade show floor.
Some of the vendors on the showcase floor are:
The Atlanta Linux Showcase will be held at the Inforum in downtown Atlanta, GA, just a few blocks away from the Georgia World Congress Center, site of COMDEX/Spring '97. The show floor will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, June 7, and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 8. The conference sessions will run concurrently.
The Inforum is located at 250 Williams St., Atlanta, GA.
More information on the Atlanta Linux Showcase can be found at http:www.ale.org/showcase
More informaiton on COMDEX/Spring '97 can be found at http://www.comdex.com/comdex/owa/event_home?v_event?id=26
Announcing IT Horizon '97 Symposiom
The Fisher Center for Information Technology and Management, Walter A. Hass School of Business , UC Berkley announces:
Send you submission(s) by April 4, 1997 to Deborah Murray, Director-Professional Training, UniForum Association, 2901 Tasman Drive, Suite 205, Santa Clara, CA 95054 -OR- E-mail to dmurray@uniforum.org
Linus News
Linus Torvalds received Uniforum's "Lifetime Achievement Award" for his work on Linux.
Linus (as always) pointed out that he would accept the award, but that it really belonged to the entire Linux development community.
The award, which has been presented annually since 1983, recognizes individuals or groups whose work has significantly advanced the cause of open systems over time, or has had an immediate and positive impact on the industry with long term ramifications.
To give the idea of others who have received it, James Gosling also accepted an award at this meeting for his work on Java. Linus was in good company.
You can see pictures of him receiving the award at:
http://daily.comdex.com/events/uf97/photos3.htm
HOWTO Update
A major update of the Linux Commercial HOWTO, a listing of commercial software products for Linux, has been published. The new release includes new categories, descriptions of more software packages than ever and updates of existing entries.
The listing can be obtained from its primary site at http://www.cyrius.com/tbm/Commercial-HOWTO and from LDP mirrors all around the world.
Announcing Decision PCCOM8
Announcing the availability of a Linux driver for the Decision PCCOM8 multiport serial card.
Signum Support, a company specialising in free software support and Linux, was approached by MYDATA Automation AB, a Swedish robotics company, to write a Linux device driver for the Decision PCCOM8 multi-port serial card. The driver and was written by Christer Weinigel (wingel@signum.se) and Mikael Cardell (mc@signum.se). Any questions regarding this driver can be sent to pccom8@signum.se
Announcing the Shuttle Connection (EPST)
Signum Support, a company specialising in free software support and Linux, was approached by MYDATA Automation AB, a Swedish robotics company, to write a Linux device driver for a parallel port SCSI interface. This driver for the Shuttle Connection was written by Christer Weinigelwingel@signum.se at Signum Support.
This driver can be found as ftp://ftp.signum.se/pub/epst/epst-0.9.diff
The diff was made against a version 2.0.29 kernel. This driver (probably) still contains bugs and should be considered as ALPHA software.
Please note that there exists two incompatible devices, both which are called `Shuttle Connection'. To find out what model you have, take a look at the sticker on the back of the device, you ought to see either `EPSA' or `EPST' written on it.
This driver is works with the EPST model; if you own an EPSA model, take a look at http://www.torque.net/epsa.html where you'll find a device driver for that device.
Any questions regarding this driver can be sent to epst@signum.se
New Release of mtools
Announcing a new release of mtools, a collection of utilities to access MS-DOS disks from Unix without mounting them.
Mtools-3.3 fixes a typo in mdel, which made it command unusuable.
Mtools supports Win'95 style long file names, OS/2 Xdf disks and 2m disks (store up to 1992k on a high density 3 1/2 disk). The most notable new feature (over 3.1) is FAT 32 support. There is also mpartition, a simple partitioning programing to setup Zip and Jaz media on non-PC machines (SunOs, Solaris and HP/UX).
Mtools can currently be found at the following places:
and soon at:
There is an mtools mailing list at mtools@linux.wauug.org. To subscribe to it, send a message containing 'subscribe mtools' in its body to majordomo@linux.wauug.org.
gv 2.9.4 Announcement
gv 2.9.4 is now available. gv allows to view and navigate through PostScript and PDF documents on an X display by providing a user interface for the ghostscript interpreter. It may be obtained either from its homepage at: http://wwwthep.physic.uni-mainz.de/~plass/gv/" or via anonymous ftp from: ftp://thep.physik.uni-mainz.de/pub/gv
Please note that gv is derived from Tim Theisen's ghostview 1.5.
gv surely works on
I also got reports of happy users on
gv requires Kaleb Keithley's Xaw3d widget set. VMS users will find everything needed to install this widget set at the locations listed above.
For Unix users working on a system not equipped with this widget set the page http://wwwthep.physik.uni-mainz.de/~plass/gv/Xaw3d.html may provide some assistance when trying to install it.
SafePassage Web Proxy
Oakland, CA -- C2Net Software, Inc., and UK Web, Ltd., announced the 1.0 release of a new product, "SafePassage Web Proxy." This product, developed entirely outside of the United States, provides full-strength, non-escrowed cryptography for users of any standard web browser.
SafePassage is an enhancement for "export" browsers, an add-on product that works with any standard web browser. Acting as an intermediary, or proxy, it intercepts weakly encrypted connections on their way out and transforms them to use full-strength cryptography. "The weak connection never leaves your PC," explains Parekh, "it gets decrypted and then re-encrypted with a full-strength cipher."
SafePassage provides secure connections using strong cryptography for any browser that supports standard SSL tunneling, a feature normally used by firewall software. It currently runs on Windows 3.1, Windows 95, and Windows NT.
Evaluation versions of SafePassage can be downloaded at no cost from UK Web's site at: http://stronghold.ukweb.com/safepassage It is currently unavailable for distribution within the US and Canada, but a domestic version will be made available in the near future. A single- user license is $49, prices for volume licensing start at $995 for fifty users.
Announcing Turbo Vision 0.3
Turbo Vision (or TV, for short) is a library that provides an application framework. With TV you can write a beautiful object-oriented character-mode user interface in a short time.
TV is available in C++ and Pascal and is a product of Borland International. It was developed to run on MS-DOS systems, but today it is available for many other platforms (ported by independent programmers).
This port is based on the Borland 2.0 version with fixes.
Main changes from version 0.2 to 0.3
Where to download the library
If you don't want to wait the file to be moved to the destination directories, you can download a copy of it from:
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/FreeBSD/incoming/tvision-0.3.tar.gz
Announcing the Release of TeamWave Workplace 1.0
TeamWave Software Ltd. is pleased to announce the release of TeamWave Workplace 1.0, an Internet groupware product that lets you work together with colleagues in real-time or asynchronously, using Macintosh, Windows or Unix platforms.
Check us out at http://www.teamwave.com
Release of Samba SMB File Server
The release of Samba SMB File Server has been announced. The server includes support for Western European Languages in filenames served by Samba, allowing Western European users of Microsoft Windows(tm) products to store native language filenames on their UNIX file servers.
Although this is a new minor version release, there have been many bugfixes and improvements from previous releases.
The new verson is available on a GNU gziped tar file from
ftp://samba.anu.edu.au/pub/samba/samba-1.9.16p11.tar.gz
and should be available from mirror sites throughout the world shortly. For details see the main Web site for information about Samba, at :
http://samba.canberra.edu.au/pub/samba
Announcing UNIPEN-related Software Package
UPTOOLS3
This is to announce the new release of the UNIPEN-related software package (works great on Linux, too):
This UNIX software is mainly intended for researchers in on-line handwriting recognition. It allows for a hierarchical annotation of on-line handwritten data coming from XY digitizers or pen computers. The software is _not_ intended for processing off-line (i.e., optically scanned) handwriting data. The purpose of this software is to stimulate the use of the UNIPEN file format for on-line handwriting recognition research. This is the same data format as is used within the UNIPEN recognizer benchmark project http://hwr.nici.kun.ml/unipen/
An introduction to UPTOOLS3 can be found at:
http://hwr.nici.kun.nl/uniopen/uptools3
The new software is available via ftp at:
ftp://ftp.nici.kun.nl:/pub/INIPEN/tools/uptools3.tar.gz
Announcing Ghostscript System 0.2.0
The Display Ghostscript System is a free software implementation of a Display PostScript(tm) System. A Display PostScript System provides a device-independent imaging model for displaying information on a screen. The imaging model uses the PostScript language which has powerful graphics capabilities and frees the programmer from display-specific details like screen resolution and color issues.
The Display Ghostscript System is composed of a PostScript interpreter (Ghostscript), the Client library, and the pswrap translator.
The Display Ghostscript System uses a client/server architecture. Applications are linked with the Client library which communicates with the PostScript interpreter residing in the server. The application utilizes the procedures and data structures in the Client library which are independent of the actual PostScript interpreter.
The pswrap translator allows you to take custom PostScript language programs and wrap them with a C function interface thus allowing your applications to call them directly. pswrap programs are generally more efficient then performing the same PostScript program purely with the Client library procedures.
The dgs-0.2.0.tar.gz distribution file has been placed on ftp://ftp.gnustep.org/pub/gnustep
The program requires gcc 2.7.2.1 or higher.
The `.tar' file is compressed with GNU gzip. Gzip can be obtained by anonymous ftp at any of the GNU archive sites.
For info about FTP via email, send email to ftpmail@decwrl.declcom with no subject line, and two-line body with line one `help' and line two `quit'.
The most recent (not necessarily tested) snapshots of the library will be placed in ftp://alpha.gnu.ai.mit.edu.gnu/gnustep
GA Plug-In for NExS Spreadsheet Available Now
X Engineering Software Systems (XESS Corp.) announces the immediate availability of a genetic algorithm (GA) plug-in for its NExS spreadsheet. Those interested in the genetic algorithm plug-in can download the source code and a PostScript manual from www.xess.com. A free, 30-day version of the NExS spreadsheet and the new conNExions-BETA API can also be downloaded for the HP/UX, AIX, Digital UNIX, SunOS, Solaris and Linux platforms.
Genetic algorithms (GA) solve optimization problems by modeling potential solutions as chromosomes which can breed with one another to produce better solutions through the forces of natural selection.
The GA plug-in provides one new NExS function: @GENALG(...) which optimizes a fitness function that is affected by a group of 1/0 variables in the sheet. Any NExS function or combination of functions can be used to specify the fitness function.
The GA plug-in interacts with the NExS spreadsheet through the conNExions-BETA API. The source code for the plug-in is being made available for modification and customization.
Annouunicing MkLinux DR2.1
We are pleased to announce the release of MkLinux DR2.1. DR2.1 includes support for the Power Macintosh 601/NuBus 601/PCI bus and 604/PCI bus systems: the Power Macintosh 6100, 7100, and 8100; 7200; 7500, 7600, 8200, 8500, and 9500. (Support for 603-based systems is forthcoming but is not yet available. DR2.1 does not yet support Powerbooks or most Performas at this time.)
DR2.1 is our third Developer Release of MkLinux and the first Release to be included in our Reference Release, published by Prime Time Freeware (PTF). The MkLinux Reference Release consists of a 360-page book and 2 CD-ROMs: the Apple MkLinux DR2.1 disc and PTF's Reference disc, packed with lots of interesting and useful reference material. (The two CD-ROMs are each also sold separately.)
The MkLinux Reference Release is available by mail order from PTF and other vendors, and is also available through many technical bookstores, as are the individual discs. Contact Prime Time Freeware for details at info@ptf.com or visit their Web site at www.ptf.com.
MkLinux is available both on CD-ROM and by anonymous ftp download from ftp://ftp.mklinux.apple.com and our various mirror sites. (Please be patient with the mirror sites; it may take some of them a while to get DR2.1 ready for downloading!).
With the release of DR2.1, DR2 will no longer be available or supported. We will retain the DR2 "Help and Support" information on our Web pages, but DR2 itself will be removed from our FTP server.
Check out the Web site at:http://www.mklinux.apple.com/DR2.1 for more information on this release. All Readme files from the DR2.1 Distribution, including the Release Notes (Readme First) and the Installation Guide (How to Install MkLinux) are reproduced on our Web pages.
Metro-X 3.1.5 Now Shipping
Metro Link is now shipping Metro-X 3.1.5. This is an updated version of Metro-X 3.1.2 for Linux, which is a commercial X server replacement for use with XFree86. It contains various fixes and support for the following additional cards:
For a complete list of supported cards, see our cardlist:
http://www.metrolink.com/products/metrox/cardlist.html
For more details look at the complete product description:
http://www.metroling.com/products.metrox.ess.html
PRICE FOR LINUX VERSION:
New Purchase: $99
Upgrade from earlier release: $69
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Metro Link, Inc.
http://www.metrolink.com
and sales@metrolink.com
The Answer Guy
SATAN URL Correction
From: Richard White, whiter@digex.net
In the Linux Journal #14, you made reference to
ftp.cs.perdue.edu...(grin) Doesn't exist. I think that it was supposed
to be ftp.cs.purdue.edu.
-- Richard D. White, Business Connectivity Technical Support
Yes! That was, of course, a typo.
But other than that -- did you find the info useful?
Yes. Very. I've just downloaded SATAN and a few of the other security
tools. I work in customer service for leased lines and I occasionally
assist customers in configuring their firewalls. Learning what holes there
are and how to plug them is very worthwhile knowledge.
Have you tried cops (Dan Farmer's earlier host based
auditing package) or Tiger (Texas A&M University)?
Have you gotten tripwire running? I (and most of the rest of the Linux community that's tried it) had a little trouble with Tripwire. I had fussed it into submission a number of months ago -- forgotten about it. Then recently I had to fetch and build a new copy.
I encountered the same problems building it -- and the same problems with the README.linux I found myself muttering that someone -- anyone -- ought to prepare a proper set of patches that allow the Linux user to just compile the thing with minimal effort.
Now I'm not a programmer (although I do "play one on the 'net") so I really didn't feel qualified to do this. However I never have been able to inspire or manage much of a volunteer effort in others so I did it myself.
Creating a set of patches involved teaching myself how to use CVS (version control system). I'm thinking of writing up an article on using CVS to track local changes in downloaded source trees and cutting diffs so you can share the work you do with others on the net.
Naturally I'd use tripwire as one example -- probably pgp as another. I'm also planning on importing my kernel sources into CVS.
If your interested you could get my patch and let me know if it works. It's about 150 lines of text that seems to work for me using Larry Wall's standard 'patch' program.
-- Jim
EDI On Linux
From: Adam Morrisom,
adam@morrison.iserv.net
I have just got management to permit me to install our first Linux box, right
next to our not-so-mighty RS/6000. So far it has operated flawlessly (which
is exactly what I expected). And suddenly Linux is a possible solution for
jst about every problem we have (they loved the price tag). Now I have to
implement EDI, and I was wondering if any software is available for Linux, I
haven't been able to find anything, on the software map, sunsite or any where
else. Any pointers or people to contact would be greatly appreciated.
Adam,
You certainly put in an good entry in Jim's
"Stump the techie" contest.
I've heard of EDI (electronic data interchange) and vaguely recalled that it is a data format specification for electronic commerce (mostly in the mainframe world where X.25 predominates over TCP/IP).
However I haven't heard of any projects or products being available specifically for Linux.
Here's a few web pages that I did dig up that might help:
I hope these help. Basically it looks like there are not "shrinkwrap" or "off-the-shelf" EDI packages for any platform. Good luck.
One approach you may take is to contact the publishers or authors of your existing EDI applications and see if they can do the port for you.
-- Jim
zmodem
Help answer guy! I cannot download from the net! Here's the story: - I run linux v2.0.0. I am using minicom v1.71. I have NOT touched my file transfer protocols since I installed, so they would be the default configs.
I hate debugging serial line problems.
Here's the basic litany for solving modem problems:
What happens at lower speeds? What IRQ is this serial line using? What sort of UART is installed? What are the flow control settings? Does the cable have conductors for all of the flow control signals? How is the modem configured (hardware and init strings)?
minicom 1.71 is pretty old. I have 1.75 here -- and there may be even newer versions up on sunsite.
Incidentally -- you should probably upgrade to Linux kernel version 2.0.29 or so.
Your problem may not be related to either of these factors -- but it won't hurt to upgrade.
The first thing I'd check is Minicom's configuration for init strings and flow control. Try an init string of:
AT&C1&D2
... (which I remember from years of supporting PCAnywhere as well as seeing it in my current configuration). These set the modem's behavior for the DCD (device carrier detect) and flow control. I don't remember which is which and what the other numbers do -- look them up in your modem's manual if you're curious).
Then make sure that minicom's "Serial port setup" specifies "Hardware Flow Control" is "on."
When having problems with serial lines and modems I find it handy to get the digital equivalent of a "second opinion." -- Do you run any other comm software on this system (pppd, uucp/cu, mgetty -- dial-in, seyon)? Do those work reliably when transferring data (putting the line under load)?
I'd suggest getting a copy of C-Kermit from Columbia University kermit.columbia.edu . No offense to Miguel van Smoorenburg but minicom was having problems on my system, too. C-Kermit is doesn't have any of the full screen, ncurses "feel" to it but does a good solid job of talking to the modem. It's scripting capabilities are also far more advanced than minicom's 'runscript' -- and has features that would be to force 'minicom' to do through an 'expect' script (for example).
Do you have another account on another system (BBS or ISP)? Do your file transfers work O.K. to or from there? The problem may be with your ISP rather than at your end.
What if you try a different protocol -- such as kermit? Kermit is often characterized as "slow" compared to zmodem -- but this is largely because it's default is tuned for the very noisy, unreliable connections that were common when it was created (almost 20 years ago).
After checking with another comm. program I'd look a little lower. Using the commands:
stty -a < /dev/modem
... and
setserial -a /dev/modem
(both of these assuming you have a "modem" link to
the appropriate /dev/ttyS* entry on your system).
Make sure that your stty reports crtscts (for the flow control). Then make sure that the cable between your computer and your modem has all those pins connected.
Double check that you don't have an IRQ conflict. These are insidious in that they may not show up until the port is under load.
In addition check to see that you have a high speed UART (16550AFN) on that port.
Next I'd check the modem's configuration. You can see some of that with AT&V (which on many Hayes modems dumps the configuration date and S-register values to your terminal). Look at the Init strings that you are using in Minicom and look in the modem manual for recommended init strings for similar software.
After checking all of that I'd shutdown and boot up in DOS (if you don't have a copy of DOS you can consider downloading a copy of Caldera's OpenDOS. I'm not sure what the licensing terms will be -- but I did read that we're all invited to play with it for 90 days). Along with a copy of DOS you also need a Telix, Qmodem, Procomm, or other comm. package. There are many of these in shareware -- Telix is my personal favorite.
(Note: I am not advocating use of these packages without respect to their licenses. If you choose to continue to use Telix or OpenDOS -- even for the occasional troubleshooting session; please read and abide by their licensing and registration. Yes, I have fully legal copies of Telix (DOS and Windows)).
In any event I like to check from plain old DOS since the old real mode program loader is so minimal. You could try building a Linux kernel with no support for TCP/IP and stripping out all of the device drivers except the serial and console support and booting that in single user mode ... and that still isn't close.
The idea is to see if any of your other devices or hardware features are conflicting.
i am a best internet shell account, i believe iris but i don't
know the version.
I'm guessing that you mean that your account is at
best.com and that they are running Irix (SGI).
(Which is interesting -- since I would have guessed
Sun/Solaris for them -- but what do I know).
Note: Irix and Solaris are not known for sterling serial line support. They are currently geared for ethernet TCP/IP support -- on the assumption that most sites will use terminal servers (small dedicate devices that convert serial connections to telnet sessions). Consequently I've heard that the copies of rz/sz that ship with these should routinely be replace with newer sources from the 'net.
i have a usrobotics sportster 28.8 modem
Internal or external?
Personally I don't like the Sportster series. Their Courier's are nice (but spendy). I currently use a Practical Peripherals -- but my next modem will probably be a Zyxel.
I typesz <filename>
things go along fine until about 40k than i will get a couple of different
error messages:
BAD CRC:0
sometimes followed by another attempt at downloading
(usually only a bit or two) than the same error OR
GARBAGE COUNT EXCEEDED:0
followed by a time-out.
AARRGH! what the heck is going on? u can email me privately if you would prefer, as this is probably a totally common problem and i am just not looking in the right place!
My guess would that you don't have a high speed UART. Or that your flow control isn't properly set.
The reason I guess this is that 40K is a reasonable amound of data for the modem to get and buffer while you system does a context switch. The buffer overruns (in a 16450 -- older, low-speed UART) could easily be fatal to the transfer in the first context switch.
With the 16550 UART -- the UART has a 16 byte FIFO buffer. That's enough for the UART to change the state on the handshaking lines (lowering the CTR -- clear to receive -- line) and enough still store the incoming data while the other system responds (stops sending).
At 28.8Kbps coming into a 16450's (one byte!) buffer the sender will have tossed a lot of bits out before getting the message (that your system is dropping them all on the floor).
I am copying this to the Linux Gazette *because* it is a common problem. Most of us in the real world use modem -- we don't have T1's or ISDN/ethernet bridges (actually I do have a Tracell WebRamp but I'm not using it yet). So we are still stuck fighting with these problems.
I'm hoping that USB (IEEE 1394 "Firewire") actually takes off in the next year. It's been hanging in the wings, timidly for about two years now and it's LONG overdue.
Has anyone out there run a USB board under Linux?
For those who are lost about "Firewire" refer to:
If you have any Linux news on this topic -- mail it to tag@starshine.org.
--Jim
Running the Internet with Linux
From:Ricardo Romero rromero@netfriendly.com
Hi, my name is Ricardo Ribeiro Romero and i live in Brazil, i try to run INTERNET from linux but this not run, you may help-me?
Tks,
Romero, Ricardo
At the risk of seeming unfriendly, Romero, I'd have to
suggest that you might want to look for a local consultant
or computer specialist to help you.
Questions to a publication -- particularly a free publication which is entirely supported by the volunteer efforts of the writers and the generous sponsorship of SSC have to be fairly specific and of reasonably broad interest.
Any reasonable distribution of Linux includes all of the utilities you need to connect to the Internet as a client and all of the utilities that most people would ever want to be a service provider.
It is not clear from your message whether you are trying to set your system up as a server/provider or as a client or both.
There are several good books that go into broad coverage of Networking with Linux (which is largely the same as networking under other forms of Unix). My personal favorite would be the Linux Documentation Project's Network Administrator's Guide (LDP NAG for short). This is available electronically (as text, postscript, TeX, or HTML) and is probably on any set of CD's that you'd buy. You can also purchase a professionally bound and printed copy from O'Reilly & Associates (among others).
Along with that O'Reilly also publishes a book called something like: "Getting Connecting: Establishing a Presence on the Internet" (That would be the "Pig" book) by Kevin Dowd). If you're trying to set yourself up as an ISP or if your want to have a dedicated connection to the net (say for your office) than this is probably what you want.
Personally I recommend that most small business and private people avoid "dedicated" or "permanent/full-time" connections to the 'net. It's much less expensive to configure UUCP for mail and news -- and look at virtual hosting and/or co-location for serving up web pages and other services. This can be supplemented with demand dialed PPP (using scripts or diald) to provide the web access -- over a modem or via ISDN.
One of the big benefits of ISDN is the lower latency. A modem connection takes about 30 seconds to 1 minute to dial, ring, connect, and negotiate. ISDN can do that in about 3 seconds. You'll be much less reluctant to hang up and quit hogging your ISP's phone line if you know that you can get back in about 3 seconds.
In addition to the lower expense running your site as a disconnected network relieves you of quite a bit of the security concerns associated with a full time net connection. Sure -- your PPP link is inherently bi-directional (people can connect back to your through it and attempt to exploit the same services that they my attack on a fully connected site). However you'll be there to notice any additional load or any anomalies -- and your whole site is considerably less attractive to crackers anyway.
(People who connect their Linux systems to the 'net via PPP really should take a 1 hr course on securing their hosts. Maybe I'll crank out an article on that sometime). Romero,
Back to your question. Please try reading up about these connections and/or consider hiring a local consultant. I don't know anything about the phonesystems in Brazil -- and I get a little sketchy about ISP's if I get more than about 200 miles inland from the Pacific Coast.
--Jim
Respawning too Fast
From: Igor Markov imarkov@math.ucla.edu My question is about the infamous "Resapawning too fast" message from init. This message appears in my /var/log/messages every 5 minutes (of course!) for xdm I'm just guessing that this is for "The Answer Guy" init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes However, xdm is running (I see it in ps output and I don't have problems using it).
You don't show the appropriate lines from your
your /etc/inittab but they should look something like:
# Run xdm in runlevel 5 (and 4 for me) x:45:respawn:/usr/bin/X11/xdm -nodaemon
(Note: I run xdm in 4 and 5 which unusual -- but 4 is my custom default -- with 12 VCs, xdm in VC13 -- accessed by the right alt-key + F1 -- and syslog output on VC 15, VC14 is used for stray open commands or to redirect pesky output from backgrounded processes).
My guess would be that you don't have the -nodaemon switch on yours. (Try adding it).
If I'm mistaken than the troubleshooting will be more involved. Check with the vendor for your distribution of Linux and see if they have some patches.
Red Hat users may want to look at: http://www.redhat.com/support/docs/errata.html
... to see what's been fixed since your CD was burned.
Also you may want to look in your xdm-config file (/etc/X11/xdm/xdm-config -- if you're lucky -- otherwise it could be in .... /usr/X11R6/....????).
The best introduction to xdm I've ever found was in _The_Shell_Hacker's_Guide_to_X_and_Motif_ from John Wiley & Sons.
It seems that init tries to spawn a second xdm.
I couldn't confirm or reject this hypothesis...
(egrep xdm /etc/* /etc/*/* did not show anything promising)
Thank you
Respawning too fast indicates that the program
is exiting (pretty much immediately) and that init
figures that there must be some bad problem. For
example if getty is respawning it may be that it's
attempt to grab the serial line is failing (like
there is no serial driver configured in your kernel
and you forgot to load the module -- or something like that).
If xdm is loading and forking off a daemon (it's default) then this will look like an exit/failure to init. The -nodaemon will force xdm to run from the console in which init started it (not try to "background" itself as it would do if you ran it from a command line).
The fact that your copy is working suggests this -- but when you log out of your xdm session you might have to way upto five minutes for init to decide to try xdm again (unless your xdm logout configuration is doing the respawning or something weird).
--Jim
Problems with Keyboard Mapping
From: Gilbert R. Payson
g.payson@edina.xnc.com
Hello. I have three (okay, four) linux machines in Germany.
My problem is this: In Xwindows, my keyboard mapping is almost perfect.
But, there are a few problems:
@ doesn't work. It brings me to the last edited line (like an up-arrow) How can I fix this?
thanx! -gil
I think you want to look at the xmodmap command.
You'll also want to look at the following HOW-TO
documents:
--Jim
Modem Speed
From:Scott Atwood
atwood@cs.stanford.edu
I'd like to make a comment regarding a question from "The Answer Guy"
column in issue 13 of Linux Gazette about combining modems to increase
speed. This question reflects a common misconception of equating
bandwidth with speed. Latency is a much more important measure of
percieved speed, especially in interactive applications, such as
telnet sessions, and web browsing. Combining modems will increase
bandwidth, but latency will remain unaffected. For a more complete
treatment of this subject, see:
http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~cheshire/rants/Latency.html
an essay by Stuart Cheshire, author of Bolo.
I finally got around to reading your article. It was
very interesting.
I thought I had warned the reader that doubling his bandwidth would only help on large, bulk transfers -- but perhaps I overlooked it.
--Jim
Duplicating a Linux Installed Hard Disk
I have installed slackware on my PC and I'm completely satisfied. I want to duplicate my linux installed hard disk : Can I use my 1st hard disk as a source and copy all of its contents to a 2nd blank linux-formated hard disk? If I put this 2nd disk into another PC, it will boot Linux normally?
You can just use the 'dd' ("disk dump" or "data dump")
command on the raw devices. This will work if the two drives
are identical with no bad sectors.
Many years ago I'd have said you were an idiot to even consider it. Now I'd recommend against in much milder language.
The difference is that modern drives -- IDE and SCSI are capable of autotranslation (so the BIOS and often the Unix/Linux disk drivers don't need to know the true geometry of the disk. Most drives these days also have spare sectors on every track -- during a low level format spares are mapped into use for any bad sector on a particular track. Using this scheme (which is normally completely transparent to the host machine -- it's all in the drive's electronics) it is rare to see any bad sectors on a drive (until all the spares for a given track are used up).
So it is technical feasible to do this.
However I'd say that you're much safer to spend a little more time and "do it right."
Use fdisk to partition the new drive (presumably to set its partitions to match those on your first drive. You can do this without downing the system. I personally prefer to follow the advice and reboot after writing a new partition table -- but that's probably a force of habit from too many years of DOS and OS/2.
Then do amke2fs -c /dev/hdbX (where X is the partition
number) for each of these new partitions.
Then do a:
mount /dev/hdbX /mnt/tmp find . -mount | cpio -pvum /mnt/tmp
... to each of them.
Now your are almost done. The only problem is that your lilo boot map (on your existing drive) probably doesn't match the lilo configuration on the new one.
The most reliable way of dealing with that is to take the new drive to the new system -- boot from a rescue floppy using the root=/dev/hdaX command line parameters (on the lilo prompt line from the rescue floppy) and edit the /etc/lilo.conf. Then run lilo and reboot.
That's all there is to it. That's about seven steps (with 3 of them being repeated for each filesystem on the drive(s). The amount of time this takes is dwarfed by the actual task of opening your case and getting the jumpers on the new drive working right (which is far worse for IDE than most SCSI in my experience).
Why is this better? Well it deals with bad blocks and small difference in geometry. It also ensures that the new copy is defragmented. Other than that -- it just "feels" like a better way.
--Jim
Using the Linux Box as a Firewall
From: Tim Gray
timgray@lambdanet.com
Hi, I have a small problem that might affect others out there..
I am trying to get my linux box to act as a "firewall" of sorts for
my wife's Windows 95 computer. (I haven't been able to get her to
switch yet)
I installed ne2000 compatable boards in each, ran cable, installed
everything as per
per linux network administrators guide. The problem I have is
getting Packets
destined for internet to go out the modem line when it's not connected.
I need a way to have linux automatically fire up my dial-up connection when
it sees that the remote computers want to use it. and possibly kill the
connection after a period of non use.
Thank you. Tim
This arrangement is referred to a a "Proxy" server --
which is only a component of certain firewall architectures.
Specifically you appear to be trying to set up a "dial on demand Masquerading proxy host." (if I understand you correctly).
The first tool you need for this is called 'diald' -- (the 'dial daemon').
The most recent version that I know of is at:
ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/system/network/serial/
... and is named:
diald-0.16.tar.gz
I just set this up (literally while this draft was loaded in my mailer). It was suprisingly easy.
Just edited the make file (just to change the LIBDIR, BINDIR, etc directories to point at /usr/local/...) did a make and a make install. Then I created a file named /etc/diald.conf with just the 'lock' directive in it. I did this so I can more readily support multiple diald configurations -- as I'll explain presently:
I created a /etc/diald/ directory and put in a file like:
device /dev/modem connect "chat -f /etc/ppp/connect" speed 38400 modem defaultroute crtscts redial-timeout 120 connect-timeout 120 mode ppp dynamic local 192.168.1.1 remote 192.168.1.2 include /usr/lib/diald/standard.filter
Obviously yours will differ in a few spots. the -f parameter to your connect line should point to whatever chat script you use manually. You might change the device line -- although I highly recommend that you consistently configure all of your packages to use /dev/modem (which is just a symlink to the real serical device on my system).
I currently have diald, pppd (manual), uucp, kermit, minicom, and mgetty all sharing this modem and properly using the same lock files throughout.
The local and remote addresses are apparently arbitrary -- I use addresses that are listed in RFC1918 (nee 1597) which reserves several sets of addresses which the IANA/InterNIC promise not to give out to "real" internet sites.
Then added the following two lines to my /etc/rc.local:
modprobe slip /usr/local/sbin/diald -f /etc/diald/rahul
(Where the rahul file is the one I've listed above and refers to one of my PPP providers).
Once you have your system reliably dialing your provider on demand -- the next step is to get routing working from your wife's system to the internet.
I would recommend bringing up the ppp connection manually and doing all the routing/masquerading/proxying configuration and testing with the line "nailed" up.
--Jim
The kunf library attempts change this - it tries to manage configuration data on behalf of the program or script. Instead of each application implementing its own resource file parser, an application calls a set of library functions (in the case of a shell script that would be a call to a utility program) which then return the configuration data.
Each piece of configuration data has a name (actually a sort of path) which identifies it. This makes that data independent of any particular location or configuration file. Once an application requests a data item, the library looks up the value in a location transparent manner and (optionally) performs a set of translations on the value. Then the value is returned to the calling code.
This approach should have the advantage that there is a consistent way of accessing configuration data - data for different applications can be modified with the same utility and the economics of scale should make it possible to construct more sophisticated maintenance tools that would be feasible for a single application. Novice users would not need to have to learn the location of the resource files.
>From a shell script you can use the utility kunfenv to place a particular piece of configuration data into the environment. For example, the template configuration files contain an entry for the nntpserver variable which is stored as news:nntp:nntpserver. A shell script can access that information with a statement like:
#!/bin/bash # evaluate the result of a call to kunfenv eval `kunfenv news:nntp:nntpserver` # Now we have the variable as news_nntp_nntpserver echo "My nntpserver is $news_nntp_nntpserver"
A C program can access the same data with the following piece of code:
#include <kunf.h>
...
char *str;
kunfig_open(NULL,KUNFIG_OPEN_STANDARD);
str=kunfig_findvalue(3,"news","nntp","nntpserver");
printf("My nntpserver is %s\n",str);
kunfig_close();
Do not forget to link the program with the directive -lkunf.
The configuration file editor can be used to modify the value of news:nntp:nntpserver entry. One simply invokes the editor by typing kunfedit, navigates down to the nntpserver entry (select the news entry ...), modifies the value (hit the escape key to move off a field) and saves it (press escape several times - it will ask you if you want to save).
Welcome to installment 3 of Clueless at the Prompt: A Column for New Users.
Thanks for the encouraging e-mail.In response to several requests, here is a little information to help you get your feet wet.
If you are familiar with that other windowing thing, you may be aware of the concept of multitasking. Using a single computer to do several applications at once is a highly desireable trait of an OS.
It's fairly obvious how to accomplish this in a windowing environment, but not so obvious at the shell prompt.Here's some of the details.
When you start a program at the shell prompt, you can stop it by typing
Ctrl-Z
Whereupon you will be returned to the shell prompt. Then type:
bg
which will restart thet program or job in the (b)ack(g)round and allow you to run another job while that kernel ccompiles, without changing to a different VC. You probably know that you can change VCs by using the
Alt-F2
through F6. Each one of these can also be used in the manner that I have described, to the extent that you can run yourself out of resources in a fit of deep hack mode euphoria if you aren't careful.If you get really exuberant you could even forget what all you have going. Relax, you can find them all by typing:
jobs
which will list all jobs running in the background, much like the
ps
command lists all processes that are using your precious memory and CPU to a nub.
When you boot up linux your file system or rather your hard drive must be mounted, so that the file system can be read and acted on.Your floppy drive, tape backup, or CD-ROM may not be automatically mounted, so you could have need of the mount utility.For instance:
mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt or mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt
will mount your floppy drive that dos calls a: to a directory called /mnt from where you can access files on floppy disks. In the first example, the /mnt directory can be read in the ext2 filesystem, while the sescond reads floppies written in msdos format.To read the contents of the floppy drive, which is now /mnt you can type:
cd /mnt
then,
ls
or
less filename
In a similar manner, you can mount your other floppy drives, tape drives, CDROMs, or other read write devices.These devices can be unmounted using the
umount /dev/fd0 or /dev/whateveryoumounted
command.
Here are a few tips that can make your linux life a little easier.
When you first logon to linux there are some commands that make use of optional switches,which you may not know or be sure of. You might make a typo in your command that you don't catch until after you hit enter. To try it again without retyping the whole command, just tap the up arrow key, which will bring back the previous command so that you can return to the scene of the crime and replace the mistyped or mistaken characters. In fact if you tap enter several times you can go back to what you did several commands previous.
To change back to a directory you have just left, or to scan subdirectories, you can use :
c -
in the following manner. change from your /home directory to the main trunk directory:
cd /
then, to look at the top level of each directory, for instance:
cd usr
then:
ls
If you didn't find what you were looking for, just:
cd -
and you will find yourself at the trunk / again. Unfortunately you can only go one layer deep, but it is still useful when you install a source package and want to check out the contents of each of the subdirectories. Sometimes, atleast at first, you may not know how to stop a program or process that's running, but you are unwilling to let it slowly eat up your memory or CPU overhead. You can type:
ps -a
to get a list of all running processes, make note of the pid (Process ID) number and type:
kill pidnumber for instance kill 2395
But there is an easier way. Browse through the LSM (Linux Software Map) for a utility , actually a nicety called die-1.1 . You can unpack this into a directory or use installpkg dopkg or what ever your single package installation utility is. Then look for the /die-1.1 and cd to it. It contains a couple of files, a source file,
die11.c
and a documentation file,
die.doc
Assuming that you installed the GCC compiler, just type:
gcc -o die die11.c
hit enter and presto you've compiled a utility called die.Just mv this to a directory in your path, and if you like, mv the die .doc to /usr/doc or somewhere it can be with its other help text friends( but not man pages they'll pick on it unmercifully).Next time you're in a quandary about how to gun down a process just type:
die commandname
and it will do the deed. To find out more about die just type:
die
with no argument and it will give you a summary of the commands you can try the up arrow keys on
I guess I made a mistake when I said I made a mistake about the mkdir command in DOS. Several people sent me mail that mkdir -md, rmdir-rd and a couple ohers are synonymous with linux commands. One fella told me he made symbolic links to several DOS commands so he can use them without having to learn new but similar commands. Sick, but ingenious.
TTYL, Mike List
CeBIT is the world's largest computer fair, bringing together vendors and attendees from many different countries. If you picture landscaped fairgrounds with 27 halls for vendors and even more auxiliary buildings with stores and restaurants and then add 650,000 people to the picture, all visiting the location over seven days, you are starting to get an image of CeBIT '97. CeBIT took place in the Messegelande [umlaut over a] in Hannover, Germany, March 13th to 19th, 1997.
This was my first time attending CeBIT, and my goal was to look at the Linux vendors and possibly talk about Linux to vendors whose software already ran under other Unix platforms. I also wanted to see what such a huge computer fair would be like and contrast it to the US's largest computer fair, Comdex, in Las Vegas, which I have attended the past seven years.
My first stop was Hall 11 to visit Caldera, Inc. Caldera's booth was easily recognizable as a Linux booth because of "Tux" the penguin, (well, a stuffed rendition of Tux) sitting on top of one of the monitors. Caldera's booth was crowded with people every time I visited it.
Attendees were interested in Caldera's OpenLinux products and getting information about Linux and Linux products. The 1500 Linux Journal Buyer's Guides given away by Caldera and their affiliated booths during CeBIT also seemed to be a hit with attendees. Caldera also provided information about OpenDOS 7.01, which is free for non-commercial and educational use. Caldera's booth staff talked about recent announcements such as the upcoming port of Netscape software to OpenLinux, and the port of StarOffice 3.1 to OpenLinux.
A German television station, Bayerischer Rundfunk, filmed a short tv show about Linux at the Caldera booth. The "tv host" Jurgend Plate warmed up for a few minutes while the film crew continued to set up equipment. Before they started filming, after I identified myself as the Associate Publisher of Linux Journal, Jurgend hollered to me that LJ was "das beste Magazin auf der Welt!" I was told by Sebastian Hetze of LunetIX, that Jurgend Plate had been excited about Linux for years, and that his exuberance over Linux was real.
A second Linux stop for me was at the large Star Office booth in Hall 2 that demonstrated among its many different ports, StarOffice on OpenLinux.
At the third Linux stop, the large Software AG booth, there was a signpost saying Datenbanktechnologie and the second sign down said "ADABAS & LINUX". Tux sat proudly on top of the workstation here by the Caldera OpenLinux Base. Nathan Guinn gave me a free review copy of the single-user version of LunetIX's ADABAS, an SQL Database, which I passed along to the editor of Linux Journal.
A fourth company with a Linux product was NAG Ltd, which among its other products, provided information on their Linux Fortran 90 Compiler.
Other companies, such as LST Software, GmBH and LunetIX had representatives at the show, mostly working out of Caldera's booth.
There was some press coverage about Linux. In the special CeBIT section of the Newspaper called "COMPUTER & KOMMUNIKATION" there was a full-page article titled "Linux schultert Microsoft-Anwendungen" which covered the capability of Microsoft Applications to run under Linux using Windows Binary Application Interface (WABI).
All in all, CeBIT was an informative, busy, intensive, show. Next time I should try it without crutches resulting from a sprained ankle. I should also mention the color shows and performances in some booths, including a musical story (D2-Musical) with "Princess Digital, the Queen of the World", the artistic acrobats at VIAG Interkom, and many cabaret-style performances, which added a fun, colorful, entertaining diversion during CeBIT.
Since I published an article "Setting Up a Dynamic IP Web Server" in Linux Gazette issue #10, I have lost all the free school web accounts. Because I need a permenent web page to bridge the linux dynamic web server at home, I have been lucky to found out that Geocities free web account can be used with a little bit hack. Geocities free web account with 2MB space and free email can be obtained at http://www.geocities.com .
Geocities web page can be updated by ftp method. However, geocities ftp procedure requires that *.html files are ftped with asii mode and *.jpg, *.tgz files are ftped by binary mode. I found out that if I use the wrong mode, web pages can not be updated. It took about 10 minutes in my test to update ( or overwrite) the web page after the updated file was ftped, so that you have to be patient to wait for your result with Geocities account.
---------------------------------------------
The following is the ftp part of scripts in file web_up, web_down:
web_up:
if echo -e "ascii\ncd /pub/homestead\nput up.html dynamic.html" \
| /usr/bin/ftp -v geocities
web_down:
if echo -e "ascii\ncd /pub/homestead\nput down.html dynamic.html" \
| /usr/bin/ftp -v geocities
Source files like ppp-up and ppp-down are also updated to reflect the change.
The following sentence can be added to file /etc/ppp/ppp-up in order to use email to tell us current IP address of your linux box:
mail -s "$4" fasta@geocities.com < /etc/add
-------------------------------------------------
In conclusion, although it is not as convenient as the typical unix shell account to update the web page by using free Geocities web account, it serves us well for bridge to our dynamic web server at home with zero cost. For detailed information, please read my original article in issue #10, and check out my new web page for updated source code.
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muse:
 elcome
to the Graphics Muse! Why a "muse"?
Well, except for the sisters aspect, the above definitions are
pretty much the way I'd describe my own interest in computer graphics:
it keeps me deep in thought and it is a daily source of inspiration.
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column is dedicated to the use, creation, distribution, and dissussion of
computer graphics tools for Linux systems.
I'm sort of taking a break from the Muse this month. Work is really
gearing up and I've been quite busy there. I'm also not confident
enough in my knowledge of RenderMan Shaders that I feel I could do
the topic justice this month. So I'm postponing the 2nd in the 3
part series one month. I will be doing the next two articles,
I just need a little more time to get them right.
I'll also still be doing the HF-Lab review. The POV-Ray tips I'm
not certain I'll do myself. I may see if I can talk someone from
the IRTC-L mailing list into writing something up there. I haven't
been using POV-Ray 3.0 in awhile. My attention has been focused on
BMRT.
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Disclaimer: Before I get too far into this I should note that any of the news items I post in this section are just that - news. Either I happened to run across them via some mailing list I was on, via some Usenet newsgroup, or via email from someone. I'm not necessarily endorsing these products (some of which may be commercial), I'm just letting you know I'd heard about them in the past month.
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Gifmap Image NavigatorGifmap is a package which supports making image collections available on the Web. It recurses through directory trees, building HTML pages, imagemap files, and client-side/server-side maps to allow the user to navigate through collections of thumbnail images (somewhat similar to xv's Visual Schnauzer) and select the image to view with a mouse click. Obtain gifmap from ftp://ftp.wizards.dupont.com/pub/ImageMagick/gifmap or via the Web from the Gifmap web page at http://www.cyberramp.net/~bfriesen/gifmap/. The Gifmap web page contains some sample pages you can browse through to give you an idea of what Gifmap can do. It also contains the gifmap documentation. Gifmap is written in PERL and is compatable with PERL versions 4 and 5. Gifmap uses the ImageMagick package and therefore requires that the ImageMagick package be installed. ImageMagick version 3.8.0 or later is recommended. |
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MPEG file player v0.2There was a very brief announcement for this package on comp.os.linux.announce which stated that the program can work with Pentium-60 32MB machines. I don't know why it wouldn't work with other systems, but thats what the announcement said. This file player supports MPEG layer 1, 2, 3 and Wave files and uses pthreads (thus it requires libpthread.so). Check http://adam.kaist.ac.kr/~jwj95/ or ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/sound/splay-0.2.tar.gz. |
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Microform has rev'd their VARKON packageVARKON is a high level development tool for CAD and engineering applications developed by Microform, Sweden. It was first reported in last months Graphics Muse. Mircoform has since rev'd the package to 1.14F and added new demo applications. The new version is available at: http://www.microform.se. |
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MpegTV Player 1.0MpegTV Player 1.0 is a realtime software MPEG Video Player with audio/sync.This major release has many improvements over earlier versions, including better performances, better image quality, better error resilence, improved GUI and new features.
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The GS4500 scanner driver has been updated to Version 2.0The GS4500 scanner driver is a device driver (loadable module) for the Genius handheld scanners GS4500 and GS4500A (and probably the GS4000). Version 2.0 includes much improved support for the GS4500A. It also includes serious bug fixes. So everybody with a 2.0.x kernel should update. (If you still run a 1.2.x kernel stay with version 1.4 !)Also included is a modified version of xscan. Like the name suggests it lets you scan under X11 with your GS4500. You can get it from http://swt-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/ ~1willamo/linux.html. It should also be in the Sunsite and tsx-11 archives by now. |
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ImageMagick rev'd yet again - 3.8.3.No word as to what this release is for, however. Its nice to see such ongoing development on this very fine set of tools. I just wonder if monthly releases is really necessary. |
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Did You Know?John Bradley has now got an official home for xv on the web: http://www.trilon.com/xv/. There isn't very much there yet except the xv source distributions and links to some patches, but that will probably change over time. | |||
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Linux Graphics mini-Howto
Unix Graphics Utilities
Linux Multimedia Page
Some of the Mailing Lists and Newsgroups I keep an eye on and where I get alot of the information in this column:
The Gimp User and Gimp Developer Mailing Lists.
The IRTC-L discussion list
comp.graphics.rendering.raytracing
comp.graphics.rendering.renderman
comp.os.linux.announce
Future Directions
Next month:
I recently did an e-mail interview, in the guise of Editor of Linux Gazette, for the Italian Edition of Linux Gazette. I know it sounds strange, but the Italian edition is basically our LG with a few additions such as this interview. (I really wasn't interviewing myself.) The questions were presented to me by Francesco De Carlo, a member of the faculty of Computer Science at University of BARI, Italy and the Director of the Italian Edition of Linux Gazette, which can be found at http://www.media.it/LUGBari/index.html.
-- Marjorie L. Richardson, Editor