Copyright © 1996-98 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

Welcome to Linux Gazette!

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Table of Contents
January 1999 Issue #36

The Front Page
The MailBag

Help Wanted--Article Ideas
General Mail

More 2 Cent Tips
News Bytes

News in General
Software Announcements

The Answer Guy, by James T. Dennis
Booting Linux with the NT Loader, by Gustavo Larriera
Defining a Linux-based Production System, by Jurgen Defurne
EMACSulation, by Eric Marsden
Evaluating postgreSQL for a Production Environment, by Jurgen Defurne
Introducing Samba, by John Blair
Linux Installation Primer, Part 5, by Ron Jenkins
Linux on a Shoestring, by Vivek Haldar
The Linux User, by Bryan Patrick Coleman
New Release Reviews, by Larry Ayers

Kernel 2.2's Frame-buffer Option

Running Your Own Domain Over a Part Time Dialup, by Joe Merlino
Setting Up a PPP/POP Dial-in Server USING Red Hat Linux 5.1, by Hassan Ali
Touchpad Cures Inflammation, by Bill Bennet
Through the Looking Glass: Finding Evidence of Your Cracker, by Chris Kuethe
USENIX LISA Vendor Exhibit Trip Report, by Paul L. Lussier
X Windows versus Windows 95/98/NT: No Contest, by Paul Gregory Cooper
Announcements by Sun and Troll Tech by Marjorie Richardson
The Back Page

About This Month's Authors
Not Linux

The Answer Guy

The Graphics Muse will return next month.

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TWDT 2 (HTML)
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This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com

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The Mailbag!

Write the Gazette at gazette@ssc.com

Help Wanted -- Article Ideas

Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 05:04:56 -0800
From: "Fields, Aubrey", Aubrey.Fields@PSS.Boeing.com
Subject: I have two ideas for articles.

I am a new user to the Linux community. I have two ideas for articles that I would read, print, and distribute to the other Linux newbees that I know.

1. PPP using minicom. I have read several articles on using PPP, pppd, minicom and other dialup and networking issues. Being a new, however, I would find it very valuable to read "the definitive new users guide to configuring PPP on Linux". I've gotten a lot of pointers and some advanced tips, but what I'd like to see is how to setup a stand alone Linux 2.0.x machine (Red Hat v4 in my case) for dialing up via PPP using minicom with dhcp and dns provided by an ISP.

2. basic xfree86 / fvwm95 config tricks. For example, how to change the word "start" on the menu button at the bottom of fvwm95 to ANYTHING else! I kick Bill Gate off my PC for a reason! I don't find it cute, funny, nor reassuring to see the "I want to be windows95 'Start'" button on my Linux machine.

also, how to use icons, get rid of the "virtual" desktop so that I can see my entire window without scrolling.

Thank you very much, the Linux Gazette has proven to be a valuable resource!

--
Aubrey

Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 13:33:11 PST
From: David Camara, cpdj2@hotmail.com
Subject: connecting to novell 3.12 servers...

Hi, I'm trying to connect to netware 3.12 servers. I am using the IPX module and ncpfs 2.2.0.7-1 (for Debian 2.0). Now, I don't use the auto_primary and auto_interface since a number of old posts recommend adding the ipx interface manually.

I use:

 
ipx_interface add -p eth0 802.3 xxxxxxxx

When I cat /proc/net/ipx_interface:

 
Network    Node_Address   Primary   Device    Frame_Type
xxxxxxxx   yyyyyyyyyyyy   Yes       eth0      802.3

When I try to slist, I get:

 
slist: No server found in ncp_open

When I try to mount a Novell volume using:

 
ncpmount -S server_name -U user_name -V sys /mnt/ncp

I get:

 
ncpmount: No server found when trying to find server_name

All this as su root... Any ideas? Thanks!

--
David

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 12:16:20 -0500
From: Blazek, Daniel, blazek@globalserve.net
Subject: Ethernet

Which Ethernet cards are compatible with Linux with minimum ease of installation, also does the make/model of the hub matter?

--
Dan

Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 12:29:37 +0000
From: Tomos Llewelyn, tml@aber.ac.uk
Subject: "Unable to open console..." Why?

Can anyone tell me why I'm getting this message?

Trying to boot a 2.0.36 kernel on a PII350 with an ATI Xpert@Play 8Mb AGP card. Should I be tweaking the video mode?

--
Tom Llewelyn

Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1998 12:46:57 -0500
From: Michael Bright mabright@us.ibm.com
Subject: Token Ring Errors with SuSE 5.3

Hi, I would seriously appreciate any help you can give. I had the evaluation copy of SuSE 5.3 running fine on this machine. I loaded the full version of SuSE 5.3 and the Token ring went south. During install everything went fine, including loading the token ring module. I have replaced the ibmtr.o module file from a working machine with _no_ change in the error. I also checked the /etc/conf.modules file to make sure the alias is defined right ( alias tr0 ibmtr.o ) and the options line is right ( options ibmtr io=0xa20 ). At this point I see two options, reload the machine with the eval copy and do an upgrade or recompile the kernel and hope for the best.

initialising tr0
general protection: 0000
CPU:    0
EIP:    0010:[<02816961>]
EFLAGS: 00010212
eax: 00000003   ebx: 0009e658   ecx: fffffff7   edx: 00000000
esi: f000f84d   edi: 00000003   ebp: 00000000   esp: 019b7e0c
ds: 0018   es: 0018   fs: 002b   gs: 002b   ss: 0018
Process insmod (pid: 66, process nr: 16, stackpage=019b7000)
Stack: 0009e658 00000000 00000003 019b7e4c 00000008 0010ca1c 00000003
00000000
       019b7e4c 019b7e4c 00000003 00000000 0009e658 0010bae1 00000003
019b7e4c
       001f9b7c fffffff7 00108e00 00000003 00000000 0009e658 ffffff50
00000018
Call Trace: [<0010ca1c>] [<0010bae1>] [<0010cb9d>] [<0281694c>]
[<0010cc10>] [<028183d8>] [<0281668b>]
       [<0281694c>] [<02817bca>] [<028183d8>] [<028178bd>] [<001be7fb>]
[<028183d8>] [<02818304>] [<028183d3>]
       [<028178ca>] [<028183d8>] [<00115c3c>] [<02817868>] [<028178f0>]
[<00111748>] [<0011162c>] [<0010a950>]
       [<0010a7c5>]
Code: 0f b6 56 2f 83 fa 01 0f 84 9e 07 00 00 83 fa 02 0f 85 a9 07
Aiee, killing interrupt handler

OS: SuSE 5.3 Hardware: IBM ISA Auto 16/4 Tokenring adapter.

Thanks,
--
Michael

Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 14:33:55 -0600
From: David Caliguire, djc@sgi.com
Subject: Driver for Netflex III card on Linux

I noticed a question posed to the Gazette about drivers for Netflex 3 cards on Compaq on Linux. I have a Compaq with this card and would like to know where I could get a driver for this card for Linux.......

Thanks
--
Dave

Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 16:06:42 -0300
From: Saltiel, Hernan Claudio, hsaltiel@infovia.com.ar
Subject: Help Wanted!!!

I have a Linux box, with S.u.S.E., and a Lotus Notes server. I want to e-mail the status of my workstation to another user that belongs to the Notes Network. Does anybody know how to do that, or just the concepts to do this?

--
Hern´n Claudio Saltiel

Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1998 14:35:20 -0500
From: John, john@maxom.com
Subject: Accounting

I am looking for some inexpensive Accounting w/Inventory Software that will run on Linux . If you could point me in the right direction I would be greatly thankful

Thank You
--
John Nelson

Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 14:47:09 +0200
From: "tdk001", tdk001@mweb.co.za
Subject: Linux and UNIX

I am a 2nd year computer science student. I have looked everywhere for the answer and found only basic answers. My question is what exactly is the difference between Linux and UNIX, excluding size and speed. I would appreciate it if you could just send me a few of the differences.

Thank you
--
Frans

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 12:33:42 -0000
From: "James Jackson", james.jackson@3f.co.uk
Subject: Intellimouse

Does anybody know how to enable the wheel on an Intellimouse under Linux? (Red Hat 5.2)

--
James

Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 13:53:33 PST
From: "Thomas Smith", highminded015@hotmail.com
Subject: Upgrading Red Hat

I just installed Red Hat 5.0 and I hear about the newer versions out there and I want to upgrade but I don't want to buy a brand new CD or download everything and then re-install. I have been to a couple of sites and I have found no real help for this at any of them, so could you please help me out. Thank you.

--
Thomas

Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 23:20:12 -0800
From: Taro Fukunaga, tarozax@earthlink.net
Subject: How to get CPU info

I am writing a Tcl/Tk program that prints info about the CPU, memory usage, processes, and disk usage of a Linux computer. On problem I have is in getting info about the CPU. Because the contents (ie field names) of /proc/cpuinfo may vary from one machine (perhaps kernel build is the right answer) to the next, I decided to use the program uname. However, this also doesn't work well, and simply lists my processor as "unknown". I looked at the source code, and "unknown" is the default value for the CPU!

So my question is, is there any way to write a program that can get the type of CPU on any Linux computer?

Thank you, anyone.

--
Taro

Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1998 21:19:48 -0600
From: dcramer@midusa.net
Subject: Does Linux have multimedia support?

I just finished reading Marjorie Richardson's comments about Linux in the January '99 issue of Computer Shopper, and I was wondering if Linux now has, or will support any of the multimedia formats supported by Windows, such as AVI, JPG, WAV, MOV, etc? I have looked into some of the basics of the OS, but I have not tried to install it. Thank you.

--
Don Cramer

Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 14:03:42 -0500
From: Soraia Paz, spaz@rens.com
Subject: LILO Problems

I originally had Windows NT on my PC with some room left for Linux. I installed Linux and I set up LILO to boot both operating systems. I got into Linux fine but when I tried to get into NT it kept on crashing. I tried using DOS's fdisk to get rid of Linux but LILO is still there. How can I get rid of it?

--
Soraia

Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1998 09:42:23 -0600
From: Bill McConnaughey, mcconnau@biochem.wustl.edu
Subject: DB9 serial port

I degraded my floppy disk drive, apparently by doing fdformat with inappropriate parameters and/or media. In order to back up my work, I want to use minicom or seyon to transfer files over the DB-9 serial port. I can get the computers to type to each other, but file transfer protocols (xmodem and ymodem) don't work. There is no Kermit in my installation and I don't know where to get it. What is the correct wiring for a direct connection of the DB-9 com ports on two pc's? How can I transfer files?

--
Bill

Date: Tue, 29 Dec 1998 10:40:15 -0500 (EST)
From: ive.db@usa.com
Subject: HELP

I have a jamicon 36X cd player.

It doesn't work under Linux. I tried to install Linux but I failed.

Could you please help me with this. I also need to say that you can set my cd-player master,slave and CSEL with a jumper.

Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 03:49:21 -0500
From: "david marcelle", marcelle@avana.net
Subject: Audio-Only CDRs

Do you have for sale or do you know where I can purchase audio-only blank CDRs (for my phillips CD recorder) for $4.00 each or less?

Thanks
--
David

Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 02:15:26 -0500
From: "Clayton J. Ramseyer", cyberzard@earthlink.net
Subject: IP Masquerading and related

I am writing this message to you, because I am new to Linux. (I love it by the way) Anyway, I have a small LAN setup at home and would like to provide access to the Internet for my other machine.

The HOWTO is a bit confusing when it comes to setting this up.

If someone could write me with a possible offer for help, I'd surely appreciate it.

The commands I have are probably correct. Yet the HOWTOs don't mention which machine these commands are entered on.

I assume it would be the machine connected to the net.

By the way, I connect with a USR 56K v.90 compatible modem. My service provider is earthlink.

I look forward to your responses.

Thanks,
--
CJ

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 23:05:13 +0530
From: "L.V.Gandhi", lvgandhi@vsnl.com
Subject: Netscape help

I have installed NC4.5 for Linux. I could edit preferences both as root and an user. Once closed and then restarted I am unable to do that. I am not sure from when it happened. It may be due improper shutdown due to power outage or hanging of nc after many windows are open. I have system PII with 780MB partition for Linux with 64 MB swap space, 32 MB ram. Is there any easy way to remove an installed software and reinstall it in Linux?

--
L.V.Gandhi

Date: Sat, 2 Jan 1999 23:03:35 +0530
From: "L.V.Gandhi", lvgandhi@vsnl.com
Subject: help for microsoft intellimouse

I have installed RH5.0 and upgraded to 5.1. I have Microsoft intellimouse and logitech super mouse. when I configure mi, the same is not recognized by Linux and xserver. The same is recognized in win98. But logi mouse is recognized in both. Any solutions welcome.

--
L.V.Gandhi

General Mail

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 13:39:58 -0500
From: Brad Gerrard, bradgerrard@x-stream.co.uk
Subject: The Future Of Artificial Intelligence and Linux

Can you imagine, 'eureka' you've done it, you're going to make millions neigh billions, you've created a programme that gives a computer the seeming ability to think.

There it is flashing away 'walking the walk', bezazz it thinks.

Hold on a moment the operating system, no the skeleton of this thinking machine has crashed.

What say you, shall we change the operating system? Not arf we will.

How about something a little more stable, how about an operating system that will go for at least a year. Is that to much to ask? One might well wonder were we not acquainted with the genie in the bottle, yes 'Linux'.

Linux is gaining in popularity, that makes it commercial, that means money, and money means more thinkers are turning their attention towards it as a viable alternative to some of it's less exciting competition. Linux is a stable operating system, freely available, an operating system for Man All Born Equal as written in the American constitution, yes could this operating system level out the playing field.

Artificial Intelligence requires a very stable platform, and I believe that given the limitations of present day hardware, AI requires an operating system with a small foot print in order to possibly tackle the problem of achieving any potential of new thought, which could possibly be termed artificial intelligence in it's true sense. Linux is a Unix operating system, it can be and usually is networked, this is a plus when it comes to composing an AI operating programme.

The very makeup and variable structure lends it's self to AI.

Yes I believe that Linux is an operating system with a bright future.

--
Brad

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 13:39:58 -0500
From: "Serge E. Hallyn", hallyn@CS.WM.EDU
Subject: happy hacking keyboard

wow. $140 for a keyboard because it has fewer keys? I simply don't think the arguments in favor make sense - namely that you don't have to reach for any keys, because you should never need to with other normal keyboards either. Let's see:

control not being next to A should never be a problem for anyone who'd dare call him/herself a hacker, happy or otherwise - if you can't figure out how to remap caps lock,...
escape should not be a problem, since any self-respecting vi user uses ctrl-[ anyway
backspace: ctrl-h (well, OK, emacs users are out of luck :)
tab, if it's a really weird keyboard, ctrl-i, though i seldom do that

$140. ridiculous.

--
serge

Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 12:28:06 -0600
From: Tim Kelley, tpkelley@winkinc.com
Subject: Jeremy Dinsel's review of keyboard ...

He did not mention something which many people would be very interested in knowing - is it a clicking, spring action style keyboard or a membrane (mushy) style keyboard?

At that price (~$150), I can't believe it's one of those cheap membrane things, but one can never be sure. Actually, at that price, I can't believe anyone would buy it, but whatever.

--
Tim

Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 01:32:06 +1000 (GMT)
From: Norman Widders winspace@paladincorp.com.au
Subject: Linux Gazette

I just read David Jao's article in Linux Gazette #35 and enjoyed it. He had one fact wrong though, he mentioned:

Currently, a limitation of the UW IMAP server is that a folder cannot contain both messages and subfolders.

This is not a limitation of the UOW server. It is a limitation of the default UNIX mail files... There are other available mailbox types available on the UNIX platform that will allow UOW to create subfolders... see the release notes with UOW for more info :)

--
Norman

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 08:24:43 -0500 (EST)
From: Walt Taninatz, waldo@voicenet.com
Subject: Re: Linux Gazette #35

Thank you for the reminders and for making such a great magazine. The content is always useful, interesting and well written.

Best Regards,
--
Walter

Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 13:52:14 -0800
From: Jauder Ho, jauderho@transmeta.com
Subject: Re: IMAP on Linux: A Practical Guide

I have some comments on the article written by David Jao. There are some inaccuracies that I need to correct. We use IMAP here and it is indeed excellent technology.

NS 4.08 is out. NS 4.5 is actually pretty stable when it comes to IMAP based mail, we have no problems using it.
By default, imapd uses UNIX spool. This is horrendously inefficient. So I am not surprised by it crashing over 1000 messages. HOWEVER, if you change the mailbox format to something like mbx (Modify the Makefile, change unixproto to mbxproto), it can easily handle much more messages and allow concurrent access. I have users with 8000 messages in their in box with not problem.
Netscape is now beta testing Linux versions of their Messaging and Directory servers.
There is one more way to do IMAP securely and that is to use stunnel under IMAP.

More information about what we do site specific can be found at http://www.carumba.com/imap/

--
Jauder

Date: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 08:46:18 +0100
From: "Thomas Diehl", th.diehl@dtp-service.com
Subject: Editor's Choice Awards: Most Desired Port?

This is on your "Editor's Choice Awards", esp. the following from your article "Most Desired Port--QuarkXPress":

For layout, we must have an MS Windows 95 machine in order to run QuarkXPress... We are more than ready to be rid of this albatross and have a total Linux shop. Next, like everyone else, we'd like Adobe to port all its products to Linux.

I'm a professional DTPer and a Linux user myself. So I would certainly like to see the whole Acrobat suite for Linux as well as good font and printing solutions from Adobe. And, of course, I don't have anything against porting PM, Frame, PShop, Illustrator, or XPress to the penguin platform. No doubt about it.

I find it problematic, however, that hardly anybody in the DTP area seems to do justice to the fact that there is a complete suite for our kind of work coming up just NOW: Corel promised repeatedly to port _all_ their DTP programs to Linux: Ventura, Draw, PhotoPaint as well as a lot of helpful apps like WordPerfect and their whole Office suite. (See eg www.zdnet.co.uk/news/1998/45/ns-6073.html)

This would be an incredible step forward for Linux -- but somehow nobody in DTP seems to care. I wonder why?

Of course, I'm fully aware of the bad reputation Corel software has among DTPers (and also how much of this they deserved). But I can assure you and everybody from daily, first hand experience that the situation has incredibly improved over the last years. Today the Corel DTP apps brings a wealth of functionality to the users that, as a whole, is unmatched by anything I know in this area.

I'm also aware that this will not be enough to make XPress users really consider a switch and that they have perfectly good reasons for this attitude. But, nevertheless, I would appreciate it VERY much if the Corel announcements would at least be taken into account when talking about this area. If Corel keep their promise there will be a complete publishing suite for Linux very soon. And I would ask everybody to spread the good news, esp. those who may be held "opinion leaders" by many people out there. I'm sure it would be a real loss for everybody if Corel would get second thoughts about their plans because of apparent "lack of demand" among professional DTPers.

Just in case you are prepared to look a little more at this I'm attaching some more material on the aptness of Corel DTP software.

Kind regards,
--
Thomas

We use many of Corel's products including Ventura (for book layout). Editor's choice is after all my opinion only, but I do know that many magazines besides Linux Journal use QuarkXPress for layout. --Editor

Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 16:30:53 -0500
From: "Adams, Ranald", Ranald.Adams@ctny.com
Subject: Compaq

There's a lot of this sort of thing on Compaq's forum. Please publish to interested parties so that they can become subject to the appropriate level of ridicule (in a caring, motivationally productive kind of way).

Topic: Servers - Banyan-Unix Subject: Linux and Compaq Servers From: COMPAQ - Robert G 05/11/98 09:10:13 Compaq now or in the future will not be providing Linux drivers. This is because the Linux operating system is a public domain OS. There is not a single source of ownership to go to when trying to resolve OS issues like there is for SCO Unix and other versions of Unix on the market. Because there is no single source for the compiled binary code required to install and run the OS there is no way to guarantee driver compatibility with all the flavors of Linux.

Compaq Engineering has decided that they will not provide or release hardware drivers unless they can be fully certified and supported. Since Linux does not have a single source manufacture, this is not possible with Linux. But you can by all means make a formal request in writing to Compaq Engineering concerning your need for Linux drivers. The address is:

Compaq Computer Corp.
Attn. Engineering Dept.
MS. 050702
20555 State Hwy. 249
Houston, TX 77070 b4

Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 10:53:00 -0800
From: Mike Wiley, npg@integrityonline.com
Subject: Corel Ventura would be best DTP port

I agree that Linux needs a DTP program, but the one which should be desired is Corel Ventura Publisher, not Quark. CVP version 8 is at least one generation ahead of Quark and include many features which we use regularly =97 features which are completely absent from Quark. It is more powerful and easier to use. From my perspective, Quark shows all the signs of product arrogance which arises from having a monopoly, or near monopoly, in a field.

Another point: Corel Corp has made a commitment to Linux. Adobe and Quark, to my knowledge have not. Why not support those who support you, especially when those who support you have the best product?

Just a couple of thoughts...

Sincerely,

--
Mike

We support Corel in every way we can, but Quark is more suited for our purposes in printing the magazine than is Ventura. Corel's NetWinder will be featured on the April Linux Journal cover. --Editor

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 14:19:43 -0500
From: "Nils Lohner", lohner@debian.org
Subject: Debian Powers 512 Node Cluster into Book of Records

Over 512 computers were assembled for the CLOWN (CLuster Of Working Nodes) system that ran on the night of December 5-6. This cluster used a modified version of the Debian GNU/Linux distribution (reduced in size to a mere 16 MB, and boot script modifications) to run a combination of PVM (Parallel Virtual Machine) and several application programs. These programs included povray (a ray tracing program used to calculate frames for a film), Cactus, a program that solves the Einstein Equations, which are ten non-linear joint hyperbolic-elliptical partial differential equations. These are used to describe Black Holes, Neutron Stars, etc. and are among the most complex in the field of mathematical Physics.

For more information, please visit the following sites (mostly in German):

http://www.ccnacht.de/
http://www.linux-magazin.de/cluster/
http://www.heise.de/ix/artikel/1999/01/010/
http://europium.oc2.uni-duesseldorf.de/cluster/tech.html

--
Nils

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 02:31:14 -0500
From: Paul Iadonisi, iadonisi@colltech.com
Subject: Re: USENIX LISA Vendor Exhibit trip report

There were a lot of what I call "Want-Ad" booths to. Collective Technologies (formerly Pencom System Administration), Sprint Paranet, Fidelity, and several other companies there for sole reason of trying to recruit people.

Hmmm. I take exception to this. We (Collective Technologies) have many reasons for being at LISA. Like any business, we work to get name recognition. We want people to know who we are. But we also seek to educate our members (look in the rear of the Attendee List for the list by company and you will see how many of us went -- I think we have the largest number of attendees) and give back to the System Administration community at large. Take a look at the Technical Talks and BoFs and you will find four events each sponsored by a Collective Technologies member. Five of our members also wrote summaries for SANS in the August issue of ;login:.

I hope no one sees this as a marketing message and my intention is not to try to sell my company on a Linux mailing list. The point is that we do all of this without tootin' our own horn that much. I think reducing our booth to a "Want-Ad" type booth is a little unfair. I normally wouldn't post a message like this on this list, but couldn't let the '...there for sole reason of trying to recruit people...' comment pass, especially since we were the first company listed. No ill will, I just wanted to clear that up.

--
Paul Iadonisi

You must be clairvoyant! :-) That article is just being posted in this issue. Of course, it's on Paul's web site, but to know to send a copy of your letter to me. Wow! --Editor

Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 20:09:57 -0500
From: Kevin Forge, forgeltd@usa.net
Subject: Quark

Most Desired Port--QuarkXPress

Hate to say it but "BUY A MAC". Mind you I don't like the Mac. I don't use a Mac. I don't even like the few occasions when I must attempt to repair a Mac ( often it's cheaper to ditch it than buy parts ).

All this considered even Microsoft uses Quark on a Mac to do it's manuals and stuff. As far as I know a Mac used in this post may never crash. Sure Mac OS isn't Linux quality in terms of stability but it beets NT.

In the mean time whine for a port ... It may never happen though since even the windows port is 1/2 harted, unstable and not quite what the printers want ( they all use Macs. )

--
Kevin

We started out with a Mac but at that time it wasn't as easy to network a Mac with Linux as it now is with Netatalk. So the decision was made to go with Windows. It happens. --Editor

Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 21:13:56 -0600
From: Sam, myoldkh@earthlink.net
Subject: Sponsorship

gts global >>myoldkh<< 12-22-98     09:15:32 PM:

You will be very pleased to know that yesterday I made a credit card order on the Web for a copy of the Linux OS from one of your sponsors - Red Hat Software.

I support quality web sites and their sponsors! (I am also sick and tired of MS Windows crashing my computer all of the time - I think that Microsoft writes software about the same way that GM builds cars - I know cause I drive a Pontiac lemon!)

--
Sam

Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1998 19:46:04 -0600 (EST)
From: "Michael J. Hammel", mjhammel@graphics-muse.org
Subject: Logo

From LG Editor:
I get at least one letter a month asking that we change the quote in the logo to be attributed directly to Gandhi rather than a movie actor, as well as ones requesting that the graphic be made smaller. What do you think? Is it time to make either of these changes?

I'll look at making the image smaller, but it may not be till next month. I'm still getting things back together at home.

As to the quote, I'll stick to the attribution until someone provides a definitive resource that attributes it to Gandhi. I'm fairly certain he would have said it, but I don't want to give him the attribution unless I can find some other resource to back it up. After all, I only know about it because of a movie.

I have no objection to changing it - I just need some other definitive attribution to do so.

--
Michael

Date: Mon, 28 Dec 1998 16:46:13 -0800
From: Randy Herrick, HERRICK@PACBELL.NET
Subject: graphics on title page

Great site, just one thing, I think Tux needs to look like, well, the real Tux, in real Tux colors. In the beginning there were several kinds of birds from seagulls to penguins, but I think nowadays most everyone has adopted the standard Tux penguin that is siting down (looking happy from eating herring-as Linus Torvald's put it )in the black and white and yellow colors. We need to have a standard logo for Linux, don't you think? Thanks for your time. :)

--
Randy

As far as graphics go, I trust Michael's judgment in all things--even the way Tux is drawn. --Editor

Date: Sun, 27 Dec 1998 13:38:52 -0600
From: Lyno Sullivan, lls@freedomain.org
Subject: MPDN - Minnesota Public Digital Network

I would appreciate your support of the following initiative. Specifically, I will need the help of the free software community during discussions of item 4 and the excerpt listed below: December 27, 1998
The full MPDN announcement may be viewed at: http://www.freedomain.org/^lls/free-mn/19981222-mpdn.html

This post constitutes an invitation to join discussions concerning the MPDN. Beginning in January, 1999, I will present each goal of the MPDN for discussion within the MN-NETGOV listserv. If you are a stake holder to these goals, please join the listserv.

Anyone can join that listserv by sending an email to

mailto:mn-netgov-subscribe@egroups.com

Members may view past messages, calendars, and other group features at:

http://www.egroups.com/list/mn-netgov/

ABSTRACT

In preparation for my requesting Legislative hearings in 1999, this article explains my vision of the Minnesota Public Digital Network (MPDN), which is:

1) to provide every Minnesota citizen with a secure and authenticated email address within the mn.us hierarchy,

2) to assure that every citizen can use email to dialogue with the elected and the appointed offices of government,

3) to assure that every local community has a high speed digital network and a repository for the creative works and letters of the Minnesota people, and

4) to collect the free software tools necessary to attain these goals, within the Government Information Freedom Toolbox (the GIFT), which will be created as a byproduct of Minnesota State government's conversion to free software.

EXCERPT

GOAL 1) Effective immediately, freeze (at current levels or lower) all spending for non-free, closed source, software. Establish a Legislative audit to determine the Total Cost of Operation (TCO) costs of non-free server and desktop software. Establish a cost reduction plan that will result in the elimination of spending on non-free software. Collect all those monies, identified by the TCO analysis, together into a revolving Software Freedom Fund, to be administered by the Office of Technology. Require that all further purchases and upgrades of non-free, closed source server and desktop software must be approved by the Minnesota Office of Technology's, Information Policy Council (IPC). The IPC will be charged to develop a statewide model of the MPDN. The IPC will be charged to connect every public sector worker in Minnesota to the MPDN. Savings within the Software Freedom Fund may be spent on writing free software. Revenues of the Software Freedom Fund must be spent, to endow the creation of free software and free content, all of which, must be licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) or a suitable copyleft license.

--
Lyno Sullivan

Published in Linux Gazette Issue 36, January 1999

This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com
Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

More 2¢ Tips!

Send Linux Tips and Tricks to gazette@ssc.com

Forcing fsck on Red Hat 5.1

Date: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 18:20:28 -0500
From: James Dahlgren, jdahlgren@netreach.net

I don't know if this is a 2 cent tip or what, and since it's distribution specific, it's applicability is limited, but I still thought it was worth sharing.

The shutdown command accepts a -F switch to force a fsck when the system is rebooted. This switch just writes a flag file /forcefsck, it is up to the initialization scripts do do something about it. In Red Hat 5.1 ( I don't know about 5.2 ) the rc.sysinit script uses a different method to force a fsck.

It checks for the existence of /fsckoptions and if it exists uses it's contents as a switch when calling fsck. The command "echo -n '-f' > /fsckoptions" will create a file, /fsckoptions, with "-f" in it and will force a fsck the next time the system is booted. The rc.sysinit script removes the /fsckoptions file after remounting the drive read-write, so that the fsck won't be forced every time the system is booted.

If you want the -F switch from the shutdown command to work, a little editing of the /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit file will do it.

near the beginning of the rc.sysinit file is the following:

 
if [ -f /fsckoptions ]; then
        fsckoptions=`cat /fsckoptions`
else
        fsckoptions=''
fi

This is where it checks for the /fsckoptions file and reads its contents into a variable for later use. We add an elif to check for the /forcefsck file and set the variable accordingly:

 
if [ -f /fsckoptions ]; then
        fsckoptions=`cat /fsckoptions`
elif [ -f /forcefsck ]; then
        fsckoptions='-f'
else
        fsckoptions=''
fi

Now the /forcefsck flag file created by using the -F switch with shutdown will force a fsck on reboot. Now we need to get rid of the /forcefsck file, or it will force the check every time the system is started. Further down in the rc.sysinit file, after the disk is remounted read-write, is the following line which removes any existing /fsckoptions file:

 
rm -f /etc/mtab~ /fastboot /fsckoptions

We just add /forcefsck to the list of files to delete:

 
rm -f /etc/mtab~ /fastboot /fsckoptions /forcefsck

Now we have two ways to force the fsck, we can use the -F switch when running shutdown, or we can put specific flags in a /fsckoptions file.

CAUTION!
The rc.sysinit file is critical to system startup. A silly typo in it can make the system hang when it boots. ( I've been there! ) Make a backup before you edit it. Edit it carefully. If you do blotch it, you can recover by rebooting and using the -b switch after the image name on the lilo command line. This brings you up in maintenance mode without running the rc.sysininit script. The disk is in read-only mode.

 
mount -n -o remount,rw /

will get you to read-write mode so you can fix the problem.

 
mount -n -o remount,ro /

after fixing the problem to prepare the system for continuing startup.

exit or ctl-d to exit the maintenance shell and continue on to the default runlevel.

Hope this is of some use to someone.

--
Jim

Personal Listserver

Date: Mon, 07 Dec 1998 01:59:48 +0100
From: "Soenke J. Peters", peters@simprovement.com

An often unused feature of "sendmail" is it's "plussed user feature" which makes mails to "user+testlist@localhost" match "user@localhost". I will show you how to use this to implement personal mailing lists.

First, you have to set up "procmail" to act as a filter on your incoming mails. This could be done inside sendmail by setting it up as your local mailer, or simply via your "~/.forward" file.

Now, you should get a mailing list program. I prefer BeroList, because it's easy to configure. Compile it (don't forget to adjust the paths!) and install it somewhere in your home directory.

Done that, you have to tell procmail what mails are to be passed to the mailing list program. This is done inside "~/.procmailrc" and should contain something like the following for every list (in this example, the list is called "testlist", the mailname of the user is "username"):

 
:0
* ^To:.*username\+testlist
| path/to/the/listprogram testlist

The last step is to prepare the configuration files for the mailing list. As this is specific to the program you use, I can't tell you here.

For a german description see:
http://www.simprovement.com/linux/listserver.html

--
Soenke Jan Peters

Re: Back Ups

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 10:07:46 -0500 (EST)
From: Jim Buchanan, c22jrb@koptsv01.delcoelect.com

From: Anthony Baldwin:
Disk space is relatively cheap, so why not buy a small drive say 500Meg which is used for holding just the root /lib /bin /sbin directories. Then setup a job to automatically back this up to another drive using "cp -ax" (and possibly pipe it through gzip and tar). This way when the unthinkable happens and you loose something vital, all you have to do is boot from floppy mount the 2 drives and do a copy. This has just saved my bacon while installing gnu-libc2

A good idea as far as it goes, but there is one gotcha. If lightning or some other power surge takes out one drive, it might take out the on-line backup as well.

I use a very similar method where each night, on each machine, I have a cron job back up vital information to another HD in another machine on my home network.

In addition to the nightly back-ups, I do a weekly backup to removable media, which I keep in a separate building (my workshop at the back of my lot). That way if lightning takes out everything on the network, I have lost a weeks or less work. The separate building part might be paranoia, but I really recommend at least weekly off-line back ups.

--
Jim Buchanan

Tips in the following section are answers to questions printed in the Mail Bag column of previous issues.

ANSWER: Your Supra Internal Modem Problems

Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 09:48:10 -0500 From: "Brower, William" wbrower@indiana.edu

Richard wrote:
I have a PII (350MHz) running with an AGP ATI 3DRage graphics card (which works fine) and a Sound Blaster 16 PnP (which also works fine). But, I can't get my internal SupraExpress 56k modem to work.

Your modem sounded familiar from a past search I had done, so I went to Red Hat's www site (http://www.redhat.com/) and followed the support | hardware link. You will find this reference in the modem category:

Modems that require software drivers for compression, error correction, high-speed operation, etc.
PCI Memory Mapped Modems (these do not act like serial ports)
Internal SupraExpress 56k & also the Internal SupraSonic 56k

It appears that your modem is inherently not compatible with Linux. I use an inexpensive clone modem called the E-Tech Bullet, pc336rvp model - paid $28 for it and it operates with no problems at all. Good luck in finding a compatible modem!

--
Bill

ANSWER: Single Floppy Linux

Date: Tue, 01 Dec 1998 22:05:59 -0800
From: Ken Leyba, kleyba@pacbell.net

To: roberto.urban@uk.symbol.com
There are a few choices for a single floppy Linux (O.K. some are more than one floppy). I haven't tried them, but I will be doing a Unix presentation next month and plan to demo and handout a single or double floppy sets for hands-on.

muLinux (micro linux):
http://www4.pisoft.it/~andreoli/mulinux.html

tomsrtbt:
http://www.toms.net/rb/

Linux Router Project:
http://www.linuxrouter.org/

Trinux:
http://www.trinux.org/

Good Luck,
--
Ken

ANSWER: Re: scsi + ide; boot ide

Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 07:42:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Phil Hughes, fyl@ssc.com

The amazing Al Goldstein wrote:
I have only linux on a scsi disk. I want to add an ide disk and want to continue to boot from the scsi which has scsi id=0. Redhat installation says this is possible. Is that true? If so how is it done?

First, you should be able to tell your BIOS where to boot from. Just set it to SCSI first and all should be ok.

If that isn't an option, just configure LILO (/etc/lilo.conf) so that it resides on the MBR of the IDE disk (probably /dev/hda) but boots Linux from where it lives on the SCSI disk.

--
Phil

ANSWER: Numlock at startup

Date: Thu, 03 Dec 1998 21:51:08 -0800
From: "D. Cooper Stevenson", coopers@proaxis.com

To: bmtrapp@acsu.buffalo.edu

Here's a bit of code I found while searching the documentation for "numlock" It turns numlock on for all terminals at startup! The bolded code is the added code in the /etc/rc.d/rc file of my Redhat 5.1 Linux:

 
 Is there an rc directory for this new runlevel?
if [ -d /etc/rc.d/rc$runlevel.d ]; then
        # First, run the KILL scripts.
        for i in /etc/rc.d/rc$runlevel.d/K*; do
                # Check if the script is there.
                [ ! -f $i ] && continue

                # Check if the subsystem is already up.
                subsys=${i#/etc/rc.d/rc$runlevel.d/K??}
                [ ! -f /var/lock/subsys/$subsys ] && \
                    [ ! -f /var/lock/subsys/${subsys}.init ] && continue

                # Bring the subsystem down.
                $i stop
        done

        # Now run the START scripts.
        for i in /etc/rc.d/rc$runlevel.d/S*; do
                # Check if the script is there.
                [ ! -f $i ] && continue

                # Check if the subsystem is already up.
                subsys=${i#/etc/rc.d/rc$runlevel.d/S??}
                [ -f /var/lock/subsys/$subsys ] || \
                    [ -f /var/lock/subsys/${subsys}.init ] && continue

                # Bring the subsystem up.
                $i start
        done

        # Turn the NumLock key on at startup
        INITTY=/dev/tty[1-8]
        for tty in $INITTY; do
             setleds -D +num < $tty
        done
fi

ANSWER: Re: graphics for disabled

Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 00:13:19 GMT
From: Enrique I.R., esoft@arrakis.es

In a previous message, Pierre LAURIER says: - control of the pointer device with the keyboard

You can do it with any windowmanager. It's a XFree86 feature (v3.2, don't know of older versions). You only have to use the XKB extension. You enable it hiting the Control+Shift+NumLock. You should hear a beep here. Now you use the numerical keypad to:

 
Numbers (cursors) -> Move pointer.
/,*,- -> l,r&m buttons.
5 -> Click selected button.
+ -> Doubleclick selected button.
0(ins) -> Click&Hold selected button.
.(del) -> Release holded button.

Read the XFree86 docs to get details.

--
Enrique I.R.

ANSWER: BTS: GNU wget for updating web site

Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1998 03:15:16 -0500
From: "J. Milgram", milgram@cgpp.com

Re. the question "Updating Web Site" in the Jan 1999 Linux Journal, p. 61 ...

Haven't tried the mirror package - might be good, but you can also use GNU wget (prep.ai.mit.edu). Below is the script I use to keep the University of Maryland LUG's Slackware mirror up-to-date. "Crude but effective".

 
#!/bin/bash
#
#  Update slackware
#
#  JM 7/1998  

# usage:   slackware.wget [anything]
# any argument at all skips mirroring, moves right to cleanup.

site=ftp://sunsite.unc.edu
sitedir=pub/Linux/distributions/slackware-3.6; cutdirs=3
localdir=`basename $sitedir`
log=slackware.log
excludes=""
for exclude in bootdsks.12 source slaktest live kernels; do
  [ "$excludes" ] && excludes="${excludes},"
  excludes="${excludes}${sitedir}/${exclude}"
done

# Do the mirroring:

if [ ! "$*" ]; then
 echo -n "Mirroring from $site (see $log) ... "
 wget -w 5 --mirror $site/$sitedir -o $log -nH --cut-dirs=$cutdirs -X"$excludes"
 echo "done."
fi

# Remove old stuff
# (important, but wipes out extra stuff you might have added)

echo "Removing old stuff ..."
for d in `find $localdir -depth -type d`; do
  pushd $d > /dev/null
  for f in *; do
     grep -q "$f" .listing || { rm -rf "$f" && echo $d/$f; }
  done
  popd > /dev/null
done
echo "Done."

--
Judah

ANSWER: Linux Boot-Root

Date: Mon, 7 Dec 1998 12:57:34 +0100
From: Ian Carr-de Avelon, ian@emit.pl

This is an answer to one of the letters in the December '98 issue.

Date: Wed, 04 Nov 1998 19:01:02 +0000 From: Roberto Urban, roberto.urban@uk.symbol.com Subject: Help Wanted - Installation On Single Floppy

My problem seems to be very simple yet I am struggling to solve it. I am trying to have a very basic installation of Linux on a single 1.44MB floppy disk and I cannot find any documents on how to do that. My goal is to have just one floppy with the kernel, TCP/IP, network driver for 3COM PCMCIA card, Telnet daemon, so I could demonstrate our RF products (which have a wireless Ethernet interface - 802.11 in case you are interested) with just a laptop PC and this floppy. I have found several suggestions on how to create a compressed image on a diskette but the problem is how to create and install a _working_ system on the same diskette, either through a RAM disk or an unused partition. The distribution I am currently using is Slackware 3.5.

Making a "boot-root" disk is not too difficult and there is information and and examples available: http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Bootdisk-HOWTO.html http://www.linuxrouter.org/

Maybe the new LDP site should have a link from every page of Linux Gazett: http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/

I build boot-root disks quite regularly and they have lots of uses Eg:

change an old PC into a dial on demand router for a net.
Give clients and emergency disk which will ring in to us so we can log in and fix things. (Even if the main OS on the machine is not Linux)
Turn any Windows PC on the net into a terminal, or testbed for network hardware.
Clients often bring laptops for installations with no easy way of connecting them to the net. A bootroot disk and a PLIP cable gives me a simple way to get the laptop to let me telnet to it and ftp files across.

Basicly it is just a matter of reducing what you are trying to something which will fit on the floppy and following the HOWTO. If you are short of space you can usually gain a little by using older versions.

Having said that you are putting yourself up against some additional problems here. Laptops are notorious for being only PC compatable with drivers which are only available for Windows. Even here there is some support: http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/ but you should realise that not all PCMCIA chip sets are supported and that is before you get onto support for the card itself. Obvioulsy if the card is your own product you have some advantages as far as getting access to technical information :-) but in general if the laptop and card manufacturers are unwilling to give information you can end up wasting a lot of time on reverse engineering and sometimes still fail.

--
Ian

Replies to My Questions in Nov. 98 Linux Gazette

Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1998 20:23:48 -0800
From: Sergio Martinez, sergiomart@csi.com

Last month, Ms. Richardson published a short letter I wrote that asked some questions about the differences among the terminology of GUIs, window managers, desktops, interfaces, and a bit about the differences among GNOME, KDE, and Windows. These matters came to mind as I switched from Windows 95 to Linux, with its multiple choices of window managers.

Several people were kind enough to send long replies. I'm forwarding them to you in case you would like to consider using one as an article, or editing them into one. I suppose the title could be something like "A Vocabulary Primer to GUI's, Window Managers, Desktops, Interfaces, and All That".

I'm leaving all this to your judgment. It would be an article for newbies, but I found most of the replies very informative for this migrant from Windows 95.

--
Sergio E. Martinez

-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 13:44:20 -0500
From: Moore, Tim, Tim.Moore@ThomsonConsulting.com

I don't have time to write a full article, but I can answer your questions. Unfortunately, I'm using MS Outlook to do so (I'm at work and I have to )-: ) so sorry if this comes out formatted funny in your mailer.

Terminology: The differences (if any) among a GUI, a window manager, a desktop, and an interface. How do they differ from X windows?

In the X world, things tend to be split up into multiple components, whereas in other systems, everything is just part of the "OS". Here are some definitions:

Interface is a general term which really just means a connection between two somewhat independent components -- a bridge. It is often used to mean "user interface" which is just the component of a computer system which interacts with the user.

GUI is another general term, and stands for graphical user interface. It's pretty much just what it sounds like; a user interface that is primarily graphical in nature. Mac OS and Windows are both GUIs. In fact, pretty much everything intended for desktop machines is these days.

On Mac OS and Windows, capabilities for building a graphical interface are built into the OS, and you just use those. It's pretty simple that way, but not very flexible. Unix and Unix-like OSes don't have these built in capabilities -- to use a GUI, you have to have a "windowing system." X is one of them -- the only one that sees much use these days.

All X provides is a way to make boxes on the screen (windows) and draw stuff in them. It doesn't provide a) ways to move windows around, resize them, or close them, b) standard controls like buttons and menus, c) standards or guidelines for designing user interfaces for programs, or for interoperating between programs (e.g., via drag and drop or a standard help system).

A window manager is a program which lets you move windows around and resize them. It also usually provides a way to shrink a window into an icon or a taskbar, and often has some kind of a program launcher. The user can use any window manager that he or she wants -- any X application is supposed to work with any window manager, but you can only run one at a time. That is, you can switch between window managers as much as you want, but at most one can be running at a time, and all programs on screen are managed by whichever one is running (if any).

A widget set is a library of routines that programmers can use to make standard controls like buttons and menus (which are called widgets by X programmers). The widget set that an application uses is chosen by the *programmer* (not the user). Most people have multiple widget sets installed, and can run multiple programs using different widget sets at the same time.

Finally, there's the desktop environment. This is the newest and most nebulous X term. It basically means "the things that the Mac OS and Windows GUIs have that X doesn't but should" which generally consists a set of interacting applications with a common look and feel, and libraries and guidelines for creating new applications that "fit in" with the rest of the environment. For example, all KDE applications use the same widget set (Qt) and help program, and you can drag and drop between them. You can have multiple desktop environments installed at the same time, and you can run programs written for a different environment than the one you're running without having to switch, as long as you have it installed. That is, if you use GNOME, but like the KDE word processor KLyX, you can run KLyX without running any other KDE programs, but it won't necessarily interoperate well with your GNOME programs. You can even run the GNOME core programs and the KDE core programs at the same time, thought it doesn't really make much sense to, as you would just end up with two file managers, two panels, etc.

Do all window managers (like GNOME or KDE or FVWM95) run on top of X windows?

Yes, though GNOME and KDE aren't window managers (they're desktop environments). KDE comes with a windowmanager (called KWM). GNOME doesn't come with a window manager -- you can use whichever one you want, though some have been specifically written to interoperate well with GNOME programs (Enlightenment being the furthest along). But yes, they all require X to be running.

What exactly does it mean for an application to be GNOME or KDE aware? What happens if it's not? Can you still run it?

It just means that it was written using the GNOME or KDE libraries. This means a few things: 1) programs will probably *not* be both GNOME *and* KDE aware, 2) you have to have the GNOME libraries installed to run GNOME-aware applications, 3) you can run GNOME applications and KDE applications side-by-side, and to answer your question, 4) you can always run non-aware applications if you use either environment.

What exactly do the GTK+ (for GNOME) or Troll (for KDE) libraries do?

GTK+ and Qt (which is the name of the product by Troll Tech that KDE uses) are both widget sets. That is, they provide buttons, menus, scrollbars, and that sort of thing to application developers. Note that applications can use GTK+ or Qt without being GNOME or KDE aware, but *all* GNOME apps use GTK+ and *all* KDE apps use Qt.

How does the history of Linux (or UNIX) window managers compare to that of say, the desktop given to Win98/95 users? How, specifically, does Microsoft limit consumer's choices by giving them just one kind of desktop, supposedly one designed for ease of use?

This is a much more complicated question. In essence, Windows provides a built in windowing system, window manager, widget set, and desktop environment, so everybody uses those instead of being able to chose the one they like.

What's happening with Common Desktop Environment? Is it correct that it's not widely adopted among Linux users because it's a resource hog, or not open source?

Yes. Also, it costs a lot of money. You can get it from Red Hat, though.

--
Tim

-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 00:34:46 +0100 (AMT)
From: Hans Nieuwenhuis, niha@ing.hj.se

I read your mail today in the Linux Gazette and decided to answer (or try to) your questions.

Here it goes:

X-Windows is designed as a client-server system. Advantage is that you can run the server on another machine then the machine your monitor is connected to. Then you need a client. This can be a program or a window manager. A window manager communicates with the server by asking it to create a window. When the server fullfilled the requests the windowmanager ads a nice titlebar to it and lets the application create its interface. Basicly the window manager stand between the server and the application, but that is not necessary. It is possible to run an application on a X server without a window manager but the only thing you are able to do is run that specific application, close it and kill the X server.

A GUI is a Graphical User Interface, which means all of the information presented on the screen is done by windows, menus, buttons etc... Just like Windows. Also all the interaction, the interface is based upon those windows and buttons. The main goal of a GUI is to provide a uniform system of presenting windows and gathering information. A good example in MS Windows is the Alt+F4 keystroke, with this keystroke you can close any window on your screen. A window manager can be part of this system. This is what happens with KDE and CDE. They both feature their own window manager and then you are able to bring this same uniformity to your desktop. Basicly what I see as a desktop is the set of applications which are availeble on a certain system. A uniform GUI can bring also features like drag and drop and "point and shoot", associate applications to a certain filetype. One question you ask about the awareness for GNOME or KDE, this means, that a program that is designed for those environment is (or should be) able to communicate with other programs that are designed for those environments. This brings you for example drag and drop. Some programs can indeed not run without the desktop environment for which they are designed, but some can. For example I use KDE programs, but I do not like their window manager so I use Window Maker, which is not designed for use in the KDE environment, therefore I have to lack some features.

The libraries: GTK+ and Qt (Troll, as you mentioned it) are toolkits. What they basicly do is draw windows, buttons and menus. These are tour Legos with which you build your interface. And yes, if you want to run applications designed for a specif environment, say GNOME, you need atleast the GNOME libaries, like GTK+ and a few others.

As I mentioned before, the client-server design of X-Windows gives the user the flexibility to choose a window manager they like, but basicly they do the same as the win95/98 system. Win95/98 limits you to one look and feel (yeah you can change the color of your background, but that is about it), but manages also windows. But it does not give the user the freedom to experiment with other looks and feels. Most modern window managers permits you to define other keybindings and such. And if you don't like GNOME you can use KDE and vice versa (there are a few others btw).

All I know about CDE is that it is based on the Motif toolkit (compare GTK+ and Qt) and this toolkit is not free (better say GPLed software) like GTK+. I think that is the main reason why it is not used very much on Linux. But if it is a resource hog I do not know. Personally the main reason why I will not use it is because it looks ugly :-)

Well that is about it, I hope this information is a bit usefull. If you have questions, do not hesitate...

--
Hans Nieuwenhuis

-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 00:29:34 -0500
From: sottek, sottek@quiknet.com

I thought I would take the time to send you some information about the questions you have posted on Linux Gazette. From your question I can tell that even though you are new to Linux you have seen some of the fundamental differences in the interface workings. I currently work for Intel where I administrate Unix Cad tools, and am having to explain these differences to management everyday... I think you will understand far better than they do :)

1.Terminology: The differences (if any) among a GUI, a window manager, a desktop, and an interface. How do they differ from X windows?

X windows is a method by which things get drawn on your screen. All x windows clients (the part drawing in front of you) have to know how to respond to certain commands, like 'draw a green box', 'Draw a pixel' allocate memory for client images... This in itself is NOT what you think of as "Windows". All applications send these commands to your client. This is done through tcp/ip, even if your application and your client are both on the machine in front of you. This is VERY VERY important. The #1 design flaw in MS Windows is the lack of this network layer in the windows system. Every X application (any window... xterm netscape xclock) looks at your "DISPLAY" environment variable to find out who it should tell to draw itself. IF your DISPLAY is set to computer1:0.0 and you are on computer2 and you type 'xterm' it will pop up on computer1's screen (Provided you have permission) This is why on my computer at work I have windows open from HP's RS6000's Sun's... Linux(when I'm sneeky) and they all work just fine together.

2.Do all window managers (like GNOME or KDE or FVWM95) run on top of X windows?

Well, yes. Given the above you should now know that X is the thing that draws. Anything that needs to draw has to run "on" X.

BUT, we need to get a better understanding of the window manager because I didn't tel you about that yet. In MS Windows when a program hangs it sits on your screen until you can kill it. There is usually no way to move it, or minimize it. This is design flaw #2 in windows. Every MS Windows program has to have some code for the title bar, close, maximize, and minimize buttons. This code is in shared libs so you don't have to write it yourself but never the less it IS there. In X windows the program knows nothing about its titlebar, or the buttons on it. The program just keeps telling X to draw whatever it needs. Another program, the window manager does those things (It 'Manages windows') The window manager draws the title bars and the buttons. The window manager also 'hides' a window from you when it is minimized and replaces it with an icon. The program has NO say so in the matter. This means that even is a program is totally locked up it can be moved, minimized, and killed. (Sometimes not killed unless you window manager is set to send a kill -9)

That being said here is the bad news. KDE and gnome and NOT window managers. They do not draw title bars, allow you to resize windows and stuff like that. They are just a program that does things like provide a button bar (which some window managers do too) and the stuff like telling programs how they should look.

3.What exactly does it mean for an application to be GNOME or KDE aware? What happens if it's not? Can you still run it?

gnome aware applications do what I was just about to mention. They pay attention to gnome when it tells them how to look and act. If gnome says 'you should have a red background' they do it. Also there will be some advanced things like an app can ask gnome if it can have a spell checker and gnome can supply it with one (See CORBA stuff) KDE is the same way minus the CORBA (I think)

4.What exactly do the GTK+ (for GNOME) or Troll (for KDE) libraries do?

This is a hidden layer called widgets. It allows you do say 'draw a button' rather than 'draw a box, draw an edge on that box so it looks 3d, put some text in that box, make sure this box looks for mouse clicks, if a click happens remove that 3d stuff and put it back pretty quick'. It would not be a good idea to try to program complex things without a widget set.

5.How does the history of Linux (or UNIX) window managers compare to that of say, the desktop given to Win98/95 users? How, specifically, does Microsoft limit consumer's choices by giving them just one kind of desktop, supposedly one designed for ease of use?

I think you can get this from the other answers. really the limit are...

You have to run the program on the same machine where you want to see it.
You can't choose another window manager if you don't like the way windows works.
No matter how configurable windows is, if there is just 1 thing you need that it doesn't have built in , there is no way to get it. With X you just use a different wm,desktop,widget set, whatever.

6.What's happening with Common Desktop Environment? Is it correct that it's not widely adopted among Linux users because it's a resource hog, or not open source?

CDE what a thing driven by big Unix verdors for their own needs. Things that start that way get re-invented to suit everyones needs, hence Gnome and KDE.

Well, when I get going I can sure waste some time. I hope I haven't taken up too much of you time with this. I'll leave you with just 1 thing.

I know hundreds of world class programmers, and administrators who are gods on BOTH NT and Unix. I know not a single one who prefers NT. Keep learning until you agree, I know you will.

--
SOTTEK

-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 09:48:43 -0600
From: Dustin Puryear, dpuryear@usa.net

desktop, and an interface. How do they differ from X windows?

X windows is what sits behind it all. More or less, it controls the access to your hardware and provides the basic functionality that is needed by the wm. The wm controls windows, and how the user interacts with them. A desktop, such as KDE or GNOME, provides more services than a wm. For instance, drag 'n drop is a feature of a desktop, not a wm.

Do all window managers (like GNOME or KDE or FVWM95) run on top of X windows?

Yes.

What exactly does it mean for an application to be GNOME or KDE aware? What happens if it's not? Can you still run it?

They use the functions provided by GNOME or KDE, not just X.

What exactly do the GTK+ (for GNOME) or Troll (for KDE) libraries do?

GTK+ and Qt (KDE) provide the basic foundation for the desktops. For instance, Qt provides the code to actually create a ListBox (a list of items a user can choose). KDE just uses this code to do it's thing. Note that Qt can be used for console apps just as well as for X apps. I'm not familiar with GTK+, so I can't comment.

What's happening with Common Desktop Environment? Is it correct that it's not widely adopted among Linux users because it's a resource hog, or not open source?

Well, Red Hat used CDE for a while (I think). However, they could not actually fix anything with it since it's was closed source. They have since moved to GNOME. However, there are some CDE clones out there.

--
Dustin

-------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 19:45:34 +0000
From: "Richard J. Moore", moorer@cs.man.ac.uk

Hope this helps:

1.Terminology: The differences (if any) among a GUI, a window manager, a desktop, and an interface. How do they differ from X windows?

A GUI (Graphical User Interface) is a general term that refers to the basic idea of using a graphical representation to communicate with the user (as opposed to a text based interface such as the command line).

A window manager is an idea that is really specific to X windows. In X windows the policy for how windows are arranged and controlled is separated from the core system, the window manager is a special program that does this. This allows people to choose a window manager that has a policy that is good for them, and allows new window managers to be created that have different policies. The window manager draws window borders, minimise/maximise buttons etc. You can mix and match window managers, but most GUI toolkits for UNIX will provide one as standard.

A desktop is a metaphor used by many GUIs it is basically an attempt to make computers fit in with the way people would work in an office. The hope is that this will make it easy for people to operate the system. The term is also used more generally to refer to a combination of window manager, toolkit (the box of parts used by the programmers of the system), and other 'standard' applications. If a set of tools is referred to as a desktop, it generally means that it will provide all of these things, and that they will be designed to work together in an integrated fashion. An example would be KDE (http://www.kde.org/).

An 'interface' is just an abbreviation for a user interface. This is the view that a program presents to the user, and (for a graphical user interface) is usually composed of widgets such as menus, checkboxes, push buttons etc.

Finally X windows is a toolkit for actually getting all of the widgets etc. onto your screen. It provides routines for drawing lines, circles etc. and these are used to draw everything you see. X windows is a lot more complicated and powerful than this really, but it would take a book to explain why. If you want this level of detail then look at the O'Reilly X windows programming series.

2.Do all window managers (like GNOME or KDE or FVWM95) run on top of X windows?

Yes, though neither Gnome nor KDE is a window manager. Both of these are complete desktops and though they provide window managers, there is much more to them than just that. The window manager in KDE is called kwm.

3.What exactly does it mean for an application to be GNOME or KDE aware? What happens if it's not? Can you still run it?

It means the app will talk to the window manager to get support for special features of that environment, and that it will use the standard look and feel of the desktop. If the app is not compliant then it should still work fine, but the special features will be unavailable. The other situation is using a compliant app with a nonstandard window manager, in this case too the app should work fine (but some feature may be unavailable). It is possible for window managers other than the standard ones to be compliant, for example there is now a KDE-Compliant version of the BlackBox WM.

4.What exactly do the GTK+ (for GNOME) or Troll (for KDE) libraries do?

They provide tools such as edit widgets, menus etc. in a form that makes them easy to reuse. The library used by KDE (called Qt, see http://www.troll.no/qt) is written in a language called C++ and also provides tools for programmers such as routines for platform independent access to files and directories etc. GTK+ is similar though it has narrower scope and is written in C.

5.How does the history of Linux (or UNIX) window managers compare to that of say, the desktop given to Win98/95 users?

Badly :-(

How, specifically, does Microsoft limit consumer's choices by giving them just one kind of desktop, supposedly one designed for ease of use?

They restrict the system to a single view which may not be the best one for the job. Allowing people the choice means people can choose the best for them, even if it is nonstandard. The downside of this is that if everyone uses a different window manager then supporting and managing the system becomes difficult. In between these two options is the choice made by most UNIX toolkits - have a standard window window manager, but allow people to use another if they want.

6.What's happening with Common Desktop Environment? Is it correct that it's not widely adopted among Linux users because it's a resource hog, or not open source?

CDE is based on Motif which is an old C toolkit that is (IMHO) looking rather dated. Motif is very slow, and as you say is very resource hungry. In the past linux versions have often been buggy, though this situation may have improved. I found CDE itself to be quite poor, it works fine if you spend all your time in a single application (such as emacs), but using the drag and drop, and some of the built in tools was generally problematic. IMHO It is unlikely to take off on linux because it it pricey and of lower quality than the free alternatives.

--
Rich

Published in Linux Gazette Issue 36, January 1999

"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

News in General

February 1999 Linux Journal

The February issue of Linux Journal will be hitting the newsstands January 11. This issue focuses on Cutting Edge Linux with an article on wearable computers by Dr. Steve Mann. Also, featured are articles on COAS, Csound, VNC, KDE and GNOME. Check out the Table of Contents at http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue58/index.html. To subscribe to Linux Journal, go to http://www.linuxjournal.com/ljsubsorder.html.

Open Source Petition

Date: Sat, 05 Dec 1998 15:20:19 -0500
A petition has recently been launched asking the General Services Administration of the US Government to evaluate Open Source software (OSS) alongside commercial software whenever it buys or upgrades computers. The goal of the petition, written by Prof. Clay Shirky and sponsored by the Open Source Iniative and O'Reilly and Associates, and hosted on www.e-thepeople.com, is to point out that OSS has reached a level of quality, reliability and support that makes it competitive with existing commercial products.

The ultimate hope is to get vendors of Open Source software included in contract bids for Federal Government work.

If you are interested in this petition, there are three things you can do:

Sign it: http://www.ethepeople.com/etp/affiliates/national/fullview.cfm?ETPID=0&PETID=74386&ETPDIR=affiliates/national/
Post the press release URL on sites or in other forums whose members might be interested in such a thing: http://www.shirky.com/opensource/petition.html
Pass this message on.

For more information:
Clay Shirky, clay@shirky.com

LinuxWorld Conference & Expo - March 1999

IDG World Expo, the world's leading producer of IT-focused conferences and expositions, will produce LinuxWorld Conference & Expo, the first international exposition addressing the business and technology issues of the Linux operating environment.

Addressing the needs of both the Linux business and development communities, LinuxWorld Conference and Expo, headed by Charles Greco, President of IDG World Expo, features a high-level, technical conference program led by industry luminaries offering advice and solutions on the industry's fastest growing operating systems technology. An exhibit floor highlighting leading service providers, solutions integrators, and development organizations -- Pacific HiTech, Enchanced Software, Linux Journal, Knock Software, and Oracle among others -- will also include customized event areas such as Start-up City, Developer Central and Developer Greenhouse, which will spotlight the latest developments and emerging companies in the Linux arena.

The first LinuxWorld Conference and Expo will be held March 1-4, 1999 in San Jose, California at the San Jose Convention Center. The target audience includes Linux developers, Fortune 1000 business leaders, enterprise managers, CIOs, service providers, system administrators, software solution providers, computer consultants, and solutions integrators.

Dr. Michael Cowpland, President and CEO, Corel Corporation, Mark Jarvis, Senior Vice President of World Wide Marketing, Oracle and Linus Torvalds, Creator of Linux, the open source operating system, will be the featured keynote speakers on Tuesday, March 2. Keynotes are open to all registered attendees.

For more information:
http://www.linuxworldexpo.com/

Debian Project Adopts a Constitution

December 14, 1998
The Debian Project adopted a constitution which can be viewed at http://www.debian.org/devel/constitution/. The highlights of the constitution include the creation of the Technical Committee, the Project Leader postion, the Project Secretary position, Leader Delegate positions and a voting proceedure. The constitution was proposed in September 1998, and after a discussion period the vote took place in December 1998. It was virtually unanimously in favor with 86 valid votes.

The discussion about the constitution began in early 1998 and was carried out on the Debian mailing lists. Most of the discussion can be found in the archives of the debian-devel mailing list at http://www.debian.org/Lists-Ar chives/. Details of the vote can be found at http://www.debian.org/vote/19 99/vote_0000.

The constitution describes the organisational structure for formal decisionmaking within the Debian Project. As Debian continues to grow, this will be a valuable document to ensure that Debian continues to evolve and grow with the input and contributions from its membership.

For more information:
http://www.debian.org/

Linux Links

Linux is the cover story of December Network Magazine: http://www.networkmagazine.com/

Perl Web site at The Mining Co.: http://perl.miningco.com/

LinuxCAD review: http://pw2.netcom.com/~rwuest/linuxcadreview.html

Comdex and the Linux pavilion: http://marc.merlins.org/linux/comdex98/

Tea Party: http://marc.merlins.org/linux/teaparty/

The Internet an International Public Treasure: A Proposal: http://firstmonday.dk/issues/issue3_10/hauben/index.html

Linux and Apple: http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB19981215S0011

"The money's too good": http://www.salonmagazine.com/21st/rose/1998/10/23straight.html

Software Announcements

Applix Adds Applixware for Linux On Compaq Alpha

Date: Fri, 4 Dec 1998 18:28:28 -0500

WESTBORO, Mass.--Dec. 1, 1998--Applix, Inc. announced today the release of Applixware 4.4.1 for Linux running on COMPAQ's Alpha processor.

Applixware includes Applix Words, Spreadsheets, Graphics, Presents, HTML Author and Applix Data which provides database connectivity to Oracle, Informix, Sybase and other Linux databases. Applix Builder, a graphical, object oriented development tool with CORBA connectivity is also included in the suite. Microsoft Office 97 document interchange is provided through an Applix developed set of filters for Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

For more information:
Applix, Inc., Richard Manly, rmanly@applix.com
http://linux.applixware.com/

NetBeans Announces Support for the Java Development Kit 1.2

New York, Java Business Expo, December 8, 1998 - NetBeans today announced that its Java(tm) IDE, NetBeans DeveloperX2, supports and runs on Sun Microsystems, Inc.'s Java Development Kit (JDK version 1.2). This latest release of the JDK provides a rich feature set of new class libraries and tools, making it easier than ever for developers to create portable, distributed, enterprise-class applications. Sun's announcement of the availability of the next version of the JDK was made today during the Java Business Expo in New York. NetBeans Developer X2 2.1 (beta) supports JDK 1.2 and uses it internally. It is available to NetBeans' Early Access Program participants.

In addition to overall performance improvements, Sun's new version of the JDK enhances the NetBeans IDE by offering features such as drag 'n drop, Beans enhancements, collections, JDBC 2.0, and Swing 1.1. Among other new features, NetBeans DeveloperX2 will utilize the new APIs for grouping and manipulating objects of different types and for extending server functionality. JDK 1.2 will also strengthen NetBeans users' ability to design more user-friendly interfaces, process images, address multilingual requirements, use stylized text, and print.

The final release of NetBeans DeveloperX2 2.1 will be available in January, 1999. NetBeans Developer will also be available in a concurrent version, which will continue to support JDK 1.1.x. NetBeans Enterprise, a multi-user edition of the IDE due in Beta version in January, 1999, will support JDK 1.2. The full release of this edition of the IDE is due in Spring, '99.

For more information:
http://www.netbeans.com/
Helena Stolka, helena.stolka@netbeans.com

Zope Goes Open Source

Date: Sat, 5 Dec 1998 06:19:32 -0500 (EST)
Just in case you missed this in LWN, http://www.zope.org/ just went online. It's a really nice product for developing web sites. The company that created it gave a talk at the DCLUG meeting a few months back. They dropped are strong Linux supporters. It's there principal platform in house.

For more information:
http://www.zope.org/

KDE on Corel's Netwinder

Ottawa, Canada--November 25, 1998--
Corel Computer and the KDE project today announced a technology relationship that will bring the K Desktop Environment (KDE), a sophisticated graphical user environment for Linux and UNIX, to future desktop versions of the NetWinder family of Linux-based thin-clients and thin-servers. A graphical user interface is a necessary element for Corel Computer to create a family of highly reliable, easy-to-use, easy-to-manage desktop computers. The alliance between Corel Computer and KDE, a non-commercial association of Open Source programmers, provides NetWinder users a sophisticated front-end to Linux, a stable and robust Unix-like operating system.

Corel Computer has shipped a number of NetWinder DM, or development machines, to KDE developers who are helping to port the desktop environment. Additionally, NetWinder.Org developers, Raffaele Saena and John Olson, were responsible for championing development of KDE on the NetWinder. Corel Computer plans to announce the availability of desktop versions of the NetWinder running KDE beginning in early 1999. Early demonstrations of the port, such as the one shown at the Open Systems fair in Wiesbaden, Germany, in September, have been enthusiastically received by potential customers.

Based on the Open Source model, Corel Computer is devoting internal development resources to the improvement of the KDE project including rigorous testing of the environment on the NetWinder. As a developing partner, Corel Computer will release its work back to the KDE development community.

For more information:
http://www.corelcomputer.com/
htt://www.kde.org/

New Perl Module Enables Application Developers to Use XML

Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 06:36:08 -0800 (PST)
Sebastopol, CA--Perl is the language operating behind the scenes of most dynamic Web sites. XML (Extensible Markup Language) is emerging as a core standard for Web development. Now a new Perl module (or extension) known as XML::Parser allows Perl programmers building applications to use XML, and provides an efficient, easy way to parse (break down and process) XML document parts.

Perl is renowned for its superior text processing capabilities; XML is text that contains markup tags and structures. Thus Perl's support for XML offers a natural expansion of the capabilities of both.

XML::Parser is built upon a C library, expat, that is very fast and robust. Perl, expat and XML::Parser are all Unicode-aware; that is, they read encoding declarations and perform necessary conversions into Unicode, a system for "the interchange, processing, and display of the written texts of the diverse languages of the modern world" (http://www.unicode.org/). Thus a single XML document written in Perl can now contain Greek, Hebrew, Chinese and Russian in their proper scripts. Expat was authored by James Clark, a highly respected leader in the SGML/XML community.

For more information:
http://www.perl.com/
http://www.oreilly.com/
http://perl.oreilly.com/

QLM for IT Reduces Cost & Guarantees Certainty of Application Development

Newton, Mass., December 9, 1998 - Kalman Saffran Associates, Inc. (KSA), a leading developer of state-of-the-art products and complex IT systems for data communications, telecommunications, financial, and interactive/CATV industries, today announced the availability of its new Quantum Leap Methodology (QLM(tm) ) for IT. QLM for IT is an innovative process for information technology organizations looking to decrease expense and speed application development. Using QLM for IT, KSA increases productivity and certainty by pre-empting the mistakes that have historically created barriers to IT project success. Successful application of QLM for IT allows upper management to refocus on strategic planning and IT objectives, and away from budget and schedule overruns. At the same time the methodology sharpens an organization's focus on assessment, implementation, verification, customization and quantification. This approach allows KSA to guarantee speedy results and high quality.

The QLM for IT offering is available starting at $20,000. Companies interested in QLM for IT analysis and recommendations or learning more about KSA's comprehensive training program should call 1.888.597.9284 For more information:
kalsaf@email.msn.com

Spectra Logic Announces Alex 4.50, Has Linux Support

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 15, 1998 - Spectra Logic Corp. today announced the availability of Version 4.50 of its award winning Alexandria Backup and Archival Librarian software. Alexandria 4.50 adds a number of significant new features to provide users with greater functionality, reliability, and ease-of-use for backup and recovery of large distributed databases and data center applications.

Alexandria 4.50 has been ported to Red Hat and Slackware Linux OSes, and additional ports are being developed for Linux OSes from SuSE, Caldera, and TurboLinux. Alexandria Linux support is available on the Red Hat distribution CD or from Spectra Logic's website at www.spectralogic.com/linux/index.htm http://www.spectralogic.com/linux/index.htm.

For more information:
http://www.spectralogic.com/

WebMaker

Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 21:22:25 GMT
WebMaker, an HTML Editor for UNIX, version 0.6 is out now. (Copyright - GPL)

Main features:

nice GUI interface;
menus, toolbar and dialogs for tag editing - like HomeSite and asWedit;
HTML 4.0 support;
preview for <IMG> tag (see screenshot);
color selectors for bgcolor and other color attributes;
color syntax highlighting;
preview with external browser (Netscape);
ability to filter editor content through any external program that support stdin/stdout interface;
KDE integration.

For more information:
http://www.services.ru/linux/webmaker/

Published in Linux Gazette Issue 36, January 1999

"The Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

The Answer Guy

By James T. Dennis, linux-questions-only@ssc.com
Starshine Technical Services, http://www.starshine.org/

Routing and Subnetting 101
No STREAMS Error while Installing Netware for Linux
More than 8 loopfs Mounts?
eql dual line ppp --or--: EQL Serial Line "Load Balancing"
who to report gcc bug to? --or--: Where to Report Bugs and Send Patches
RedHat Linux (5.1) and Brand X --or--: How to "get into" an Linux system from a Microsoft client
Linux File System recommendations --or--: Where to Put New and Supplemental Packages
Your book --or--: Book: Linux Systems Administration
FTP Site... --or--: 'ls' Doesn't work for FTP Site
very general process question --or--: An Anthropologist Asks About the Linux "Process"
Locating AV Research --or--: Looking for a Hardware Vendor: In all the Wrong Places
question for answerguy --or--: Letting Those Transfers Run Unattended
where can i find information about LOFS, TFS --or--: Translucent, Overlay, Loop, and Union Filesystems
Modem dial out
Linux Gazette --or--: Mea Culpea
PAM & chroot (fwd) --or--: 'chroot()' Jails or Cardboard Boxes
The Linux Swap File --or--: Swap file on a RAM Disk
RedHat Linux (5.1) and Brand X --or--: How to "get into" an Linux system from a Microsoft client
Dynamic IP Address Publishing Hack
Why 40-second delay in sending mail to SMTP server?
how to install two ethernet cards for proxy server for red hat linux --or--: Linux as Router and Proxy Server: HOWTO?
ey answer guy! answer this! --or--: PostScript to GIF
troubleshooting
More on: "Remote Login as root"
Thank You --or--: Kudos
Question --or--: Linux Support for Intel Pentium II Xeon CPU's and Chipsets
isp --or--: Linux Friendly ISP's: SF Bay Area
Hello I need some help --or--: Eight Character login Name Limit
Locked Out of His Mailserver
Changing the color depth for your x-server? --or--: Changing the X Server's Default Color Depth
Num Lock and X apps --or--: NumLock and X Problems
NE2000 "clones" --- not "cloney" enough! --or--: Expansion on NE-2000 Cards: Some PCI models "okay"
MySql --or--: Finding info on MySqL?
read please very important --or--: Spying: (AOL Instant Messenger or ICQ): No Joy!
Tuning monitors for use with X --or--: Fraser Valley LUG's Monitor DB
chattr =u and then what? --or--: ext2fs "Undeletable" Attribute
How to Install Linux on an RS6000?
Real PS Printing --or--: Advanced Printer Support: 800x600 dpi + 11x17" Paper
TAG suggestions
password change --or--: CGI Driven Password Changes
ifconfig reports TX errors on v2.1.x kernels
Trident 9685 tv --or--: Support for Trident Video/Television Adapter
Looking for info on BIOS setup --or--: Plug and Pray Problems
Mount linux drives from win9x/nt? password encryption seems to be a problem... --or--: Sharing/Exporting Linux Directories to Windows '9x/NT
Mail processing
Printing question --or--: Extra Formfeed from Windows '95
Root password --or--: Can't Login in as Root
Alternate root-password recovery option --or--: Alternative Method for Recovering from Root Password Loss
Journal File Support and Tarantella? --or--: SCOldies Bragging Rights
Remote tape access, using local CPU --or--: Application Direct Access to Remote Tape Drive
Mounting CD Drives from SoundCard --or--: Mounting multiple CD's
Re: leafnode-1.7 -- news server for small sites --or--: More on Multi-Feed Netnews (leafnode)
rsh config --or--: Getting 'rsh' to work
update on your answer - netware clients --or--: Linux as a Netware Client
LILO Default
uninstall help --or--: Uninstalling Linux
Compiling kernel --or--: Making a Kernel Requires 'make'
memory usage --or--: Using only 64Mb out of 128Mb Available
Manipulating Clusters on a Floppy ...
Setting up ircd
Sendmail on private net with UUCP link to Internet
Linux in general --or--: Complaint Department:
A Dual Modem configuration... how do I get it to work? --or--: eql Not Working
HELP: fetchmail dies after RH 5.2 upgrade --or--: Upgrade Kills Name Server
Question (what else?) --or--: MS Applications Support For Linux
Linux as a Home Internet Gateway and Server
lilo --or--: Persistent Boot Sector
preference=20 --or--: Secondary MX Records: How and Why
LPD forks and hangs/Linux --or--: 'lpd' Bug: "restricted service" option; Hangs Printer Daemon
Dual booting NT or Win9x with Linux (Red Hat 5.2) --or--: Dual Boot Configurations
Can you give me a Suggestion?/ --or--: Microtek Scanner Support: Alejandro's Tale
Offer to make available Winmodem interface spec --or--: Modem HOWTO Author Gets Offer RE: WinModems
I do know i am boring (ma windows fa veramente cagare) --or--: Condolences to Another Victim of the "LoseModem" Conspiracy
Kai Makisara: Re: audio-DAT on SCSI streamer? --or--: More on: Reading Audio Tapes using HP-DAT Drive
Just a sugestion... --or--: Best of Answer Guy: A Volunteer?
more on keybindings --or--: termcap/terminfo Oddities to Remotely Run SCO App
Arabic? --or--: Arabic BiDi Support for Linux
Updates: Risks and rewards --or--: Automated Updates
Liam Greenwood: Your XDM question
rsh on 2.0.34 --or--: 'rsh' as 'root' Denied

Greetings from Jim Dennis

Happy New Year everybody. I would say more, but I think I've said enough for this month...

Routing and Subnetting 101

From pashah on Wed, 18 Nov 1998 on the L.U.S.T List

Hullo list,

what is the way to devide a net into subnets according to bits bourder?

This is a very large subject --- and your question isn't sufficiently detailed to offer much of a clue as to how much background you really need.

However, I'm writing a book on Linux Systems Administration, and I have to put some discussion of this somewhere in around chapter 12, so I might as well try here.

"subnetting" is a means of dividing a block of IP addresses into separately routable groups. If you are assigned a class C address block (255 addresses) it often makes sense to subnet those in some way that's appropriate to your LAN layout.

[Paul Anderson] Also known as a /24, IIRC. TTYL!

Paul Anderson - S

The Front Page The MailBag Help Wanted--Article Ideas General Mail More 2 Cent Tips News Bytes News in General Software Announcements The Answer Guy, by James T. Dennis Booting Linux with the NT Loader, by Gustavo Larriera Defining a Linux-based Production System, by Jurgen Defurne EMACSulation, by Eric Marsden Evaluating postgreSQL for a Production Environment, by Jurgen Defurne Introducing Samba, by John Blair Linux Installation Primer, Part 5, by Ron Jenkins Linux on a Shoestring, by Vivek Haldar The Linux User, by Bryan Patrick Coleman New Release Reviews, by Larry Ayers Kernel 2.2's Frame-buffer Option Running Your Own Domain Over a Part Time Dialup, by Joe Merlino Setting Up a PPP/POP Dial-in Server USING Red Hat Linux 5.1, by Hassan Ali Touchpad Cures Inflammation, by Bill Bennet Through the Looking Glass: Finding Evidence of Your Cracker, by Chris Kuethe USENIX LISA Vendor Exhibit Trip Report, by Paul L. Lussier X Windows versus Windows 95/98/NT: No Contest, by Paul Gregory Cooper Announcements by Sun and Troll Tech by Marjorie Richardson The Back Page About This Month's Authors Not Linux
	The Answer Guy
	The Graphics Muse will return next month.

Copyright © 1996-98 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

Welcome to Linux Gazette!

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Table of Contents January 1999 Issue #36

"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

The Mailbag!

Contents:

Help Wanted -- Article Ideas

General Mail

This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

More 2¢ Tips!

Contents:

Forcing fsck on Red Hat 5.1

Personal Listserver

Re: Back Ups

Tips in the following section are answers to questions printed in the Mail Bag column of previous issues.

ANSWER: Your Supra Internal Modem Problems

ANSWER: Single Floppy Linux

ANSWER: Re: scsi + ide; boot ide

ANSWER: Numlock at startup

ANSWER: Re: graphics for disabled

ANSWER: BTS: GNU wget for updating web site

ANSWER: Linux Boot-Root

Replies to My Questions in Nov. 98 Linux Gazette

This page maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

"Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

Contents:

News in General

February 1999 Linux Journal

Open Source Petition

LinuxWorld Conference & Expo - March 1999

Debian Project Adopts a Constitution

Linux Links

Software Announcements

Applix Adds Applixware for Linux On Compaq Alpha

NetBeans Announces Support for the Java Development Kit 1.2

Zope Goes Open Source

KDE on Corel's Netwinder

New Perl Module Enables Application Developers to Use XML

QLM for IT Reduces Cost & Guarantees Certainty of Application Development

Spectra Logic Announces Alex 4.50, Has Linux Support

WebMaker

This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

"The Linux Gazette...making Linux just a little more fun!"

The Answer Guy

By James T. Dennis, linux-questions-only@ssc.com Starshine Technical Services, http://www.starshine.org/

Contents:

Greetings from Jim Dennis

Routing and Subnetting 101

Table of Contents
January 1999 Issue #36

This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com
Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

This page maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com
Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

This page written and maintained by the Editor of Linux Gazette, gazette@ssc.com
Copyright © 1999 Specialized Systems Consultants, Inc.

By James T. Dennis, linux-questions-only@ssc.com
Starshine Technical Services, http://www.starshine.org/