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Contents: |
Answers to these questions should be sent directly to the e-mail address of the inquirer with or without a copy to gazette@ssc.com. Answers that are copied to LG will be printed in the next issue in the Tips column.
Before asking a question, please check the Linux Gazette FAQ to see if it has been answered there.
Mon, 1 Mar 1999 14:28:50 -0800
From: Vijaya Kittu <vijaykittu@hotmail.com>
Subject: Visual Basic for Linux ???
I'm looking for a good and easy "Basic" Language Port (such as VB in Windoze) on X-Windows.
If any one is using any Visual Development tool, kindly send comments back to me.
Fri, 29 Oct 1999 16:22:22 +0200
From: <Douwe.vanderVeen@95.Student.WAU.NL>
Subject: connecting SPARC and 386 for printing purposes
having a SPARCstation 10/20 with Redhat 5.1/SPARC working fine on it, I wanted to connenct a printer to the system. Since the parallel port is not supported under S/Linux, I wanted to connect my SPARC with a cheap 386. The 386 is working under MS-DOS.
I bought an ethernet card for my 386, and connected the in-board ethernet card on the SPARC with the ethernetcard on the 386. The cable is twisted-pair, since only two computers are to be connected.
If I turn on both computers, I can start a testing program for the ethernet card on the 386. It will wait for any external signal. When booting the SPARC (the 386 sensing for any action), the SPARC checks for 'eth0' but finds no other computer on the other side.
Questions: (1) how can I let my 386 tell to the SPARC he is there? (2) How can I make the 386 accessible (that is: the parallel printer port) from the SPARC?
Thanks in advance for any help!!
Sat, 30 Oct 1999 21:19:01 +0200
From: Dr. Bodo Zimmermann DD-260 <dozi@iwka.de>
Subject: problems with tcp/ip in kernel 2.2.x
I have found problems with ftp aund telnet (tn3270, x3270) in the kernel 2.2.5 and 2.2.10 when connecting to IBM mainframes (VM/ESA). I cannot tranfer any data!
There are no problems at all with a kernels 2.0.x
Whom may I address?
Sat, 30 Oct 1999 23:25:05 EDT
From: Richard Monte <richard_monte@hotmail.com>
Subject: Running MS applications on Linux?
I was wondering if I can run my MS applications on Linux? What would I need?
If I can, what are the advantages and/or disadvantages of doing so?
Are there any legal issues related to running MS applications on a non-Windows OS?
-Rick
Sun, 31 Oct 1999 12:54:24 +0100 (MET)
From: Mika Numminen <mika@Oink.Midgard.HIG.SE>
Subject: Hmmm.... don't know how to categorize this..
I usually log into my machine with SSH from home (no concole access) and I was wondering if there is a way to have processes still running after I log out. For instance an ftp-session loading an ISO, etc..
Mon, 1 Nov 1999 18:53:32 -0600
From: lordj <lordj@iaw.on.ca>
Subject: linux sound problems
I run sndconfig and the friggin thing just fails. it finds my card and then sets up the irqs and all that rot, and then when it trys to play the sound sample i get the failure "don't know what to do with CONFIG CTL002b/4886122 ... error parsing file" and stuff like that. what is wrong with it?
Tue, 02 Nov 1999 18:21:51 +0800
From: Zon Hisham Bin Zainal Abidin <zon@mad.scientist.com>
Subject: Telnet 110 fails
Now that my LILO is back (up and running), it's time for something else.
I have 6-7 pcs in the office on LAN. I am on RH6.0 and the rest on W98. I am trying to configure my pc as the email server for this small LAN.
I have managed to correctly setup DNS. A remote PC can resolve the DNS server correctly. Then I went into Linuxconf and setup the Email server portion. My Linux PC by the way is named svr and the domain is cma.com
We are using Netscape as the email client. I entered svr.cma.com as the Incoming and Outgoing mail servers. Netscape client can sent email but were unable to receive (email) with the message: "Netscape's network connection was refused by the server svr.cma.com The server may not be accepting connections or may be busy. Try connecting again later."
I did a telnet svr.cma.com 110 with a "Unable to
connect to remote host" message. But a telnet svr.cma.com 25
is ok. That explaint why sending is OK but not receiving rite?
How do I fix this?
rgds.
Tue, 02 Nov 1999 20:53:57 +0000
From: Anatoli B. Titarev <Anatoli_Titarev@swin.edu.au>
Subject: HELP with LT Win Modem and SB 16 Sound Blaster wanted!
I am a new Linux Red Hat 6.0 user.
I cannot connect to the Internet (still using Winows 98). My LT Win Modem connected to com3 is not working under Linux. (Someone wrote that trying to config Win modems for Linux is waste of time, is it true?)
Connection: 8, parity - none, stopbit - 1. I told the 'modemtool' to use to use the serial port to which my modem is connected. I removed the word 'lock' in /etc/ppp/options file.
I get 'modem is busy' in kppp configuration program or 'mode is locked' errors in other programs.
I also have a problem with SB 16 sound blaster. 'sndconfig' program doesn't help!
I am looking for anybody who can help me to make my modem and sound blaster working with Linux.
Please help!!!
Tue, 2 Nov 1999 16:09:01 -0600
From: smita narla <snarla@cse.unl.edu>
Subject: Re: your mail
hello, I'm doing a general survey on the testing techniques used in open source.I've a questionnaire with some 12 questions.Since you are a developer can you answer this questionnaire.I'm doin this for one of my class projects and i need to send the questionnaire to some 200 developers.Can you send me the addresses of some other developers ?
I'll be glad if u can send me some questions to improve my questionnaire.
Thank you smita
The Editor sent some suggestions, and Smita responded:
Hello, thanks for your response. i 've ghone to the sites u have mentioned in you previous mail. i got some info but not exactly what i'm looking for. i need some nice multiple choice questions for my Survey of testing techniques in open source.Some of the questions I've found are:
2. When ever you make a minor release do you make a complete regression tests and test for the bugs fixed in this released ?
3. For every major/minor release do you make tests for the bugs you fix ?
4. Will there a any test planning carried parallel to development of coding ?
5. What will be the acceptance criteria for the source you releasing (based on the test results) ?
6. Are you satisfied that test you are planning to execute will cover all the required conditions.
But i dont think they will serve the exact purpose. Ineed some real good multiple choice questions (which are easy to answer with out much thiking from the developers point of view).
I'll be glad if you could help with some nice questions and some mailing lists of open source developers.
thank you, smita
Wed, 3 Nov 1999 00:14:11 +0100
From: cabotzen <cabotzen@wanadoo.fr>
Subject: a problem
This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
Hello i'm french and i love linux, but i try to install it on a notebook with win98, i have a samsung's notebook. After i have installed all the paquages, the instalation stopped when it wanted to reconize the mouse and i can't continue the instalation. CAN YOU HELP ME PLEASE. Good buy
Tue, 2 Nov 1999 18:14:44 -0500
From: Paul Nathaniel (NOL1NXP) <nol1nxp@ups.com>
Subject: Linux command questions
fsck /usr: What does this command do? What is its NT equivalent.
What is this command: cat /etc/passwd; and what is it's NT equivalent?
Wed, 03 Nov 1999 07:44:42 CST
From: Jim Bradley <jbradley@msc.net>
Subject: slowwwww ftp and partition problem
I have encountered two problems with linux (Mandrake 6.1) that I haven't figured out how to overcome.
The first problem is the logon speed for ftp. I have 3 desktops and a laptop that I have networked with 100 Mbps ethernet. 2 of the 3 desktops are dual booted with OS/2 and linux, the remaining desktop and the laptop are linux only. If I try to connect to ftpd on linux with an ftp client on either OS/2 or linux, there is an approximately 3-5 minute wait before a logon prompt is returned. This is clearly not running properly! I can use a linux client to an OS/2 ftpd, and promptly get the logon prompt. I've tried "renice" at both -20 and +20 using KDE's task manager. What do I need to do to speed this up?
The second problem is: I have one machine with an 8 Gb drive partitioned into a 2Gb,6Gb, and 128k swap. Mandrake 6.1 is installed on the 2Gb partition, hda1. The 6Gb partition, hda3, is an ext2 partition. After linux boots, the 6Gb partition is mounted to /mnt/hda3. The problem that I've encountered is that when copying files to /mnt/hda3, it is the first partition that fills up, not the second. What's happening here? I was using kdisk to monitor the disk size when mirroring another site to /mnt/hda3, and it wasn't the correct partition that enlarged. After this occurred, totally filling the smaller partition, I could no longer umount the partition, either, getting a message "device is busy."
Any help to solve either of these problems??
Wed, 3 Nov 1999 10:49:32 -0600
From: Hunter, Kevin <Kevin_Hunter@AFCC.com>
Subject: LinNeighborHood
Thu, 28 Oct 1999 14:54:48 +0100
From: Network Desktop User <G.F.Wood@shu.ac.uk >
Subject: Linneighbourhood
Hi, sorry to bother you with inconsequential mail but I think you of all people should know this !! I'm looking for some software called Linneighbourhood. It's a network neighbourhood browser for Linux. I have scoured the net for it but to no avail !! Can you help??
http://www.bnro.de/~schmidjo/
Wed, 03 Nov 1999 10:14:02 -0800
From: Chuck Newman <cnewman@cncnet.com>
Subject: Linux Communications
Is there a Linux based communications program similar to pcAnywhere or Carbon Copy? I need remote PC control. Don't need to transfer files.
Mon, 08 Nov 1999 16:18:50 -0500
From: Sunshine Smith <sunshine@margaritaville.com>
Subject: Installing RH6.0
I am trying to install RH 6.0 on a Thinkpad 760ED, unfortunately the cdrom (Teac 44E) does not appear on the supported cdrom drives, does anyone have any ideas other than buying an external (supported) cdrom drive.
Thank you
Tue, 09 Nov 1999 10:36:19 +0200
From: Lucian Hanga <lhanga@saguaro.dnttm.ro>
Subject: about ESS Solo 1
ESS Solo 1. Unfortunately I have one !!!! If smbd. kwon how to make it works !!!! Please email me !!!!!!
10x
Wed, 10 Nov 1999 16:54:20 -0000
From: Ben Huckel <ben.huckel@virgin.net>
Subject: Virtual Terminals in windows
Can you offer any advice....? I am currently considering a project for my third year project of a bsc(hons) in computer science which would implement virtual terminals for windows 95/8...... Do you know if there is any info on this sort of thing, has it already been done? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 00:06:50 +0000
From: Nadeem Oozeer <nadeemooz@intnet.mu>
Subject: SDRAM Problem
I've got a PII with 128MB SDRAM PC100, with 8MB AGP onboard, running windows and Linux Red Hat 6.0. I've been told that the AGP uses 8MB from the SDRAM that's why on windows I get 120MB in system. On Linux however, I get only 64MB of RAM in /etc/meminfo .... How can I get all the 128 MB ? I've tried append in lilo.comf, but it freezes my PC with strange codes ?
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 12:22:57 +0800
From: Brian <c6028408@comp.polyu.edu.hk>
Subject: How to set the Linux as a router!
I would like to set a single PC as a router by using Redhat 6.0. However, I find difficulties in finding the related topics in books or journals. Can you tell me how I can find the related topics? Thanks!
Best regards, Yvonne.
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 13:47:55 -0600
From: anthony <aokrongly@galacticmarketing.com>
Subject: Looking for open-source programmers
I need to start somewhere, so I'll start here. I am trying to find programmers interested in developing a new piece of software. I thought I would give Linux Open License types the first shot at it. We are looking for this solution for our small company, but are willing to share it to help defray development costs.
Can you help direct me? Or am I spinning my wheels?
The initial write up on the proposed application is attached. I know this isn't the normal way to develop software, but I wanted to give it a try.
Anthony O'Krongly, Dir. of I.T.
[If you just want to throw a project idea out and see if anybody is interested in helping, I'll put it in the Mailbag. (Which I'm doing now. :)
If it's a critical piece of software for your company and needs to be completed "soon" and with "professional quality", you might have a look at www.cosource.com and www.sourcexchange.com instead. They act as auction brokers between those willing to pay to help get open-source software developed and those who wish to work on such projects.
The GNU Gnats program may partially meet your requirements. It allows one to keep track of "job requests" in several categories, and to see which ones have been followed up on and what needs to be done with the remaining ones. The Tkgnats program is a GUI front-end. Perhaps this could link into your ordering and accounting system somehow. -Ed.]
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 19:41:36 -0000
From: ggg <nice@simpm.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: help please
please can you help me im new to remote booting i have got the hardware one network card with a boot rom and one with out so im fine on the hardware side but how do i configure linux for remote booting i am new to linux so i really have not got the foggiest.
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 17:20:41 -0800
From: Johnny Lam <truelightpip33@hotmail.com>
Subject: hi
Hi, i'm very new to Linux but i got a question, it may sound silly but pls help me with it. I've just install linux 6.1 as a server, but for some reason i can't get the x-window to work, can u pls tell me how i can use x-window as a server? thank you very much
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 20:51:35 -0500
From: Gary R. Cook <grcook@erols.com>
Subject: X-windows application for communicating over /dev/ttyS1 (COM2)
Does anyone know where I can find a utility (with source code) that uses an xterm window for communicating with a remote asynchronous device over /dev/ttyS1?
Thanks!!
Sat, 13 Nov 1999 03:18:19 +1100
From: Greg W <greg@ausit.com>
Subject: Hello
I am sure you get swamped with questions, now that I have acknowledged that, I feel better about asking if you know, or know someone who can point me to a good working example for ipchains for a machine that is standalone, I have 64 IPs all routed through a PC, this PC is not Linux based, so I dont want MASQ or ppp examples
A straight up script to disallow spoofing, and everything else besides the "normal" services (i can easily add or remove as necesarry)
All examples seen so far dont work because they are based on like I said, MASQ or ppp0 being present.
Sat, 13 Nov 1999 20:42:18 -0500
From: zak <zak@acadia.net>
Subject: Apollo P-1200 Inkjet Printer
Today I purchased an Apollo P-1200 inkjet printer at the local drug store (yes, drug store!), the main attraction being it cost $90 *before* a $50 rebate! This is supposed to be a new 'low-end' printer, using H-P technology. The downside is that the CD that came with it only covers installation for 'doze. Has any other LG reader purchased one of these? If so, where can I find an appropriate Linux driver for it? I tried the http://www.myapollo.com site, but all that's there is also 'doze stuff. If anyone knows the nearest this thing is with any H-P driver, that would also be useful. I mainly use a printer for printouts of txt and html documents, and with Corel Word Perfect 8.0 for Linux. Thanks in advance for any assistance. Zak
Sun, 14 Nov 1999 02:43:43 -0000
From: George Christofi <george@slamdog.co.uk>
Subject: Getting linux to authenticate to nt domains.
I want to get linux to authenticate to my NT network. As a newbie, I am stunned by the complexity of the whole Linux thing. I find it easier and more reliable to do things with NT Server. I am not thick (just MCSE qualified), but cannot see how to get it to perform this seemingly simple task.
Sun, 14 Nov 1999 12:40:36 -0800
From: Kenneth MacCallum <tandk@primex.co.uk>
Subject: Linux memory woes
Hi, I've just installed Red Hat 6.0 and it's not detecting all of my memory. I tried typing linux mem=64M at the LILO prompt as recommended but then the boot-up fails. As it is it only detects 14M or so of my 64M.
I had a look in my bios, and I noticed a line saying that there is a memory hole at 15M. I'm guessing that this is causing Linux to not see memory above this, but I don't know why this "hole" is there. I had a look in my motherboard manual (PC Chips M577) but it didn't mention anything useful. This hole doesn't seem to upset Windows; is there anything I can do to get Linux to work too?
I also tried swapping my DIMMs around, thinking that if the hole was due to a bad DIMM it might move up to 47M (?) but it doesn't.
I've been searching about the web for some insight but I've had no luck so far.
Can you help?
Mon, 15 Nov 1999 12:12:50 -0500
From: Bruce Kramer <bruce.kramer@PaineWebber.COM>
Subject:
Editor, I'm looking for some help in the Detroit, MI area. I have a son, 16 yrs old - junior in high school, presently enrolled in some special projects at school. One of which is to learn Linux. He recently removed Windows from our home computer to install Linux. After attempting this for four weeks now he is frustrated and ready to give up. Rather than giving up and going back to Windows I thought that it might be possible to find someone in our area who could help get Linux up and operating on our computer. Any suggestions?
[Look at www.linuxjournal.com under "User Groups (GLUE)" and see if there are any contacts in your area. -Ed.]
Mon, 15 Nov 1999 22:00:36 -0500
From: Pierce C. Barnard <pbarnard@ultranet.com>
Subject: Looking for the Korn shell
Hi, I recently obtained Redhat V6.0 and I found out to my dismay, that it does not have the Korn shell with it. Does anybody know where I can find a copy of it? Thanks.
Wed, 17 Nov 1999 19:16:38 +0800
From: Yvonne Chung <yychung@doramail.com>
Subject: How to set a PC as a router with Linux6.0?
Dear Sir/Madam,
I would like to set a single PC as a router by using Redhat 6.0. However, I find difficulties in finding the related topics in books or journals. Can you tell me how I can find the related topics? Thanks!
Best regards, Yvonne. --
Wed, 17 Nov 1999 13:03:37 +0100
From: Harold Konijnenberg <hhkonijn@worldonline.nl>
Subject: ipop3d/imap server problem
Problem with IMAP/Ipop3d server
I have a problem with getting the Ipop3d/Imap server to work. I use the Imap 4.5 package on my Red Hat 6.1 system. After installing RH 6.1 and configuring the system all services like Samba, Apache, FTP, telnet are working fine. But now I want to add a pop3 server. I checked my /etc/services file and Imap and pop3 services are enabled here. in the /etc/inetd.conf file the imap and pop3 services are not enabled, so i uncomment de following lines
#pop-3 stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd ipop3d #imap stream tcp nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd imapd
After uncommenting these lines in the inetd.conf file i kill the inetd proces to reload /etc/inetd.conf with the following command:
killall -HUP inetd
When i try to telnet in to the linux box now by:
telnet 192.168.1.254
(my linux box) i can't connect.
FTP'ing into the linux box gives a problem with the in.ftpd daemon.
When i restore the original /etc/inetd.conf all problems are disappeared and eveything works fine again.
I can't figure out what is the problem. I know that the problem starts when changing the /etc/inetd.conf file, so perhaps its some kind of security issue???
Any help is very welcome,
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 17:06:03 IST
From: nayab shaikh <nayabs@hotmail.com>
Subject: How to configure isdn on linux
Hi friends,
Can anybody of you guide how to configure isdn on linux.I have Red Hat linux 6.0 server installed on my computer.I have a 56.6 kbps ext modem ....also is RADIUS is possible with it.(remote athentication dial in user service)....
Waiting for your reply...
Nayab
Sat, 20 Nov 1999 12:22:12 +0530
From: Sivaraman Manivasagam <sivsons@vsnl.com>
Subject: Regd Lexmark Printer Drivers
I've recently installed Redhat Linux 5.2 am having a problem installing my Lexmark Optra E ( PS Support ) Laser Printer .I have been to the Lexmark site and there are no drivers for Linux.Any help in this matter would be appreciated.
Kindly mail to : sivsins@vsnl.com
a copy to : mani@amoebatel.com
Sat, 20 Nov 1999 19:24:56 -0500
From: GZukoff <Gzukoff@onebox.com>
Subject: None
I have stumbled upon your website and was exterely pleased!!! I am a newbie to Linux but have been interested in alternate OS's for about 18 months after trying (in vain) to install FreeBSD. I have downloaded and am installing Corel Linux 1.0 and was hoping you wil be doing a write up regarding it son. I am anxious to see how it stacks up against the other Linux releases.
Sat, 20 Nov 1999 22:33:04 -0500
From: outofstep <outofstep@mindspring.com>
Subject: xwindows display problems?
i recently installed redhat 6.1,, i have a voodoo banshee 2 graphics card, and i get ditorted pixels on the screen when i scroll and move windows... is there a driver update or something i need to fix this? please help. so far i love linux, and this is my only problem :)
Sat, 20 Nov 1999 21:27:52 -0700 (MST)
From: <steve@mailandnews.com>
Subject: Question
Hi
I hope this is the right address to right to with a Linux question.
I have a lot of Joliet format CD's made with DirectCD in Windows. Linux can read the CD's, but on files with long names (Over 20 characters or so) the filesize is dramatically misreported. 6-7 meg files are listed as 2-3 meg files. Linux can't see it all, and this of course means the file is pretty much corrupt and of no use in Linux. The CD's are readable fine in Windows, but not Linux. I've searched high and low and can find no answer to this problem. I hope you can help.
Thanks
Steve - mr_drood@mailandnews.com
angry fruit salad (n.)A bad visual-interface design that uses too many colors. (This term derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo colors found in canned fruit salad.) Too often one sees similar effects from interface designers using color window systems such as X; there is a tendency to create displays that are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use.
JARGON FILE, VERSION 4.1.4
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 21:47:28 -0500
From: Edith & Steve Dolesch <nedes@sprint.ca>
Subject: Fw: Disability Features.
I just need to know if Linux has disability features like Windows (all versions)? I'm a disabled person and use StickyKeys to write with one hand if needed and the Numeric Pad to move the mouse cursor.
[The Linux Access-HOWTO explains the capabilities Linux systems have for people with disabilities. It says that X-windows has a StickKeys feature, and the FVWM window manager can be controlled without a mouse. -Ed.]
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 10:30:53 +0800
From: ZHOUKM <zhoukm@red.semi.ac.cn>
Subject: winNT+MSproxy+linux question
My PC is in a WindowsNT-based LAN which has a MSproxy system, under win9x session in order to connect to internet I have to login the WinNT domain, and Of course the win9x is equiped with msproxy client. A linux system is also installed in my machine, but how to visit the internet?
Thank you
Mon, 22 Nov 1999 21:55:00 EST
From: <Hlinlin@aol.com>
Subject: do you know the USB(network adapter 10T) can run under linux?
Do you know the Universal serial bus with ehternet 's network adapter can work under Linux? or where we can down load driver?
hope to get your reply and help
Mon, 22 Nov 1999 21:10:13 -0800
From: Yunfei Deng <greenmoon@ureach.com>
Subject: Setup network printer
I have RedHat 6.1 installed, but need to figure out how to use the network printer. The network printer is shared on a NT domain which is available to use if I login in NT. Any tip is welcome.
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 11:16:44 -0600
From: Carlos Alarcon <carlos.alarcon@softtek.com>
Subject: Hi!!! I have a big problem
I just bought a new computer. It has an "on-board" video card, Intel 810 chipset. I couldn't configure X to work with this type of card. First, I let Linux probed, it failed. Then I looked at the list, of course, it wasn't there. Then I tried an unlisted card and configured it as a general svga, it still failed. What to do now?
Tue, 23 Nov 1999 21:09:22 PST
From: Edgar Henry <edgar_henry@hotmail.com>
Subject: Accessing previous partition (path 16 and 32)
I am trying to install redhat linux 6.0 on my PC which is dual booting on Windows 98 and windows NT and has a patition of Path 16 and 32. When I try to install Redhat Linux choosing the workstation its automatically installing and I cannot access my data anymore using the windows 98 or NT since it is not recognizing the partition.
It is possible for me to get my data from my previous windows.
Thank you very much
Wed, 24 Nov 1999 02:57:15 -0800
From: kevin hartman <kevinh@hsaeug.com>
Subject: Direct Cable Connection between Win95 and Linux, by Thomas P. Smyth
Would you happen to have a current e-mail address for Thomas P. Smyth, author of Direct Cable Connection between Win95 and Linux?
Sat, 30 Oct 1999 17:47:57 +0100
From: Andy D Williams <andy.d.williams@btinternet.com>
Subject: a complaint about issue 47
Hello
I am a regular reader of your gazette magazine who is using windows 95. I download and extract your magazine onto a local disk for reading at my pleasure and I find it very useful and informative about installing and use of linux. I intend to move over to a unix like system permanently sometime in the future and prefer to read your magazine on my windows hard disk while I'm learning to get to grips with linux.
So onto the complaint! How can I read your magazine if your tar.gz files won't extract onto my hard disk! Why won't they extract or why won't issue 47 extract? Your issue 47 tar.gz appears to be using a dos/windows reserved system name for a directory or filename! the lg/issue47/aux directory can't be created on my windows disks because aux is one of those names. Assuming you or your contributors have used dos and windows in the past why didn't they know about these names in dos and windows?
Are you trying to stop windows users from learning about linux?
I have been able to read your excellent magazine from issue 1 to issue 46 without any problems and would like to continue until and after I am no longer using windows as my primary operating system.
Thank you very much
Andy Williams
[Argh, I forgot aux is a reserved devide name under DOS/Windows. This was corrected in early November. (The directory name is now misc.)I also corrected a link to a program listing in JC Pollman's and Bill Mote's article Backup for the Home Network. If you were unable to view these files earlier, please try again now. Apologies to the authors of an excellent article which is being widely read, judging from the number of messages I received about this link.
Starting in issue 47, I have been moving all program listings into their own text files rather than keeping them inline as part of the HTML. This will hopefully be a convenience for readers who wish to run the programs or borrow code from them. --Ed.]
Fri, 12 Nov 1999 10:05:43 +0100
From: Joachim Krieger <krieger@the45er.de>
Subject: AW: Duplicate messages, unreadable listings, Pollman article
[The following are excerpts from a larger conversation. The issue is, after there's been a correction to the LG FTP files, how does one tell whether the file(s) s/he has are the old ones or the new ones? If the file date at the main FTP site is newer, obviously the user has an old file. But if the user's program or a mirror site touched the file, its modification date could be misleadingly recent. -Ed.]
Is there any criteria that allows to distinguish the old issue47 from the new one ? ( beside the file-date/time )
OK - I got the fix and offer it on our server. ( http://www.the45er/lg resp. ftp://ftp.the45er.de/pub/lg )
Not your - but my problem is, that the .gz-file carries date/time-stamp of my download - and that's Nov 11.
Assume: Someone has an old version - including the problems you've fixed. This person is looking for the fixed file. Question: does this person have to download 'lg-issue47.tar.gz' and unpack it
The Linux Gazette Editor wrote:
I'm not sure how to deal with that situation. I'll put it in the Mailbag and see if somebody can come up with a solution. It might be worth adding a changelog to the README, but that won't help you decide whether the file you have is the old one or the new one. I could link the new file to a different filename (lg-issue47-fixed-nov-2.tar.gz), but that would cause too much clutter in the directory and may not be welcomed by the mirrors.
It seems like this is what the modification date is for, and if some programs aren't preserving it on downloads, the solution is to fix those programs or figure out how to work around them (e.g., set up an alias with the correct command-line options to preserve the timestamp); otherwise, you'll have even more problems later with other files, trying to figure out what is up to date and what isn't.
Joachim responded:
maybe one solution could be an aditianal note apended to one of the files - or a new file with that. The result should be a different filesize of the newly created tar.gz.
Perhaps publishing the size of the old - and the size of the new file may help.
[Readers, would this be helpful? Or exactly what information would be most helpful to you? -Ed.]
Fri, 05 Nov 1999 09:57:04 -0500
From: Darren and Kristen Morin <sarcasmo@choice.net>
Subject: Excellent job!
Yeah, THIS is the kind of content I like to read.
Hello my name is Darren and I have been a linux user for about two years. While I may be past the point of out-and-out newbie, I'm certainly NOT a Guru. The articles in the Nov.99 issue are excellent1 It is almost like you folks were picking my brains, because these were the kinds of issues on my mind right now, especially the features on security and running unix as a home user. More features like this, please!
Keep up the great job folks. I don't know if you get many encouraging letters, considering this as one of them.
Bye for now
Mon, 1 Nov 1999 23:19:07 -0800 (PST)
From: Heather <star@betelgeuse.starshine.org>
Subject: Re: New format: My 2 cents
Sorry, not to offend, but I really don't like the new Answer Guy format! I prefer to read it in "The Whole Damn Thing" format.
TWDT is always available but please, read onward...
I find that I can pick out the things that interest me much easier if I can scan the message contents as well as just the titles. I usually just use the down arrow and pagedown keys to browse through the articles.
November's style *not* a new format; this is a special edition. People have been asking for the titles to be indexed, and it was clear that some i of them did not spot the "Index to Past Answers" gadgets found at the bottoms of the single messages (see October issue, any message, footer).
There were a great many messages this month, but they will be published in December's issue, in the same format that October's was.
I understand that the new format is more search engine friendly so maybe a compromise is in order. How about a complete page in TWDT format for each primary topic. That way those of us that like to scan a whole series can do so without having to bounce back and forth between individual articles and the index and the associated page reload delays.
Not mentioned before is that cooking the TWDT version is a normal part of my submission at the end of the month... Mike, this sounds like a request to normally link that in at the Answer Guy Index level.
Of course this returns us to torturing the search engines as it would hit on TWDT.lg_answerNN.html for every amazing topic in linuxdom. (Because we get a wide variety of questions each month, and so few search engines search for the keywords being anywhere near each other.) I'm not at all sure I favor this. This is why it hasn't been linked in even though my submits have included TWDT format subfiles for a long time. Mike, Jim, any opinions?
However, Rob, to address what you really seem to be asking for: No. Sorry. I am *not* going to republish the whole of the past answer guy messages in TWDT format by the topics I selected. It's weird enough that I only picked one classification each, when several of them fit more than one. Several of them are superseded long ago by changes in Linux itself. It's an *index* ... that means it does *not* contain anything but pointers. Since it doesn't point to any new content, it would be a waste of time better spent on the newer messages. Please bear in mind I do this work for LG on a volunteer basis. I have consulting work to do as well, and would like to limit the time I spend on this.
As a side note, I usually read the Gazette on my work machine which is that other OS :-( which complicates the process of reading the tar.gz version.-Rob-
That question is answered in the FAQ. WinZIP for "that other system" handles tar, gzip, or tgz files without complaint. If you insist on doing it the hard way I believe tar and gzip might have been ported as commandline utilities, but you'll have to go find them yourself, perhaps at winfiles.com.
I hope you enjoy next month's column.
* Heather Stern, HTML Editor for "The Answer Guy"
[I'm currently doing a lot of "under the hood" work on how the Gazette is linked together. That is, writing scripts to auto-generate the links and update them, rather than placing the links by hand. Once this is complete, we can look at adding links to make The Answer Guy more readable. But first, we have to get used to the new Answer Guy format for a couple issues, so we can see what is working well and what isn't. -Ed.]
Tue, 16 Nov 1999 10:08:03 +0100
From: marco masini <m.masini@attrezzeriamarin.com>
Subject: "great ideas" ??? :-))
Hi guy How are U? U make a good work with linux gazette
Why U don't create an "index" by word (analitical index is better? :-) ) ?
I' m looking for emacs but I don't know how to find something about it on your pages.
Bye
PS. I apologize for my englis
[There is a search engine at the main site. Starting this issue there is a "Search" link near the top of both the Table of Contents and the Front Page.
I typed "emacs" into the search dialog and got lots of links back. -Ed.]
Mon, 15 Nov 1999 11:43:26 -0800
From: Guillermo Schimmel
Subject: Re: I can't access ftp.ssc.com
I can't access ftp.ssc.com anymore. Is my problem or the server is down?
[The server has PARANOID turned on, which means your (the client's) forward and reverse DNS names must match or it won't allow access. Could that be the problem?I asked our sysadmin if we could turn off the PARANOID feature, since the files are public anyway. However, he was adamant that it's a necessary security measure. -Ed.]
Sun, 31 Oct 1999 10:21:14 +0100
From: Paul Dunne <paul@dunne.dhis.org>
Subject: to MIME or not to MIME?
I can't take issue with your plea for writers-in to stop using HTML. But I do take exception to this:
And if your mailer splits long lines by putting an "=" at the end of the line and moving the last character or two to the next line, please try to turn that feature off. Also some mailers turn punctuation and foreign characters into "" and "=E9" and the like. I can't reformat those, since I don't know what the original character was! -Ed. P.S. This the first time ever I have resorted to blinking text, which I usually despise. I understand some mailers don't allow you to turn off this obnoxious "multimedia" formatting. But if you can, please do so.
If your mailer can't understand MIME, and translate a so-encoded document it back into proper text when appropriate, then your mailer is broken, and you need either to fix it, or get another that isn't broken. It really is as simple as that.
[I use mutt, which is supposed to be one of the most MIME-capable mailreaders around. -Ed.]
You can use any extensions you want, as long as you configure your webserver to use the text/plain MIME type for them. It's the mime type that the browser uses to decide whether or not to display a file, not the extension. Only when the web server doesn't provide a MIME type does the browser try to guess at it using the extension.
Also, regarding your request to turn off quoted printable characters (, etc.), my question is: why? It's a lot better than leaving the original 8-bit characters in, which may display very differently on your screen than the author of the email intended, or may be control characters which will screw up your terminal settings. Quoted printable characters (and also the ='s at the end of a line) are part of the MIME standard and should be converted back by any MIME compliant mail reader.
HTML email is even better, because it allows you to include international characters in a platform independent way (quoted printable is not platform independent). If I were you, I'd upgrade to an email reader that will handle all these things, such as Netscape Messenger.
31 Oct 1999 14:00:10 -0800
From: Stephen R. Savitzky <steve@theStarport.org>
Subject: Re: Filename extensions for web program listings
You [the LG Editor] write:
My question is, which filename extensions are safe to use so that they'll show up properly as text files in the browsers? I'm wavering between using a language-specific extension (.c, .sh, .pl, .py, etc.) vs putting .txt at the end of all of them (or .sh.txt, etc.) What about listings that don't have an extension on the source file? They display as text on my browser, but do they display properly on yours?
The correct solution is to use the correct language-specific extensions, and to configure your server to give files with those extensions the MIME type "text/plain". This means that the browser doesn't need to guess (and guess wrong, in most cases) about what type the file really is.
Language-specific extensions would be the most ideal, because they offer the possibility of syntax highlighting if the browser supports it. (Does any browser support this?) However, I know I've tried to view files on other sites that I know perfectly well are text-readable, but the browser insists on downloading them rather than viewing them because it doesn't recognize the type. (Of course, that's better than the corollary, where it tries to view .tar.gz or .mp3 files as text.)
All browsers should use the type supplied by the server in the headers; only if the server fails to provide a "Content-Type:" header is the browser permitted to guess. If your server is Apache, for example, you can perform the extension-to-type mapping in a ".htaccess" file in the directory containing the listings -- see the Apache documentation for details.
Syntax highlighting can be done by providing two versions of the file, one in plain text and the other (with, e.g., a ".c.html" extension) in HTML as generated by a clever highlighting programm that you run once, on the server side. Again, nothing is left up to the browser; it's all done on the server.
From: Rich Brown <rabmar@FreeMars.org>:
My suggestion is xxxxx.c.txt, yyyyy.sh.txt, zzzzz.pl.txt, and so on.
Keep up the great work. LG is one of my prime resources.
From: Anthony E. Greene <agreene@pobox.com>:
I'd say no extensions should be used. Most web servers default to text/plain when sending unknown files to browsers. I've never seen a browser that supports highlighting, so language-specific extensions are of limited utility.
From: <helpdesk@buzco.penguinpowered.com>:
What about listings that don't have an extension on the source file? They display as text on my browser, but do they display properly on yours?
Not easily (am using StarOffice-5.1a).
Language-specific extensions would be the most ideal, because they offer the possibility of syntax highlighting if the browser supports it. (Does any browser support this?)
[...]
The answer to both objections is an easy-to-use, GUI, Mime setup program. The other side of this is that so many software packages ignore the system (and user for that matter) mailcap and mime-type files in favor of their own.
No extension should not be an option. Without an extension there is *no* handle to decide what to do with the file. Add ".txt" to these.
Where an extension is already present, leave it, but provide an alternative of the same filename + ".txt". Thus "foo.c" would be available both as "foo.ads" and "foo.ads.txt".
Hope this helps,
== Buz :)
From: walt <walt@aye.net>
use the .txt extension
and if you really feal froggy, call it ".text" so the point and click crowd doesn't get confused.
From: Vrenios Alex <Alex.Vrenios@motorola.com>
First, I believe that I can "set" my text editor to be called up when a ".sh" or a ".csh" suffix is found. But that might be oo much of a pain for most people (even me) to do for every possible extension. Here's my recommendation:
Given mountfloppy.csh, a C shell script that mounds a floppy disk, use mountfloppy_csh.txt
Given convertIP.c, a C language program that converts an IP address from hex to dotted decimal or back, use convertIP_c.txt
The use of that underscore is visually descriptive, letting everyone know exctly what kind of file it is intended to be, which the dot-txt tells your OS which editor to bring up, for every one of these ascii files.
Are there any files that you are considering setting up that are -not- ascii text files? If not, maybe this will work. Good luck.
From: Jeff Rose <whisper@iag.net>:
Subject: Filename extensions for web program listings ...
I'm enjoying reading this issue of LG on my Palm Vx after downloading your text version then using a small conversion util to format into PDBformat.
Anyway, I vote for the age-old '.txt' extention for filenames. Why re-invent the wheel? And the less formatting - the better. We have _plenty_ of utilities for conversion: but TEXT vs. PDF, etc., .txt is the painless route.
My $0.02.
From: Sylvia Wong <swon074@yahoo.co.uk>
Language specific extension wouldn't work coz it's too much hard work to change the mailcap to browse a few program listing. I prefer language extension + .txt. This way, when I want to save the file (I'm using Netscape), I could just delete the .txt and don't have to type a .pl or .c or whatever.
Does Windose handle files with 2 extensions well? (Or maybe we don't care about them at all as why would anyone read Linux Gazette using windose).
[I decided to go the *.sh.txt route, using a language-specific extension when one exists, but always ending in .txt. This should ensure the files can be both read and downloaded verbatim on the widest variety of web servers and browsers.BTW, a lot of people do read the Gazette on Windows machines. -Ed.]
Thu, 04 Nov 1999 18:49:22 +0100
From: <AntonioM.=?iso-8859-1?Q?Mu=F1oz?=Crespo>
Subject: Spanish tranlations of Linux Gazette
Dear editor,
As you said in your reply to Mr. Offret currently there's no Spanish translations of Linux Gazette. However, the only Linux on-line magazine translated into Spanish is Linux Focus (ok, they're your competitors, but it's the only you can get in Spanish for free). There're also a number of Linux magazines in Spanish but, as far as I know, they're all printed editions and they're not free!. Here is a list:
All of them are published by the same publisher "Prensa Tecnica". I don't know if you can get these magazines outside Spain.
Sat, 6 Nov 1999 14:49:51 -0500
From: Gerard Beekmans <glb@dds.nl>
Subject: Re: Compiling everything myself
Greetings, ladies and gentleusers. I would like to compile my own Linux system. Not just the kernel. Everything. I've got enough room and partitions on my disk(s) to do it. Do not tell me do buy a distribution. Until now, I've tried a lot of them - I count eleven on my shelf - I do not like one of them the way I would like a self-created one. I just need a place to start. All of the distributions must have started at some point or another - how did they do it? Please point to a location where info may be obtained. The LDP seem to provide _nothing_ concerned to this task. Every hint will be highly appreciated. I would also love to contribute documentation of the process to the Free Software community. Every reader is invited to answer via email.
I currently am writing a series or articles that do this exact same thing: building a new Linux distribution from scratch. Every program is built from source (though you do need a working Linux to get it initial working (eg: you need to have a running Linux + compiler to compile a compiler so you can install that on the new system and start compiling other things there).
There's one downside for you I'm afraid: I'm writing these articles for a Dutch/Belgium Ezine and therefore the articles are in Dutch (surprised? ;) But wait, there's a good side: I'm also in the process of translating these articles into English. I decided to start translating these articles a week or so ago and I haven't started doing so yet (the usual excuse; too busy with other things).
I'm also thinking of giving them to the LDP so they can be distributed as a HOWTO of some sort.
Another reason I haven't started this translation yet is because I don't know yet how usefull they would be (ie; if people actually are thinking of doing this besides me). The Dutch articles aren't done yet either because I got stuck after a while since I don't know 100% how to configure every program and things like that (building from scratch for me means also completely making your own sendmail.cf file and things like the ruleset's are just a bit over my head at the moment).
If you're interested picking up this project I'd be happy to start translating the articles I already have written and then continue finishing them with you (and possible other people who read this since I CC'ed it to LG aswell).
Hope to hear from you soon.
Wed, 10 Nov 1999 09:25:22 -0700
From: TJ Miller jr <tjmiller@datc.tec.ut.us>
Subject: Will The Priests Please Refrain From Kicking The Heathens?
Listen my children, and ye shall receive news, of a troublesome plague that sweepeth across the Land of The Holy Penguin...
Allow me to confess the blight which lay upon my soul: I am cursed by professional necessity with an MCSE, but I want someday to hear the revelation, the revelation that a Microsoft certification is about as worthless, as worthless an ArcNet certification would be this very day. Verily, I further want to have the luxury of looking upon my MCSE and saying "there shalt not be further need to keepeth this foul brand upon my wretched soul..." Can I get an "Amen!?"
The problem remains that, in order to maketh a living, I have to prepareth my high-school aged disciples for the IT industry at large...and that necessitates teaching them the blasphemy that is Microsoft. (On a happy note, I finally got permission to get decent Linux curricula going - it will be out in January. Refer to http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue47/lg_mail47.html for more information, and pitch some more opinions at me - I'm about half-way down that page.)
But enough of the digression, my dear flock...let us kneel together, to meditate upon the source of my distress...
However, let's do it in plain English...because all kidding aside, we've got a growing and serious problem here:
While perusing the web for ideas about what would make a good set of Linux classes, I come across a disturbing trend, one that was once only an insignificant bother, but hath now become enough of a problem to warrant attention:
Linux Over-Zealotry.
I guess it began to demand notice (for me) during the badly-managed PCWeek NT vs. Linux security tests. Now, I believe that PCWeek made a huge mistake (they forgot an RPM patch), but, IMO, an honest one...could have happened to anyone. The reaction sickened me... zealots everywhere began screaming about how PCWeek was "Microsoft's Whore", and how they were suddenly a part of some huge conspiracy to quash Linux... I then begin to look about the various Linux forums, to see even more venom and flame, directed at anyone who dares to say that perhaps Microsoft does have software that will do certain things better than Linux.
I have a newsflash for the zealots: In some cases, NT is better than Linux. In Others, Linux is better than NT. It all depends on your specific needs and circumstances. Any real-world IT manager with more than three working brain cells will tell you the very same thing.
Now, what motivated me to write this was an article I noticed, which read:
"The people who complain about it not supporting 100% of games or whatever don't seem to get what the alternative is. It's easy to say Linux is better than a certain monoploy(sic) based OS but to put your money (ok it's free but nevermind) where your mouth is, is something else."
-James Rogers, recently in osOpinion
Now, if I owned a business, didn't know much about computers, and needed an OS that was compatible with all of the machines I have, the last thing I want to hear is: "Too bad you Microsoft scum!"
If I were Joe Six-Pack, wanting a decent OS at home to do my bills and send the occasional e-mail to mom with (and an OS with all the cool games for my kids, of course), the last thing I want to hear would be: "no way, d00d - you gotta conform to the Linux way or else! We don't support yer fave games, so deal with it!"
You notice a trend here (at least I hope you do...): I used regular, typical situations. If you want Microsoft's piece of The Market Pie, you're going to have to woo these exact types of people away from their MS-run boxes...
A Very Big Clue: You won't capture the heats and minds of MS users by calling them "sheeple". You won't do it by insulting their intelligence. You won't do it by shouting like a spoiled child whenever Linux gets bad press (no matter the reason.) And most importantly, you certainly won't lure them away form Microsoft by demanding that they do something the hard way, when for only $85 they can do it easier with (insert big, bad, monopoly OS product upgrade here.)
You also won't do it by letting others perform these same indecent act without nary a comment from members of the Linux community who happens to catch them in the act...
Now, it had always been (at least, used to always be) the case that Linux adapted to needs - someone needed a driver for (insert oddball peripheral item here), odds are that all he/she needed to do was ask, and there was more than likely a driver written for it by (insert friendly programmer's name here), and that it can be downloaded for free at (insert URL here).
If Linux wants a bigger market share, this is exactly what needs to continue happening....customer-focused, friendly service to the world community at large.
I recall - that there indeed is a perfect article for describing how we can advocate, and by extension make Linux a dominant OS in this world...I propose that we all read it at least once in our lifetimes: http://www.ssc.com/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/mini/Advocacy.html
After all, if you want converts, you don't do it by kicking the heathens you want to proselytize...especially not in a consumer-driven market such as computer products.
There is one other note: If you see anyone misbehaving, thereby giving Linux a bad name, then go out of your way to show that person the light...and in the process showing the world at large that the Linux community won't tolerate childish behavior...which would make an ever better impression on the undecided and the unknowing.
Now go forth my precious flock, to spread peace and Open Source among the perilous world in which we live...
TJ Miller jr (tjmiller@datc.tec.ut.us) is a secondary education teacher in the Utah ATE (read: Vocational Technologies) school system, specializing in the instruction of Unix, Networking, and (because they make me do it) that big, bad GUI-based OS we've all heard of. He putzes around with Linux far more than is considered healthy, but enjoys the outdoors enough to go hunting, skiing, hiking and fishing whenever weather and time permit.
Mon, 1 Nov 1999 13:35:49 +0800
From: Li Wei <leeway@kali.com.cn>
Subject: comment
the 47th issue is the most boring lg i ever read. in other lgs, i can always find some interesting articles.
[Which kinds of articles do you consider "interesting" and "boring"? -Ed.]
Thu, 11 Nov 1999 11:26:51 -0800 (PST)
From: Nicolas Chauvat <nico@ISI.EDU>
Subject: Re: Duplicate messages, unreadable listings, Pollman article
The [LG] FTP file for issue 47 is 2.6 MB. This is due to the large number of graphics. Next month will have fewer graphics to bring the file size down.
Graphics shouldn't be a problem. You have a lot more graphics in some web pages and the whole thing is much lighter than this. The problem is that most graphics are not compressed... well, they are, but not enough, or the image depth is to high. Just make the authors follow the basic rules of image making for the web and it will be fine, even if you have more graphics.
Use jpg for photos (lots of colors, no line or clear boundary)
Use gif for others (fewer colors, sharp boundaries)
Use png for either one.
Try with different compression levels (jpg) and different image
depth/palette (gif).
There are programs out there that do that for you, i.e. take the image and output the same with the best compromise size/quality. I don't remember the names though, but they are probably listed on freshmeat or linuxberg.
Hope this helps,
-- Nicolas, Coordinator of the french translation of the Linux Gazette
Hi, I'm a deadly e-mail virus, please copy me into your .signature file to help me spread. :: Bonjour, je suis un dangereux virus. SVP copiez-moi dans votre fichier .signature pour m'aider =E0 me propager
[There's one of those pesky =E9's again. Wish I had a table to convert it to its Latin-1 equivalent. Must be an à. -Ed.]
31 Oct 1999 09:33:31 -0700
From: Eric Hanchrow <offby1@blarg.net>
Subject: Suggestion for TOC pages on the web
I'm looking at http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue47/index.html, and I see many bulleted items, each corresponding to one article in the current issue of Linux Gazette. It would make my life a tiny bit easier if each of those items showed me, not just the article's title, but the first few lines of the article itself. That way I could tell if I wanted to read the entire article. As it stands, I have to guess. This is especially true for the articles that appear to be regular features.
[There isn't enough room in our current table of contents layout for these lines. For the Mailbag, 2-Cent Tips and News Bytes, it wouldn't make sense because these columns consist of a lot of small items which are not related to each other, and thus, the first letter is not representative of them all. Also, it would mean a lot more manual editing to decide which lines to include.Thanks for the suggestion, though, and I'm open to hearing any others you may have. -Ed.]
|
Contents: |
December 1999 Linux Journal
The December issue of Linux Journal is already on the newsstands. This issue focuses on system administration.
Linux Journal has articles that appear "Strictly On-Line". Check out the Table of Contents at http://www.linuxjournal.com/issue68/index.html for articles in this issue as well as links to the on-line articles. To subscribe to Linux Journal, go to http://www.linuxjournal.com/subscribe/index.html.
For Subcribers Only: Linux Journal archives are available on-line at http://interactive.linuxjournal.com/
Linux Journal/Linux Gazette Millenium Edition Archive CD-ROM
Can't find that April 1996 Linux Journal? Someone borrowed the September 1998 copy?
Now you can have it all! All of Linux Journal (issues 1-56; 1994-1998) and all of Linux Gazette (issues 1-45; 1995-1998) on one archive CD.
Click here for more information.
Caldera
Framingham, MA, November 11, 1999 - Antarctica IT, Inc. and Caldera Systems, Inc. will work together to provide Linux services in Boston and New England.
Corel
Corel Signs Linux OEM Agreement With PC Chips
Libra
NORTH VANCOUVER, BC, November 2, 1999 - Libra Computer Systemstoday announced the release of 'Linux by Libranet', based on Debian. The CD, includes one year of support via email and fax, Linux HOWTO documentation and the Debian-Guide, a concise, easy to follow guide to the use of the Debian Linux Distribution. The CD may be purchased for $27.00 at www.libranet.com. Libra Computer Systems is a privately held company based in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Red Hat
Durham, N.C.--November 3, 1999--Red Hat, Inc., today announced an expansion of its services program that will provide the consulting and support enterprise organizations need for nearly all of the popular, powerful, open source software applications used by enterprises worldwide.
As the first step in the program, Red Hat's worldwide services group will immediately offer expanded Service Programs for popular open source software solutions, including top Internet software like the Apache Web Server, Sendmail and Postfix. Apache is the number one Web server and runs more than 55 percent of the Internet's Web sites. Sendmail is a messaging solution that powers 80 percent of Internet Service Providers (ISPs).
The sweeping initiative will expand in the coming months, embracing more open source solutions. This broad support program delivers enterprise users a single, trusted source for their open source computing needs.
DURHAM, N.C.--November 1, 1999--Red Hat, Inc. announced the formation of a new non-profit organization, the Red Hat Center for Open Source (RHCOS), that will sponsor, support, promote and engage in a wide range of scientific and educational projects intended to advance the social principles of open source for the greater good of the general public.
eSoft Inc., a company that develops and markets the TEAM Internet Linux software suite for small businesses, has joined Red Hat Inc.'s Development Partner Program.
Red Hat, Inc. has entered into a new strategic agreement with RSA Security, Inc. to enhance security for professional users of the Red Hat Linux OS package...
SuSE
Austin, Texas -- November 8, 1999 -- Photodex Corporation, a leading supplier of digital content management, imaging and multimedia software, and SuSE Inc., announced today their partnership to provide CompuPic Digital Content Manager software for the SuSE Linux operating system.
"CompuPic brings powerful, yet user-friendly imaging capabilities to the SuSE Linux desktop, enabling SuSE Linux to compete head-on with other platforms. These tools should not be taken for granted," said Paul Schmidt, CEO, Photodex. "Professional web developers need powerful tools to more easily develop and maintain web sites. Even novice users find it easier to use the Linux desktop when familiar applications are available. CompuPic solves these problems and more."
Linux vendor SuSE announced this week that it has tapped outsource solutions provider Digital River, Inc. (Nasdaq: DRIV) to turn its online information portal into an e-commerce site.
Storm
Vancouver, Canada - November 17, 1999 - Stormix Technologies, Inc., announces that Storm Linux 2000 will ship with the VMware evaluation binaries, a software technology that allows the running of other operating systems, including Windows, from within Linux.
Stormix also announced Storm Linux will ship with a full version of StarOffice, and a demo copy of Enhanced Software Technologies' BRU (Backup and Restore Utility).
C.O.L.A news
TheStuff.net is a new, online source for information and tools encompassing all free Unix operating systems.
Spanish translation of the Linux Administrator's Security Guide
Dual chrooted Bind/DNS servers Mini-HOWTO
News from The Linux Bits
LG got a nice little mention in TLB issue 23 (http://www.linuxdot.org/tlb/24.html):
The latest edition of the "New York Times of Linux e-zines" - Linux Gazette - was released today, featuring the usual crop of interesting reading -- and plenty of it. Once again we get a few mentions. "Gee ma, we're famous." :)
Other news in issue 23:
From issue 22 ( http://www.linuxdot.org/tlb/24.html):
TLB's Laurence Hunter wrote to the LG Editor:
If there's ever an article that you particulary like in any issue (even back issues) feel free to use it, change the formatting to your liking, and edit it to your heart's content. You don't need to ask our permission either. Like you we put together The Linux Bits purely for fun so no copyrights etc exists on them and we ask nothing in return. Anything to help out the Linux community is plenty payment for us.
[Thanks! I'll remember that. -Ed.]
Upcoming conferences & events
The Bazaar: "Where free and open-source software meet the real world". Presented by EarthWeb. December 14-16, 1999. New York, NY. http://www.thebazaar.org/
SANS 1999 Workshop On Securing Linux. The SANS Institute is a cooperative education and research organization. December 15-16, 1999. San Francisco, CA. http://www.sans.org
IDG Communications France, organisateur de LinuxWorld, et Sky Events, organisateur de LinuxExpo, unissent leurs efforts pour créer une manifestation unique, LinuxWorld/LinuxExpo. Cet événement Linux ouvrira ses portes du 1er au 3 février 2000, au Palais des Congrès de Paris (Porte Maillot).
Linux File, Print & CD Thin Server in Flash-ROM
KYZO has today released the commercial version of its hugely popular PizzaBox Linux distribution, so called because a prototype server was built in a Pizza Hut Takeout box - take a look - www.kyzo.com
In the first month the site took over 500,000 hits has recently registered 75,000 in one day. Registered users that have downloaded and run the free PizzaBox Server include both the Goddard Space Flight Centre and the Jet Propulsion Laboratories at NASA.
The commercial version is the same basic software as the free version, which will still be available, but differs in one significant respect. It is shipped pre-installed in a bootable Flash-ROM and comes with the the circuit board you need to make it boot in any 486 (or above) PC. With 10 times the life span of a hard disk, the package is aimed at system builders who are fed up with having to send skilled engineers to sites for days on end to re-install a File Server every time a hard drive goes down.
The system includes File, Print & CD sharing, remote access (for full remote administration), UPS monitoring, Tape backup, Hardware monitoring, APM. It will automatically accept both SCSI & IDE hard drives and comes with a sophisticated, JavaScript enabled, web management interface. It is aimed squarely at the SME market where current offerings from the big players are overcomplicated for the SME sector.
Cobalt Networks Selected by Allegiance Telecom
Cobalt Networks has announced that its RaQ 2 server appliance will be the dedicated web hosting platform for Allegiance Telecom customers. The RaQ 2 provides a way for ISPs like Allegiance to offer top quality dedicated web hosting with a low TCO and a quick ROI.
This news comes on the heals of last week's introduction of the RaQ 3i, Cobalt's third-generation server appliance. The RaQ 3i rounds out Cobalt's product family by offering ISPs a high-end server appliance that can handle high-traffic Web portals, e-commerce, and application hosting at a price that the small to mid-sized business market can afford.
E-Commerce Minute
EBIZ Re-Launches TheLinuxStore
E-Exams announces a Linux System Adminstration exam
E-Exams announces a Linux System Adminstration exam. With E-Exams you can create customized technical exams to assess potential employees. Among the many exams E-Exams is offers, is an exam for Linux System Administrators. Companies who have signed-up for the service, can have potential employees take a web based exam. Questions range from beginner, to intermediate to expert. The results can be used to determine whether the candidate should take the next step in the hiring process. The Linux System Administration exam is distribution neutral. It also among the first exams which the company is offering. The company is planning to create many more exams, including some distribution specific nes, starting with a Red Hat Linux exam. Specific topics such as networking with Samba are also in the works.
You can learn more about E-Exams at: www.eexams.com
National Semiconductor announces Linux support for its geode webpad reference design
Is Linux available on my platform?
The Current ports of the Linux OS web page lists a wide variety of architectures and platforms Linux is available on.
The main ports are :
- Special PCs and Near-PCs SGI-Linux (intel-SGI), MCA Linux (MicroChannel), Linux/98 (NEC PC-98), LinuxIA64 (new 64bits-merced- intel chip)
- Motorola processors Linux/m68k (Motorola 68000), LinuxPPC (PowerPC)
- SPARC chips S/Linux (Sun SPARCstations), UltraLinux (Sun UltraSPARC)
- Compaq (former Digital) chips and equipments VAXlinux (VAX computers), Linux/Alpha (Alpha processors)
- Other RISC chips ARM Linux (ARM/StrongARM), Linux PA-RISC (HP's PA-RISC), Linux/MIPS (MIPS chips)
- Handhelds, Microcontrollers, embedded and other small systems LinuxSH3 (Hitachi SH3), Linux/Microcontrollers (Palm,Motorola ColdFire), ELKS (8086-80286), VMELinux (VMEbus embedded systems), LinuxCE (to substitute WindowsCE), PDAs in general
- Microkernels and real-time MkLinux (Linux on Mach =B5-Kernel for Apple PowerMacintosh, HP PA-RISC and x86), DROPS (Linux on the L4 =B5-Kernel and Fiasco =B5-kernel), Real Time Linux (RTLinux and KURT)
- Multimedia Computing, QLinux
- SMP and clustering MOSIX for Linux (a bridge between SMP and MPP), Beowulf Project (parallel clusters), Linux SMP(multiprocesor)
- Misc ports Linux on IBM 370/390, Linux/AP+(Fujitsu AP1000+), Linux-AS/400(IBM AS/400)
- Cool things running Linux Not ports, but who cares?
"Linux Administration Made Easy" (LAME) guide
The "Linux Administration Made Easy" (LAME) guide, recently updated for Red Hat 6.1, attempts to describe day-to-day administration and maintenance issues commonly faced by Linux system administrators.
This 130+ page guide is geared to an audience of both corporate as well as home users, and attempts to summarize the installation and configuration, as well as the day-to-day administrative and maintenance procedures that should be followed to keep a Linux-based server or desktop system up and running.
LAME can be found at www.LinuxNinja.com/linux-admin/ in a variety of document formats.
Linux Links
The legal findings in the antitrust case against Microsoft
An article that alleges Microsoft is operating a pyramid scheme to artificially boost its stock price.
Parodies of Linux and its friends and enemies: mages, webpage sendups, poetry, songs, articles, etc. Stars a Microsoft Myths spoof page.
Linux Fool.com is a new web site offering Linux users an unbiased forum for discussions and information sharing. LinuxFool.com is an official mirror of the Linux Documentation Project.
/www.QuestionExchange.com allows users or system administrators to name their price for high-end tech support in open systems -- Linux, Apache server, Sendmail, etc.
How the University of Georgia English Department is using Linux.
A Linux-Windows comparision, and other Linux-related stuff.
LinuxMall Re-Launches With New Look
C.O.L.A software news
Warbird is "a new silly 3D game" using VRML.
HTMLDOC v1.8 HTML document conversion to PDF, Postscript and indexed HTML.
Calerga SysQuake Viewer
Lausanne, Switzerland, November 2, 1999 - Calerga announces today SysQuake Viewer for Linux, a port to the Linux operating system of the software for understanding systems by interactive manipulation of graphics.
SysQuake is a ground-breaking application for understanding and designing complex systems by the use of interactive graphics. Interactivity lets the user manipulate graphics, observe how phenomena are related, and change parameters to improve the design of a technical device. Understanding how initial conditions affect a simulation or how the parameters of a feedback controller determine the behavior of a dynamic system is made much easier than with the static graphics created by existing software.
www.calerga.com/SQViewer/index.html
EasyCopy screen capture utility
SAN JOSE, Calif., October 19, 1999 - AutoGraph International (AGI) is
demonstrating its commitment to the Linux community through our EasyCopy suite
of products. The Linux operating system has always played an immense role in
AGI and some of our developers are active in the Danish Linux community. In
fact, Linux engenders a decidedly emotional response from our normally cool,
analytical development staff.
Enhanced X Capture offers full screen, selected window or an arbitrary rectangular area capture. All original colors of the windows are preserved with any combination of windows. Even when a window appears in false colors on the screen due to color table overrun, it is captured in its original colors by EasyCopy and printed correctly.
DataKeeper
DataKeeper by PowerQuest (maker's of PartitionMagic) ensures backup protection by continuously monitoring file activity in the background, and supporting compressed backups on the fly. The user configures the programme and specifies backup methods to backup drives, folders and files, and DataKeeper then follows these commands automatically, and unobtrusively.
Because DataKeeper creates a backup each time a file is modified, scheduling is unnecessary.
Any removable disk drive, network drive, hard disk or floppy drive is supported by DataKeeper. And because it uses a high compression rate, DataKeeper saves disk space.
News from Loki Entertainment Software
TUSTIN, CA -- November 1, 1999 -- Loki announces the Linux demo version of Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition.
Loki released the full version of Railroad Tycoon II, along with The Second Century Expansion Pack, last month to strong reviews. This real-time strategy simulation game places gamers in a world of big business, expansion and engineering in which all aspects of the railroad industry can be controlled. It features a simulated stock market and sophisticated economic system, and as the years progress, gamers must solve modern problems such as the increasing demand for mass transportation in major cities.
The demo allows users to exercise their tycoon tendencies in five different scenarios, and is now freely available for download.
TUSTIN, CA, November 3, 1999 -- Loki is now developing the Linux version of Heroes of Might and Magic(tm) III.
Heroes of Might and Magic III is the latest installment in the series of top-selling, critically-acclaimed strategy games. This turn-based, strategy war game set in the popular Might and Magic(r) fantasy world has already captivated legions of PC gamers. It was awarded 5 out of 5 stars from both Computer Games Magazine and the CNET Gamecenter, as well as an Editor's Choice Award from Computer Gaming World Magazine.
Heroes III will be available for the Linux operating system wherever software is sold by mid-December.
The Loki Hack hacks on the Linux version of Activision's Civilization: Call to Power are now available for public consumption.
TUSTIN, CA -- November 4, 1999 -- Loki Entertainment announces today the creation of a CVS server to facilitate public access to its Open-Source projects.
"One reason we've been successful is that we create Open Source tools to replace proprietary code in our games," said Scott Draeker, president of Loki. "We give these tools back to the community in the form of Open Source projects. We hope other developers will evaluate our tools for projects and choose to use them rather than the proprietary alternatives."
The Loki CVS server allows the public to access the latest development source code for Loki's several Open-Source projects, including SMJPEG, a motion JPEG library, SMPEG, a MPEG-1 playback library, and Setup, a GUI Installer. Other modules available for viewing include SDL, a cross-platform multimedia development API, and Mixer, an enhanced version of the sample SDL audio mixer.
Loki's Open-Source projects are freely available for download from www.lokigames.com, and are offered under the GNU Library Public License (LGPL). A web interface for the CVS server is available at cvs.lokigames.com.
Other software
Anti-virus software from Central Command, Inc. and Kaspersky Lab.
Max for Linux is a new product for compiling and running Xbase code on Linux-based computers, and is available for dowload.
Photogenics is an award-winning graphics package, first released on the Amiga five years ago. It will soon be available on Linux.
Cycas is a new 2D + 3D CAD software, based on GTK. In addition to typical CAD functions, it offers special elements and techniques for architectural design.
The CRiSP visual text editor from Vital.
txt2pdf from Sanface converts text reports to PDF format. Can colorize words using Perl regular expressions, add border to every page, print in 2-column format, and more.
PCI Winmodem --or--
Do you know of any V.90 internal modems that are not winmodems? --or--
LI_ DOH! --or--
Clearing Lilo from MBR
modem problems --or--
Questions about Linux --or--
virus protection --or--
Telnet trouble
Modem Noises --or--
Dual Booting without Re-Partitioning
Regards from Argentina
re: Helpless (issue 45 of linuxgazette)
Thanks!
thanks answer guy! --or--
Red Hat --or--
multiple root accounts --or--
opl3 yamaha/SAx sound card --or--
Another "respawning" question --or--
Unable to login to SuSE --or--
Doslinux --or--
Dell EIDE TR5 Tape Drive
Some basic ftp questions --or--
RedHat Login Problems --or--
Files invisible via Telnet? --or--
Thanks for the sendmail info in September's column --or--
Segmentation Faults --or--
Problem of Linux connecting to the Internet thro' MS Proxy --or--
LILO Lockup --or--
Need help !! --or--
Uninstall Linux --or--
your web --or--
FoxPro 2.6 on Linux --or--
Coping with Bad Sectors
Linux memory management --or--
Lt Modem --or--
about slackware --or--
TCPMUX on Linux --or--
probs --or--
Need Advice --or--
Unix emulator under Linux. --or--
PAM applications running as root (Was Re: WebTrends Enterprise Reporting Server)
Looking for help --or--
rsh --or--
RedHat 6.0 - various problems --or--
spying --or--
X respawning question and answer --or--
Using LILO to boot directly to dos --or--
glibc --or--
lg #45: Limiting Internet Access through Cable Modems
The Linux Startup Script?
Comcast and IPmasq --or--
serial port snooping --or--
Maximal mount reached; check forced --or--
QUESTION --or--
RedHat 6.0:Telnet has no login prompt --or--
A Staging Server --or--
CDR used in scsi emulation --or--
Greetings from Jim DennisI was working on a long, involved, probably tasty message to use for my greetings this month. Unfortunately, it's long, involved, and I think I want to rearrange it a bit, but don't have a lot of time because we're heading down to L.A. to be with family -- specifically, a science fiction convention we attend every year.
So, I'll aim for something less lofty. I'm finally getting a chance to work a bit with my new improved workstation, and I must say I'm quite pleased with console-apt (a curses interface for Debian's "apt" package manager). We still have quite a mixed bag of distributions around the house though. I think I might write an article comparing the various package management styles available. I may or may not focus only on Linux for that.
Sadly I get to spend even more time in Arizona after I get back. Most people would call me crazy, but I like it a bit better when it's gray and rainy -- reminds me of my youth in Oregon.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
Why Winmodems Don't Work Under Linux, Yet!From Chuck Winters on Thu, 23 Sep 1999
What is the difference between a winmodem and a regular modem and why will it not work on a Linux box. I have been looking all over for this information, and I can't find it. All I can find is that a Winmodem doesn't work on a Linux box. Could you also put up some reference links to some reading material on the web. Thanks.
Chuck Winters
Check out http://linmodems.org
Also look at my recent rants on the topic using the Linux Gazette search engine (WebGlimpse) (http://www.linuxgazette.com/search.html).
Linmodems.orgFrom Dick King on Thu, 23 Sep 1999
It's kind of annoying. You can't tell by looking at the ad or
sometimes even the box [unless you notice that it requires a
Pentium, but they don't always admit that]. I would rather buy an
internal modem because the only space i have on my cluttered desk
is inside the tower and my transient absorber has no room for one
of those little power cubes
but it looks like i need to go
external to be safe.
-dk
- Try following the FAQ link somewhere under
- http://linmodems.org
There is an interesting discussion about Linux support for Winmodems and a link to someone else's FAQ for identifying the bloody things.
(I like the idea of "linmodem" as a generic cheap telephony interface card. We'll see what it does to performance and all that, when someone ships code).
Major Hardware ProblemsFrom Rian Kruger on Thu, 23 Sep 1999
Here is my problem.
I have been asked to fix a computer which uses LILO to Boot and is partitioned WinNT, Linux. Fine and Dandy.
The problem is that one morning the computer desides not boot. All I get is LI_ where it should say LILO: and then boot up.
I have a rescue disk but this was created when installing Linux on another machine. Both Destributions are Red Hat.
I insert the disk and start the machine
So then I get LILO: it then says type rescue, which I did... Alls well, till the machine asks:
VFS: Insert root floppy disk to be loaded into ramdisk and press ENTER
On pressing error things go well enough for long enough to give you a false sense of security before hitting you with.
floppy0: data CRC error: track 0, head 1, sector 12, size 2 floppy0: data CRC error: track 0, head 1, sector 12, size 2 end_request: I/O error, dev 02:00, sector 29
repeatedly
If I try to boot linux from the same Boot disk.
Thats when I got desperate and tried to boot from a NT repair disk (also
created on another machine during installation)
And the Computer Says:
The emergency Repair Disk is not startable.
Repairing a damaged Win Nt Installation is an option available at the beginning of the win NT Instalation.
To start setup bla bla bla....
If I take this root, am I going to have to reformat the entire machine, will I loose all the Linux info, How do I save the situation. Please help, sagely advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks
Rian
It sounds like hardware failure.
Clearing Lilo from MBRFrom Norman Elliott on Thu, 23 Sep 1999
Just read the item on clearing lilo.
All I do is boot from a Dos ( 5 or greater ) boot disc and issue the command:
fdisk /mbr
that seems to fix anything including boot sector viruses. Maybe Linux fdisk would take the same parameter. I enjoy your column, keep up the good work, best wishes,
norm
Linux fdisk is a different program and doesn't touch the boot code in the MBR. It only works on the partition tables (which comprise the last 66 bytes of the MBR and possibly a set of others for extended partitions).
There are several Linux programs which do write boot records. /sbin/lilo is the most commonly used. 'dd' will do in a pinch (if you have a .bin image to put into place).
BTW: don't count on /MBR to fix a virus. Some viruses encrypt portions of your filesystem, thus causing major problems if they aren't removed corectly. To prevent infection by boot sector viruses, disable the "floppy boot" options in your BIOS. You should only enable those long enough to perform an OS installation or system recovery and disable it immediately thereafter. To prevent viral infect by "multi-partite" and "file infector" viruses, stop running MS-DOS. To avoid MS Windows macro viruses, avoid MS Office, MS Exchange and related software (with virus^H^H^H^H macroing hooks built into them).
Modem Problems on a Win '95 SystemFrom Benedict, Kevin F on Thu, 23 Sep 1999
I have a windows 95 system, and was using a U.S. Robotics 33 external modem. It started working spiratically. I received a U.S. Robotics 56k external modem as a gift. It was new. I hooked it up, and now my machine will not boot up unless the modem is turned off, or the serial cable is unplugged. The control panel identifiles com 2, . If I boot up, and then connect it, and try to add it to the system, the system locks up. On boot up, the system gets all the way to "starting windows 95" , access the cd rom drive light briefly, then the modem trsl ight, then locks up. Microsoft says it is a hardward problem, and U.S. Robotics took the modem in for service, and returned it, saying nothing was wrong with it. I have replaced the cable, with no effect. I can boot up in safe mode o.k.. Is there something that could help me besides taking the machine into a shop? thanks for your consideration.
BTW: I'm the Linux Gazette Answer Guy. You might want to read some of the back issues, or the FAQ, to understand why my answer is so obtuse. More importantly you might want to actually READ some of the web pages that come up when you're desperately searching for support that your software vendor clearly is not providing. If you'd READ any of the links from which you found my e-mail address then you might have seen that I don't DO Windows. Most importantly you if you READ before you e-mail question you won't sent "off-topic" questions to UNIX, MacOS, and other "answer guys" that don't DO Windows.
Setting COM port speedsFrom Jason_Magill on Thu, 23 Sep 1999
Answer Guy,
I have an application that I am running that requires me to read the serial port (Com2). The problem is that I need to read it at 9600 7-E-1. How would you go about doing that so when the system is rebooted it will automatically read the serial port at 9600 7-E-1?
I could really use your help.
Thanks, Jason
stty 9600 parenb cs7 < /dev/ttyS1
... or something like that.
Note you must redirect INPUT from the serial port to the 'stty' command. This is because the terminal settings are accomplished through an ioctl().
You might
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