Linux-Misc Digest #840, Volume #20 Tue, 29 Jun 99 01:13:09 EDT
Contents:
Re: printer question (Adrian Hands)
Re: Documentation issues. (Christopher B. Browne)
Re: Documentation issues. (Leslie Mikesell)
Re: can't run executable (Jacob Ratkiewicz)
Re: Screen Resolution.... (Leonard Evens)
Re: can't run executable (Scott Lanning)
installation problem (David Lafreni�re)
kdm and xdm affecting serial ports ("A. J. (Tony) Schiavone")
Re: Linux vs. Unix (Silviu Minut)
Re: Linux loses in NT tests (Johan Kullstam)
Re: ISP Mail Retrieval (Adrian Hands)
Re: Routing two Internet Networks (Ben Short)
Re: Suse 6.0 or Redhat 6.0 (Adrian Hands)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Adrian Hands <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: printer question
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 23:27:20 -0400
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ghostscript.
I don't know if ghostscript supports your particular printer, but...
The this works is: think of Postscript as a generic intermediate
language between your app and your printer. Now, if your printer
supports postscript natively, you're good to go. But, if your printer
does NOT support postscript, ghostscript steps in and converts ps to
your native printers code. For example, my Epson Stylus 600 doesn't
support postscript, so when I print my apps send postscript into the
print queue and the spooler subsystem is smart enough to figure out that
it needs to call ghostscript to convert the postscript to Epson codes.
As a matter of fact, if I try to lpr, say a GIF file for example, the
spooler is smart enough to build a pipeline to convert GIF to portable
pixmap using one utility, convert ppm to ps using another and finally ps
to epson using another. All this happens automatically and
transparently to me. This is how it works right out of the box with
RedHat (and probably all the other major distros as well).
Anyway, check to see if ghostscript supports your printer or any of the
printers that your printer might emulate. There's bound to be some
least-common-denominator that'll work (Epson FX80 perhaps.)
root wrote:
>
> I have a Panasonic KX-1123 dot-matrix printer I use to print 2 part
> invoices with, and I'm trying to do this in Linux using Applix.
> This is *not* a postscript capable printer, and Applix only does postscript.
> Can anyone suggest either a workaround, or direct me to the
> appropriate documentation.
>
> TIA,
>
> Charles Farinella
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Christopher B. Browne)
Crossposted-To: gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.bsd.misc,comp.text.sgml,comp.text.xml
Subject: Re: Documentation issues.
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 04:30:19 GMT
On Mon, 28 Jun 1999 22:08:45 -0400, vepxistqaosani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> posted:
>Christopher Browne wrote:
>
><snip!>
>
>> The problem that I see with SGML (that is equally true for XML) is that
>> it introduces two additional languages (e.g. - the DTD and the
>> application-specific markup language) without diminishing the need to
>> understand at least two others, namely:
>>
>> a) Whatever is being used to interpret the parsed document, and render
>> it into...
>> b) The output format.
>>
>> With Jade, this involves:
>> a) The DTD,
>> b) The language described by the DTD,
>> c) DSSSL,
>> d) {HTML|TeX|nroff|Postscript|...}
>
><snip!>
>
>Perhaps my lack of sgml sophistication is showing, but what is the difference between
>your latter a) and b)?
The DTD is essentially what SGML "as language" provides; the <!ENTITY
this that>, <!ELEMENT % something else>, <!ATTLIST whatever else>, ...
The language defined by DTD is separate.
Thus, you define entities, elements, attributes, ... so as to establish
a markup language for (let's say) DocBook.
The representation of documents is then in that markup language that you
have defined.
It's two languages, with distinctive syntaxes.
>As for the rest of your point: I am currently working on a project that eliminates
>two of your steps. The idea is to write a TeX (style or class) file that can process
>native sgml. TeX works on *.sgml files somewhat less efficiently than on *.tex files
>-- but it can be done. Since I am quite fluent in TeX, this is the ideal solution for
>me. Note that I do not interpret the DTD; I don't even strictly require it (though,
>in practice, it can be quite helpful). All I need is the assurance that there is a
>DTD and that the *.sgml files parse correctly.
At best, that eliminates one of the languages. You may be *ignoring*
the presence of the DTD; deeming it to be implicit does not make it go
away, and if they *are* treated as being purely implicit, this retrieves
the problem that you can never be quite sure if a particular document
is valid or not.
>The problem with this approach is that each DTD and set of sgml files conformant to
>that DTD are sui generis and new TeX files would have to be developed for each new
>project -- but we already do that, though in a somewhat simpler way.
If TeX were really written as a macro *rewriting* language, this might
be attractive. TeX is decidedly not pretty for that purpose.
*You* may find it a simple task, but there are only a few people that are
so comfortable with writing code in TeX.
>While I appreciate the problems with sgml/xml (bloated syntax, poor and/or expensive
>tools, enormous consultancy costs), the goal is a worthwhile one -- and I really
>don't see any other way to get to it.
>
>Already I am routinely faced with the problem of going back in time to deal with
>ancient (1995 and earlier) TeX and LaTeX files. A format so general that it is
>unlikely to require that kind of effort is a goal well worth pursuing.
By the way, you might want to write a TeX macro to shorten your lines;
the usual convention is to keep line lengths under 80 characters,
and preferably to a maximum of 72, so that people can quote without it
spilling off the page. (Odd; TeX is supremely good at doing optimal
wordwrapping. Unfortunately, newsreaders, with far simpler constraints,
tend to fail miserably at this...)
--
Those who do not understand Unix are condemned to reinvent it, poorly.
-- Henry Spencer <http://www.hex.net/~cbbrowne/lsf.html>
[EMAIL PROTECTED] - "What have you contributed to free software today?..."
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Leslie Mikesell)
Crossposted-To: gnu.misc.discuss,comp.unix.bsd.misc
Subject: Re: Documentation issues.
Date: 28 Jun 1999 23:06:01 -0500
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Matt Curtin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>>>>> On 28 Jun 1999 12:31:27 -0700, Russ Allbery <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said:
>
>Russ> Not everyone is going to have all those tools installed.
>
>That's a silly argument.
>
>That's like saying that you should write your scripts in awk because
>not everyone will have Perl installed.
>
>At some point, you have to say, "look, use reasonable tools".
Does that still apply when a lot of people think MS-Word is
a reasonable tool for typing and viewing formatted text? Or
can it only be what you think is reasonable?
(I happen to think that if you can't type it directly and easily
you shouldn't bother calling it text and you might as well use
a binary format for storage because it won't be readable either.)
Les Mikesell
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
From: Jacob Ratkiewicz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Re: can't run executable
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 23:11:27 -0500
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bill Unruh wrote:
>
> In <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Jacob Ratkiewicz <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> >That will probably work. If it does, you may want to add the
> >./ directory to your path to avoid having to type it every
> >time. The command to do this, (in bash anyway) is
>
> This is also dangerous. A hacker puts a rogue program named ls into /tmp
> You just type ls while you are in /tmp, and instead of running the
> system ls, it runs te rogue program.
> Better just to get used to typing ./ This is especially true of root.
> a) Do not put . into the path of root.
> b) If you really want . in your path, put it in as the very last item in
> the path, certainly not the first.
well, the command I gave would put ./ as the last entry in the path. I don't
think most of us would have to worry about seeing this kind of scenario, either.
A hacker with any sense would at least replace the original ls binary with
a "patched" version. Putting a "patched" ls in /tmp and hoping someone will
have ./ in their path, etc, to run it would be *really* lame.
just my $0.02
Jacob.
------------------------------
From: Leonard Evens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Screen Resolution....
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 11:49:31 -0500
lyte wrote:
> Chris Knapp wrote:
>
>> ...how do I change it under RH6? I used the default install
>> resolution
>> (1280X1024), and its a tad small for my 17" monitor. I looked in
>> the Gnome
>> config panel and there are lots of options for backgrpunds, themes,
>> etc, but
>> I can't find a place to reduce the screen resolution.
>>
>> Any help would be greatly appreciated.
>>
>> Chris
>
> run Xconfigurator as root and set up a lower resolution. The program
> name is case sensitive btw.
> Cheers.
>
> --
> Joey Olson
>
> #RedHat OnLine
> http://www.thecomputergallery.com/redhat
>
>
It would be wise to keep a copy of
/etc/X11/XF86Config
so that if you can't get Xconfigurator to produce something
decent, you can go back to your original configuration.
--
Leonard Evens [EMAIL PROTECTED] 847-491-5537
Dept. of Mathematics, Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL 60208
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Scott Lanning)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Re: can't run executable
Date: 28 Jun 1999 17:10:44 GMT
Villy Kruse ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
: When using linux with one user only it wouldn't make much
: difference about . in the PATH. And putting it at the end
: not much harm would be done.
It is interesting that you make a distinction between single-
and multi-user systems. Most people make a sweeping claim
that one should *NEVER EVER* put `.' in the PATH. I don't
really see the relevance of one vs. many, however, except that
the many have deluded themselves into thinking that their work
is more important. As a counter, I'd ask which would cause more
harm: wiping out your account, or wiping out all of AOL? I rest
my case.. :)
: Typical: compile test.c; run test and nothing happens.
: Run ./test, and no problem. BTW: test is a builtin in most
: shells and thus not influenced by the PATH.
I call it testes.c, for that very reason.
: For the argumets there will be a big difference between
: big multi-user systems with potential hostile users with
: shell accounts and single user desktop systems where the
: only user also knows how to become super user.
Unless one is isolated from the internet, every system is
part of a big multi-user system with potential hostile users
with shell accounts. These arguments seem to hold independently
of whether or not you type the whole path to an executable.
If someone gains access to your account, why would they put
a malevolent ls there? Why would they not, like the hacker did
to me, try to run their EggDrop program, then change your password
when you find out.
--
Scott Lanning: [EMAIL PROTECTED], http://physics.bu.edu/~slanning
"It showed a lady, with a fur cap on and a fur stole, sitting upright
and holding out to the spectator a huge fur muff into which the whole
of her forearm had vanished!" --From Franz Kafka's Metamorphosis
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (David Lafreni�re)
Subject: installation problem
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 03:48:40 GMT
Hi, I've been trying to install red hat linux 6.0 on my computer but I
have a problem using the boot/install disk. When I boot with this
disk it says:
loading initrd.img
loading vmlinuz
uncompressing Linux
crc error
--system halted
and then the system freezes.
Does anybody know what's going on? Is there anything I can do to fix
this problem? I tried making a new disk but that didn't help.
Anyway, the problem doesn't come from the disk cause I've installed
linux on another system using the same disk.
My system: Pentium 166 MMX
32 MB RAM EDO
TItanium motherboard with award modular bios
Thank you very much!!!!!!!!
------------------------------
From: "A. J. (Tony) Schiavone" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.system
Subject: kdm and xdm affecting serial ports
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 22:18:35 -0500
Hi all,
I have written a program to control an infrared remote control through the
serial port. The program works fine and I have both command line and CGI
(web page) based control. However, when I run either kdm or xdm the program
randomly sends out commands to the last device that was selected (i.e., if
VCR was the last device selected it will turn it on and off repeatedly). Is
there something in kdm and xdm or display managers in general that send data
out the serial port? If so, is there a way to shut this behavior off?
Thanks for any replies,
- Tony -
------------------------------
From: Silviu Minut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: alt.os.linux,comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Re: Linux vs. Unix
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 13:36:48 -0400
>From a user's point of view, it's basically the same. You can think of Linux
as the pc version of Unix (although Linux runs also on Sparc and Alpha).
Differences are deep into the kernel. Commands are the same, but they may be
implemented differently. Typical users don't care though. Memory management
stuff, process scheduling, file system stuff, etc. may be different. If you
haven't heard of these things, then you're ok.
Bob wrote:
> How much different is Linux than Unix? Are the system commands basically
> the same? What are the major differences between the two? Please help
> clarify this for me. Thank you in advance.
>
> Bob
------------------------------
Subject: Re: Linux loses in NT tests
From: Johan Kullstam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: 28 Jun 1999 23:59:14 -0400
Alex Lam <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Johan Kullstam wrote:
> >
> > Silviu Minut <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> >
> > > So if you never got to install RH, how can you say it's all junk?
> > > Maybe it is, but from what you're saying I don't see enough
> > > justification.
> >
> > on the other hand, the *primary purpose* of a distribution is to get
> > (at least a critical mass of) a working linux on your system.
> > everything else is just icing on the cake. hence, if the install
> > doesn't work, then the distribution fails.
> >
> > just so you know i have no axe to grind against redhat, i have been
> > using redhat since 3.0.3 and am running 6.0 now. i have personally
> > had good luck with it and my two machines. ymmv.
> Please read my other reply here. Yes, I do have plenty of axe to grind
> against RH.
i *did* read your posting. i though i was agreeing with you in my
first paragraph. a distribution that fails to install linux is a
failed distribution. it didn't fulfill its prime objective, i.e.,
getting linux onto your system. how much more clear can this be?
perhaps i should have said `is a failure' as opposed to `fails'.
sorry if i was unclear.
> I tried it on 5 machines, RH chocked on all 5 , but the other
> distros were able to installed properly and smoothly on the same 5
> machines. I tried RH 4.0, 4.2, 5.2. Non were able to even finish
> the initial installation.
nod. i know.
> Would you call that junk if that happens to you?
yes. it'd certainly be most annoyed in your place.
> I don't care if RH is the most popular distro, but it certainly is
> making the most noises lately, especially since its IPO.
otoh not all redhat installs fail so perhaps it's not all junk.
--
J o h a n K u l l s t a m
[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Don't Fear the Penguin!
------------------------------
From: Adrian Hands <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: ISP Mail Retrieval
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 21:07:27 -0400
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Ryan Chapman wrote:
>
> I'm trying to set our Linux server to periodically dial in to our ISP and
> retrieve our employee's mail and not remove the new mail it dials in again
> (the mail deleted from our server will dictate what to delete from the pop
> server), so that if they need to connect from home to retrieve it. I'm
> looking for suggestions on how to perform this.
>
> I've looked at Sendmail and Perl scripts.
>
> Thanks,
> Ryan Chapman
use fetchmail to get the mail off your ISP.
select IMAP instead of POP3 so that your mail will remain on the ISP.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ben Short)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.networking,linux.net
Subject: Re: Routing two Internet Networks
Date: Tue, 29 Jun 1999 14:02:09 +1000
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] says...
>
> Hi, I have a question, and it might be fairly complex.
>
> We currently have two Internet connections coming into our building. My
> company hosts several web sites and does some Internet work. I'm trying
> to get re-familiar with the route daemon, and the basics on configuring
> routes.
>
> We have two Internet connections, both T1, and for simplicity I'll use
> local IP addresses.
>
> ISP #1 -- 192.168.1.0/25 (default route)
> ISP #2 -- 10.201.30.0/24 (new route, not configured)
>
> So we have the two Internet connections, and the link from ISP #1 has
> been working for over a year, just fine without problems. Now we have
> our new, ISP, ISP #2 .... which I'm trying to routes set for all IP
> addresses on 10.201.30.0/24 to go to the router, set to 10.201.30.1.
>
> In a nutshell, I want all traffic with IP addresses on the
> 10.201.30.0/24 block to route through the router on 10.201.30.1, and all
> the IP addresses on 192.168.1.0/25 to go through on 192.168.1.1. Here's
> the diagram:
>
> current default route: 192.168.1.1
>
> 10.201.30.0/24 --> 10.201.30.1 --> Internet
> 192.168.1.0/25 --> 192.168.1.1 --> Internet
>
> What my current problem is that the IP addresses set on the
> 10.201.30.0/24 block get routed through 192.168.1.1, which is the
> current default route. I've tried adding the network to Linux and
> configuring the default route for that network, but it still doesn't
> work. When I set a website to an IP on 10.201.30.0/24, all the traffic
> goes out on 192.168.1.0/25.
>
> Please advise if anyone has any thoughts on which commands I would issue
> to route the traffic to the place I want it to go to.
>
> Thanks in advance,
> --t.j. weber
>
>
>
>
> --
> T.J. Weber | Providing your business with COMPLETE
> Interplanetary Media | computer & Internet solutions!
> phone: 847.205.5200 | ----- SARRZY INTERNET SOLUTIONS -----
> fax: 847.205.5201 | web: http://www.ipmedia.net
Wouldnt you need to set the default gateway on the 10.201 IP block?
route add default gw 10.201.30.1
and similarly do the same for all other computer which use the IP block?
Ben
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Ben Short http://www.shortboy.dhs.org
Shortboy Productions mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
*Remove n0spam to email me*
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
------------------------------
From: Adrian Hands <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Suse 6.0 or Redhat 6.0
Date: Mon, 28 Jun 1999 23:16:17 -0400
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Well, I think SuSE 6.1 is a 2.0 kernel and RedHat 6.0 is a 2.2 kernel.
I JUST NOW installed SuSE 6.1 on my wife's Thinkpad.
First experience with SuSE and first experience with TPad.
I was a bit apprehensive because I've heard TPs can be troublesome,
but I'm happy to report installed without a hitch.
X, KDE etc...no problem.
I just took *wild* *guesses* at the video card and monitor settings and
it seems to have worked fine.
Looks like you want at least 600MB disk space.
Actually, I ran into these two things:
I wasn't paying attention durring the questions about LILO and somehow
ended up with no LILO after I'd completed the install. I had to re-boot
off the CD-ROM, choose the "boot installed system" option and then setup
LILO. Unfortunately, /etc/lilo.conf didn't even exist so I had to go
over to my RedHat6.0 system to see what it should look like.
Also, at first no X.
No /etc/XF86Config, no ln -s X.
I ran XF86Setup a couple of times and got it going.
Chose SVGA and the highest spec'ed generic monitor setting.
Since I'm running with the LCD display, there's no risk of frying it.
Anyway, I'm pleased with the install. Relatively painless and didn't
seem to take long at all.
My other system is a Compaq Presario running RedHat 6.0. Compaqs also
have a reputation for not being Linux-friendly but I've only had one
problem and it wasn't a big deal - back in the RedHat 4.0 days (2.0.27
kernel was it?), Linux wouldn't recognize PCI cards on the Compaq bus
when booted from LILO. I had the system a long time before I even
noticed there was a problem because all my cards were ISA. When I added
a PCI SCSI to controll an Iomega Jaz drive I found I had to use
LOADLIN.EXE to boot instead of LILO because of the PCI problem. Anyway,
by the time RH5.1 came along, that was fixed, so I use LILO now, just
like God intended!
Michel Catudal wrote:
>
> "Y.H." wrote:
> >
> > I'm planning to try out Linux lately and I'm looking for one that's easy to
> > setup. Can anyone comment on the above mentioned version of Linuxs' setup?
> >
> > Reply to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >
> > Thanx!
>
> RedHat is almost foolproof
> SuSE, you need to watch out for a few moronic comments
> 1-You seem to be using a logical partition
> Do you want to put lilo on the extended partition
> 2-Do you wish to make the you want to put the partition
> active (logical)
>
> whoever wrote that must have been drunk. Saying yes to any
> of those will create problems.
>
> Aside from that, SuSE takes quite a while to setup, selection
> of numerous packages takes a long time and install is about 30 minutes
> or so. Install of RedHat is about 15-20 minutes.
>
> SuSE wins by a large margin as for stability and ease of use.
> The structure of the scripts of SuSE is far superior and
> they have a lot of nice apps plus a good intelligent dialer.
>
> --
> use OS/2 for a crash proof work environment
> use Linux for safe and quick internet access
> use Winblows to test the latest viruses
> http://www.netonecom.net/~bbcat/
> We have software, food, music, news, search,
> history, electronics and genealogy pages.
------------------------------
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End of Linux-Misc Digest
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