Linux-Misc Digest #603, Volume #21 Mon, 30 Aug 99 18:13:16 EDT
Contents:
Re: Where is current kernel config file? (Howard Mann)
Re: The Microsoft/Linux Conspiracy (R.E.Ballard)
SO5.1 - Text insertion (Big Daddy)
Re: where i can get libXm? (Paul Kimoto)
Re: Serial Port Spiking (Kristjan Varnik)
Re: Grep text with "/" (William Park)
Help: Strange problem with Advanced Power Management (Matt)
Re: Can only use sound card as root?!? ("Adam C. Emerson")
Re: More Netscape errors. (Jim Engstrom)
Re: The Microsoft/Linux Conspiracy (Harold Stevens ** PLEASE SEE SIG **)
Re: why not C++? (Kaz Kylheku)
Sound Blaster 16 PNP in RH6 (Chris Campbell)
Re: why not C++? (Phil Hunt)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Howard Mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Where is current kernel config file?
Date: 30 Aug 1999 16:24:09 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
Jason Bond <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> Does anyone out there know where the current kernel
> config file resides? I'm trying to compile a kernel and
> I want to keep most of the current options. Thanks much,
>
> Jason
>
It is called " defconfig"
In my Red Hat system : /usr/src/linux/<kernel version>/arch/i386
Cheers,
--
Howard Mann
http://www.newbielinux.com
(a LINUX website for newbies)
Smart Linuxers search at: http://www.deja.com/home_ps.shtml
------------------------------
From: R.E.Ballard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: The Microsoft/Linux Conspiracy
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:02:44 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
grant@nowhere. (Grant Edwards) wrote:
> In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Leonard Evens wrote:
> >There is a danger that Microsoft will attempt to `absorb'
> >Linux by distributing its own version which contains
> >Microsoft only extensions.
There is an even bigger barrier. Microsoft sold it's rights to UNIX,
and the UNIX market when it sold Xenix to SCO. For Microsoft to now
implement a version of Linux, SCO would have to publicly approve the
deal. It wouldn't be cheap. Microsoft owned as much as 25% of SCO,
but Novell, HP, IBM, and AT&T all own more than enough of SCO to keep
Microsoft from getting control of the company. Furthermore, these
other companies aren't exactly big fans of Bill Gates. Gates would
probably have to give them 25% of the proceeds of Microsoft before they
could even THINK about letting Microsoft get back into the UNIX market.
SCO lists it's agreements with Microsoft as principle capital assets.
If Microsoft were to attempt to breach the contract, it would be
very easy to prove damages.
> >But they would have to be
> >careful about how they did that because of the GNU
> >Public License.
One of the reasons Linux has done so well compared to previous
versions of UNIX is that you didn't have a great deal of
"proprietary infrastructure" that was exclusive to a particular
vendor. There is some, but it is obviously "cosmetic" (YAST vs
Setup vs ...).
> >Linux enthusiasts should avoid being
> >seduced by anything Microsoft offers along these lines.
Microsoft is in 1999 where Novell was in 1994. In 1994, Novell
was the leading "Network Operating System" vendor. By using
an exclusive definition, UNIX systems weren't counted, NFS servers
weren't counted, and TCP/IP nodes weren't counted. By the end of
1994, it was irrelevant. The Internet had made TCP/IP the global
network protocol. Eventually, Ray Noorda threw his money into
Caldera. It looks like the investment will pay off.
At this point, it's pretty certain that Linux, and Public License
variant of UNIX such as FreeBSD, will be the dominant operating system
by the beginning of the 21st century.
> >Of course if Microsoft wants to join the Linux community
> >and abide by the GPL, that would be fine, but I can't see them
> >doing it.
Microsoft has depended on several strategies. They tried using
incentives to prevent VARs and OEMs from being able to install
Linux - insisting on total control of the Boot sequence from power-up
to the "First Default Screen". This year, most of the OEMs have
balked, most of the big name PC makers have already announced the
availability of Linux machines. Many PC makers are planning dual-boot
systems.
Microsoft has tried to discredit Linux as a server. Several
carefully managed benchmarks have shown Linux to be slower
than NT, in atypical configurations and applications.
Microsoft then tried to portray Linux as a "server only" solution,
too unfriendly to be used on the desktop. Ironically, many people,
when exposed to the GNOME or KDE interfaces, actually prefer it
to the MS-Windows interfaces.
Microsoft has tried to encourage Web Site vendors to use
Microsoft-Exclusive tools such as DCOM and Active-X as well as
VBScript. Most vendors who went along initially quickly discovered
that some of their most important visitors, such as purchasing
managers, corporate executives, and key advisors, were disabling
ActiveX, DCOM, and VBScript because of security concerns. Most
web sites have gone to either ssl/shttp or Java "Sandbox" solutions.
> Perhaps MS intends to contribute large amounts of code to open
> source projects -- attempting to turn them into bloated, buggy
> crap with which MS's propietary products could compete.
Thus far, Microsoft has limited it's distribution of source code to
the Microsoft Developer's Network (MSDN). Of course to join MSDN,
you have to sign some hefty nondisclosure agreements. Not quite
the same as GPL.
Microsoft has insisted on nondisclosure agreements for USB and DVD,
and DVD contains proprietary antipiracy measures that the media
industry is afraid will be circumvented if the proprietary information
were released to GPL.
> "If out products can't compete with open source projects on
> merit, then we'll join the enemy and help them to death."
> -- overheard at a MS strategy meeting
Ironically, MS has been demonstrating the benefit of GPL projects with
it's most recent slurry of Y2K patches. Microsoft assumed that they
could force customers to buy Windows 2000 and Office 2000 before the
turn of the Millenium. The didn't plan that Office 2000 would be too
late to fit into the purchasing cycle. They didn' plan that Windows
2000 wouldn't be available until (maybe) August 1999 (more likely,
August 2000).
I turns out that Office 95 was not Y2K compliant, Office 97 was supposed
to be compliant, but it wasn't. Windows 98 was supposed to be the Y2K
compliant version of Windows, but most of the customer base has chosen
to stick with Windows 95. When Microsoft came out with patches for
Windows 95, NT 4.0, and Office 97, customers were confronted with
a big dilemma. The Microsoft patches render many 3rd party
applications (most of which ARE Y2K compliant) to be useless.
Suddenly, with less than 3 months to the Millenium, Microsoft is saying
that if customers don't apply the patches, they will be "at risk". But
3rd party vendors and users are saying that if customers DO apply the
patches, they may have inoperable systems within days or weeks of
applying the patches.
> --
> Grant Edwards grante Yow! Two with
FLUFFO,
> at hold th'
BEETS...side of
> visi.com SOYETTES!
>
--
Rex Ballard - Open Source Advocate, Internet
Architect, MIS Director
http://www.open4success.com
Linux - 44 million and growing at 3%/week!
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't.
------------------------------
From: Big Daddy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: SO5.1 - Text insertion
Date: 30 Aug 1999 20:21:00 GMT
Hi, all; trying to do something in StarOffice that I used to do in Excel
all the time. I have a plain text file, and want to open it and parse it
in the spreadsheet. In excel, you could just "open..", and it recognized
it as plain text & would open the parser. SO just presumes if it's text,
you want to process it, and busts open the word processor by default.
Anyone know how to get around this, if it's possible?
--
Big Daddy
The law will never make men free; it is men who have got to make the
law free.
-- Henry David Thoreau
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Paul Kimoto)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.system
Subject: Re: where i can get libXm?
Date: 30 Aug 1999 16:34:07 -0500
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[Posted and e-mailed.]
[This is not a c.o.l.d.system matter. Followups redirected.]
In article <pHyy3.79403$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, tony lee wrote:
> when i install Cforge, i rpm it and it came out: libXm need by XXX
> i m wondering libXm is in which package and where i can download it?
This is Motif, right? You need to buy it, or try (to get by with)
Lesstif.
--
Paul Kimoto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kristjan Varnik)
Subject: Re: Serial Port Spiking
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 16:53:12 GMT
John Hasler ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
: Kristjan Varnik writes:
: > I have looked around the web and found plenty of c code for opening and
: > writing to serial ports, but nothing on voltages and raw analog signals.
:
: While all serial ports put out a positve voltage when transmitting a space,
: few come anywhere near 12V. There is nothing you can do in software to
: change that.
:
: I assume that what you need to do is apply +12V to one of the lines for a
: specified period while holding the others in a specified state? Just wire
: up some hardware to do it.
Yeah. This is what I have to do. I was able to find a contact who
told me to apply 12V to one of the tap plugs on the circuit board.
One last question:
Is this something I do with a voltmeter? Or is there specific hardware?
------------------------------
From: William Park <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Grep text with "/"
Date: 30 Aug 1999 19:50:42 GMT
In comp.os.linux.misc Bosco Tsang <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I am trying to grep something with the "/" character, said "/job".
> However, when I grep it using 'grep -w "/job"', it will pop up a whole
> list as follows, where I only want to first one,
> 369 /job
> 93 /job/links
> 92 /job/want
> 92 /job/employment
> 46 /job/want/
> 46 /job/links/
> 46 /job/employment/
> 46 /job/
> 1 /job/links/index.html
> Is there any trick that I can grep the correct one?
> Please reply via email if possible.
Try something like "/job$" or "/job[^/]".
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Matt)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.setup
Subject: Help: Strange problem with Advanced Power Management
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 20:28:28 GMT
My PC has the following configuration:
Asus P2B (BIOS rev 1.06)
BusLogic BT948 SCSI card (BIOS version 4.95L)
BIOS is set to cut off power ONLY after 3-4 secs of pressing the power
button.
Mandrake 6.0 is installed in this PC. The APM on this
stock-installation runs properly -- On reboot, it will find all my IDE
devices (ie display the first boot screen), proceed to the SCSI BIOS
screen (ie the 2nd boot screen) and finally, boot up Linux.
I experience a strange behaviour if I load my custom made kernel. This
happens from 2.2.10 thru 2.2.12. Booting into any of these kernels is
no problem. On reboot, it never boots pass the "first boot screen". It
looks like the SCSI bus was not cleared prior to the shutdown. The
only 2 things I can do with it at this point are to bring up the
motherboard's BIOS menu, in which case, it still can go no further.
Powering off the PC is only viable option. However, instead of 3-4
secs lapse time, the PC would shut off immediately as if the APX power
supply does not exist. So, can I infer that the kernel has reset my
motherboard setting "temporarily"?
Can anyone offer me an insight into what configuration settings I have
overlooked? As far as I can determined, the PC will see the described
behaviour if the APM feature is turned on. So, even if I turned off
all the associated features under the APM feature in the General
Setting category of "make xconfig", it would not make any difference.
Thanks in advance.
------------------------------
From: "Adam C. Emerson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Can only use sound card as root?!?
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 18:43:33 GMT
Steve D. Perkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Yesterday evening I finally got around to upgrading my
> system
> from RedHat 5.2 to 6.0. So far I have been far less than
> impressed... I haven't seen any really compelling new FEATURES
> available to me, yet I have had to re-install KDE from scratch
> and deal with a host of other problems.
> One of the problems that I haven't been able to solve is
> my
> sound card (an ESS 1688 AudioDrive). As it stands right now...
> the sound works absolutely fine when I am logged in as root, but
> does not work at all when logged in as an ordinary user.
> Applications give me such error messages as "cannot open output
> device"... all leading me to the conclusion that my system no
> longer has it's permissions set for normal users to access the
> sound card.
> The only problem is, I have absolutely no clue whatsoever
> as to
> where I need to go, or what changes need to be made, in order to
> allow permissions of the sound card for everyone. Anyone else
> know the easy answer to this problem? Thanks!
You can either do
chmod 666 /dev/dsp* /dev/audio* /dev/midi* /dev/sequencer
or alternatively make a sound group (in /etc/groups), add whomever
you want to be able to use sound to them, chgrp the devices to it
and chmod them 660.
--
Adam C. Emerson [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.calvin.edu/~aemers19
"Why finish when you can start a new thing to half do?"
------------------------------
From: Jim Engstrom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: More Netscape errors.
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:20:12 +0200
Thats was the answer, little I was the mighty bug :-) Had not the right path in
the setup. Duh! do I feel me like IQ 0 now :-(
Sorry for that, next time shall I check that I,m not the bug before I complain on
Netscape.
Yepp, sorry for my bad spelling
/Jim
Sweden
Anita Lewis wrote:
> On Sun, 29 Aug 1999 21:49:23 +0200, Jim Engstrom <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >Ahhh!
> >First the java bug, then netscape tell java it�s 16bit and now did my
> >sent folder went to cyber hell. When I send a mail or message Netscape
> >say "Mail sent but can�t fine sent folder." Where shall the sent folder
> >live and waht shall it have for name.
> >I start to hate Netscape, do any other browser exist that runs under X
> >and can handle java?
> >
> You should be able to find your Sent mail in home/yourusername/nsmail. There
> is a file
> named Sent and it contains them all in one long file. That is assuming that
> you did not
> change where these files are. You can find that little piece of information by
> doing
> Edit/Preferences/Mail&Newsgroups/Mail Servers. Look at the bottom where it
> says Local
> mail directory and it will tell you where your files are.
>
> Anita
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Harold Stevens ** PLEASE SEE SIG **)
Subject: Re: The Microsoft/Linux Conspiracy
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 20:46:00 GMT
In <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Jon Bloom:
[Snip...]
|> people running MS (Gates, Ballmer et al) are operating with a business
|> model that is marketing-driven, where quality is secondary to shipping
|> "new" products (including new OS versions).
I view this as the "smokestack industry" model which MS and others are in an
extraordinarily difficult position continuing; witness the machinations they
are attempting with UCITA. Software is not just a bunch of bits burnt onto a
CD-ROM you then shrinkwrap and pander under an outrageous license (EULA). In
an internet world, you get these mere bits, or increasingly competitive free
bits, at servers worldwide. They're there freely, and immediately.
Consumers pay in terms of sweat equity, rather than cash, either way.
MS knows, with increasing desperation: you can't compete on *sales* alone in
increasingly *service* oriented markets. It's similar to US steelmakers, and
their automotive pals in the '60s. Chrome plated junk nobody's interested in
*servicing* is not going fare well in a free market flooded with inexpensive
and better quality imports. I had an LOL experience when I read MS was going
to ask developers to pay for beta copies of Win2K and then debug for them.
This is an increasingly *service* economy now, not a *production* one.
|> And if your purpose is to maximize profit, that's an excellent model.
|> Most people using computers today have no experience with systems other
|> than DOS/Windows. Their expectations don't include secure, stable
|> systems, so why should a company like MS bother to deliver such? Which
|> explains why MS systems are crappy: they don't need to be otherwise to
|> be successful in the market.
I feel they are prisoners of their inflated stock options and Wall Street.
They know this market is evolving, and they will adjust or die. They are one
quarter away at any time from Wall Street wreaking havoc because they missed
a bogus earnings prediction by a couple of cents a share. Compaq, anybody?
|> The way to change that is to change people's expectations. And Linux is
|> helping to do that, I think.
[Snip...]
True; however, that's not to say MS is all stupid or complacent about it. We
have every indication they actively consider serious many "threats" to their
revenue stream, including Open Source generally and Linux especially. That's
made very clear in the Halloween Documents for at least one example. And you
might find this interpretation interesting:
http://www.securityportal.com/coverstory.html
--
Regards, Weird (Harold Stevens) * IMPORTANT EMAIL INFO FOLLOWS *
Pardon the bogus email domain (dseg etc.) in place for spambots.
Really it's (wyrd) at raytheon, dotted with com. DO NOT SPAM IT.
Standard Disclaimer: These are my opinions not Raytheon Company.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kaz Kylheku)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system
Subject: Re: why not C++?
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:51:53 GMT
On 30 Aug 1999 13:16:37 -0700, Don Waugaman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>,
>NF Stevens <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Don Waugaman) wrote:
>
>[ snipped - null references not allowed, and I moved the question below
>to before the program for the sake of readability ]
>
>>Which part of the this program is not strictly
>>conforming?
>
>>#include <cstdio>
>
>>char *GetAddress (char &c)
>>{
>> return &c;
>>}
>
>>int main (void)
^^^^ that ANSI C syntactic kludge is not needed in C++
>>{
>> char *p = NULL;
>> printf ("%p\n", GetAddress (*p));
> ^^ deref'ing a NULL pointer
Another thing: the %p conversion specifier requires a void * type,
not char *.
>> return 0;
>>}
>
>This program dereferences a NULL pointer where I've noted above. It is
>legal by the standard for the compiler to pass the address from p through
>to create the reference parameter c because p cannot be NULL in a
>strictly conforming program - dereferencing a NULL pointer is undefined
>behavior and illegal in a strictly conforming program.
So the program isn't strictly conforming. Big deal? Strict conformance is
largely a theoretical notion. Note that in order to be strictly conforming, a
program must also meet all of the minimum implementation limits, and
must not make use of any extensions whatsoever. Most real-world applications
aren't strictly conforming.
The practical consideration is that compilers will not statically diagnose the
null pointer dereference. The program may not be strictly conforming, but it
is free of diagnosable constraint violation.
Most run-time systems won't catch it either, because the resulting
l-value is not written through.
The program clearly demonstrates that references can be misused, just like
pointers.
The only safety advantage of references is that they must be initialized:
int x;
int * const p; // okay, uninitialized pointer
int &r; // error, should be &r = x
However, the initialization can be abused to produce a bad reference, like the
initialization of the c parameter in the GetAddress function above.
And the ``no reseating'' property can be arrange in a pointer by
const qualification, so no advantage there in favor of references.
What about this?
int main()
{
int &p = new int;
delete &p;
// p continues to be used
p = 42;
}
Maybe null references are contrived, but using pointers as well as references
to objects that no longer exist is a real C++ problem that occurs in practice.
It's possible for functions to return references to local objects, or for
references to continue to exist after an object has been destroyed.
Thus, in the final analysis, C++ references can suffer from all of the same
errors that their pointer cousins fall victim to.
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Chris Campbell)
Subject: Sound Blaster 16 PNP in RH6
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 1999 21:11:44 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hi,
I have the following setup:
Red Hat 6.0 (Hedwig) from CheapBytes
SoundBlaster 16 PNP sound card.
NOTE: Don't bother using sndconfig with this card, it's broke.
This is what I did to get it to work.
1. I got my values from Windows98. It was setting up the card at:
INT0 IRQ5
DMA 0 Channel 1
DMA 1 Channel 5
IO 0 Base 0x220
IO 1 Base 0x330
IO 2 Base 0x388
Then in Linux, I did the following steps, all as root, all from the
command line.
2. Run: pnpdump > /etc/isapnp.conf
3. Edit: vi /etc/isapnp.conf
In the first section of this file are three or four lines, all
consisting of keywords in parenthesis, all but one uncommented. Leave
the one commented, and add:
(VERIFYLD N)
Then scan down the file looking for the following lines, and uncomment
them by removing the # at the front:
(INT 0 (IRQ 5 (MODE +E)))
(DMA 0 (CHANNEL 1))
(DMA 1 (CHANNEL 5))
(IO 0 (BASE 0x0220)
(IO 1 (BASE 0x0330)
(IO 2 (BASE 0x0388)
Then scroll all the way down to the end of that section till you find
the (ACT Y) for it and uncomment it. Note that there are actually at
least four individual sections for this card, one for the sound stuff,
one for the game port, one for the IDE port, and one for reserved.
Each section may have more than one internal section. The sound
section has one sub-section for using both DMAs, one that only uses
one DMA, one that uses no DMAs and so on. Each section starts with a
(CONFIGURE CTL......
line, and ends with an
(ACT Y)
))
After you have uncommented out the sound stuff (you may also want to
uncomment the game port section, I believe it's got a IO base address
of 0x0100, but this I'm not sure about.
Now reboot your system.
You should now have no more failures.
Note that this is what I did on MY system, it may not work on yours. I
only have the one PNP card, if you have others it may not work. I
don't guarantee anything.
Chris
--
Chris Campbell
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://members.xoom.com/tech33/
Tech33 on the IRC
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Phil Hunt)
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.development.apps,comp.os.linux.development.system
Subject: Re: why not C++?
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 99 22:34:13 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> My point was that he's added even more pointless and obscure things to C++
> such as reference variables. What the hells the point of those when you
> already have pointers? Also overloading the << and >> to produce a less
> powerfull (for most things) I/O system than *printf and *scanf and to
> produce confusing statements like "cout << 2 << 3". In general IMO
> operator overloading produces impossible to follow code and the syntax for
> declaring an overloaded operator is a joke as are other things such as
> class inheritance. Also why give constructor functions the same name as the
> class and make destructors have a tilda in front? Even worse the copy
> function is the same as the constructor except it takes an argument!
> Whats wrong with constructor() , destructor() and copy() for chrissake??
> I could go on but whats the point. C++ is a dogs dinner like I said before.
Since you feel like that, may I suggest you design something better.
--
Phil [EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
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