Linux-Misc Digest #532, Volume #27 Wed, 4 Apr 01 19:13:02 EDT
Contents:
t2 just a test (Peter Shankey)
Re: I would like to register a complaint ... ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
Re: I would like to register a complaint ... (hoffmyster)
Re: Commercial Distro with 2.4?? When?? (John Collier)
Re: The Python is so powerful, easy to use? compared with C++ (Hun)
Re: What are servers/services ? (John Hasler)
Re: Problems installing qmail ("Steve Wolfe")
nslookup ok but can't ping (or net browse) (Pumpkinhead)
Re: Intel CA810E (Bart Schaefer)
Re: I would like to register a complaint ... (Grant Edwards)
display problems and other good stuff... (Ivan Su)
Re: what 'language' to learn (Grant Edwards)
Re: The Python is so powerful, easy to use? compared with C++ (Grant Edwards)
Re: I would like to register a complaint ... (Yvan Loranger)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Peter Shankey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: t2 just a test
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 21:12:52 GMT
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: I would like to register a complaint ...
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 21:28:23 GMT
hoffmyster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> I do appreciate the responses to my supposed dilemma of trying to
> "format" a partition in Linux.
> I now realize that there IS NO equivelent in Linux. The reason for
> this apparently is because the ext2 fs is so much of a different
> animal than the FAT fs. The most obvious differnce is the use of
> superblocks by ext2.
Nonsense. There most certainly _are_ near equivalents. There's no
point to touching the "superblocks" comment; I'd consider that
superblocks add robustness to ext2 that you don't get with FAT, but
that's as far as it should go.
> The DOS format command destroys everything then rebuilds the fs with
> whatever it needs.
.. Just as does mke2fs ...
> In Linux it appears the closest thing is rm -rf *. This wipes out
> all files and directories under the current directory without
> touching the filesystem, ie. superblocks, inodes, etc. Then you can
> write whatever you want back into the "empty" partition right away.
> Of course you wouldn't want to do this to a partition on the
> installation you have booted up in and are currently running. I am
> talking about "formatting" a partition on totally another hard drive
> that I mounted onto the current system.
You're still "off;" mkfs or mke2fs or mkfs.e2fs (all being pretty
related) are entirely analagous to the MS-DOS "FORMAT" command. There
are some additional options with mke2fs that weren't with FORMAT, but
they don't enter into your issue.
mke2fs is analagous to FORMAT, just as fdisk is analagous to the
MS-DOS "FDISK."
"rm -rf *" certainly _does_ touch the filesystem, as well as the
inodes; it is NOT in any reasonable way analagous to FORMAT; it is
instead analagous to the DOS command DELTREE.
Once you have run "rm -rf *", you do NOT have a blank partition. It
still has a filesystem, so it is manifestly NOT BLANK.
> By the way:
> The "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdxX" or "cat /dev/zero /dev/hdxX" IS
> NOT the way to do this because not only does it wipe out the
> superblocks but fills the entire partition with one huge file full
> of zeros that involves entirely something else to get rid of. BAD
> ADVISE, ERIC!!
You're misunderstanding this.
The "dd" command most certainly _does_ accomplish what you asked,
which was of how to "blank" a partition. After writing zeros into it,
it is blatantly obvious that it is "blank" by any reasonable sense of
the term.
"rm -rf *" doesn't give you a blank partition.
> mke2fs will restore the superblocks and build the inodes but will
> not destroy any data, so it by itself is not "formatting" a
> partition.
That's _ALL_ ludicrously false.
- mke2fs creates a _fresh_ set of superblocks.
- The superblocks will then point to a huge empty space and an initial
directory structure.
- Since the superblocks are initialized from scratch, as is the
initial directory structure, existing data on the partition may not be
overwritten, but as there are no longer filesystem pointers pointing
to those files, the existing data becomes inaccessible.
> Actually in Linux as it turns out doesn't need a "format" command
> because the mounted partition is in itself is a directory and you
> can just clear its data by deleting it files and subdirectories.
> The fs remains intack.
Again, ludicrously wrong.
A partition is _not_ a filesystem. A partition must be formatted to
have a filesystem on it; at that point, the _filesystem_ is attached
to some directory.
If you delete files from a particular filesystem, the overall format
does indeed remain "intact" or "consistent;" how that affects the data
is another question.
> I'll take back my complaint now but it sure was a learning
> experience trying to destroy my own data :-)
You still have a ways to go. If you act on the things you're claiming
are true, you're liable to run mke2fs and trash some filesystems that
you might have thought had data of value...
--
(reverse (concatenate 'string "gro.gultn@" "enworbbc"))
http://vip.hex.net/~cbbrowne/resume.html
"A LISP programmer knows the value of everything, but the cost of
nothing." -- Alan Perlis
------------------------------
From: hoffmyster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: I would like to register a complaint ...
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 17:42:39 -0400
Jeremiah DeWitt Weiner wrote:
> hoffmyster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> > The "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdxX" or "cat /dev/zero /dev/hdxX" IS NOT the way
> > to do this because not only does it wipe out the superblocks but fills the
> > entire partition with one huge file full of zeros that involves entirely
> > something else to get rid of.
>
> No, it doesn't. It fills the partition full of zeros. It does
> not fill it with "one huge file full of zeros". Since you have destroyed
> the metadata that makes it a filesystem, nothing in there is a "file" in
> any meaningful sense any more.
>
> Observe:
> chindi:~$ sudo mke2fs /dev/fd0
> mke2fs 1.15, 18-Jul-1999 for EXT2 FS 0.5b, 95/08/09
> (regular mke2fs output)
>
> chindi:~$ sudo dumpe2fs /dev/fd0
> dumpe2fs 1.15, 18-Jul-1999 for EXT2 FS 0.5b, 95/08/09
> Filesystem volume name: <none>
> Last mounted on: <not available>
> Filesystem UUID: 7216ecce-e8cd-44dc-b576-5d01c558bda8
> (etc. It's a filesystem, with regular filesystem metadata.)
>
> chindi:~$ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/fd0
> dd: /dev/fd0: Input/output error
> 1009+0 records in
> 1008+0 records out
> (Sayonara, filesystem.)
>
> chindi:~$ sudo dumpe2fs /dev/fd0
> dumpe2fs 1.15, 18-Jul-1999 for EXT2 FS 0.5b, 95/08/09
> dumpe2fs: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/fd0
> Couldn't find valid filesystem superblock.
>
> Look at that...no more files, no nothing! Certainly not "one
> huge file full of zeros". While this may not be the behavior you wanted,
> it is undeniably one way to get rid of the files in the filesystem, and
> it does not require anything else to get rid of it either, although you
> will have to remake the filesystem. The difference is that the dd
> method actually overwrites the medium, whereas just a new mke2fs will
> make the files disappear from the filesystem, but not the medium. You
> owe Eric an apology; there's nothing wrong with his advice.
>
> JDW
Ok, did you try running mke2fs on the floppy to repair the fs and then to put
anything more onto the disk? Try putting a file of a size less than the floppy, of
course, but large enough to take up some space. If the disk is now "empty" you
should be able to do this, right? Try it and see if there is enough space on the
disk for the file.
After I performed this "dd" command using /dev/zero I had to figure out and
fix(mke2fs) what it did to my fs, which I wasn't warned about. I then tried to do
what I was able to do once before which was copy one partition to another. Guess
what? Almost as soon as the copy started it stopped and told me there was no space
left on the device. Well, according to you it should have been empty, right? It
wasn't.
Actually I owe Eric an apology for something else. It wasn't him who advised me on
using dd with /dev/zero. It was someone else. But Eric did advise me to use "cat
/dev/zero > /dev/hdxX" which would equally have gotten me in the mess I was in.
I used Eric because I still was peeved about the smartass tone of his response to
my post. I didn't deserve that.
RLH
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Collier)
Subject: Re: Commercial Distro with 2.4?? When??
Date: 4 Apr 2001 21:44:57 GMT
Michael Perry ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
: On Sun, 01 Apr 2001 22:25:13 GMT, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
: >Robert Love <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
: >> I've looked at stores nearby the last two weekends. All the big
: >> three, Red Hat, Mandrake and SUSE all are selling products based on
: >> 2.2 kernals. When will there be a commercial product based on 2.4?
: >> Anybody know?
: >
: <snip>
: >You can probably expect the _next_ release of Red Hat, SuSE, and such
: >to include a 2.4.x kernel.
: >--
: You can expect this release of SuSE to have the 2.4.x kernel with patches :)
: Check out www.suse.com if you want a distribution with the 2.4 kernel now.
: You can make debian 2.4 ready with some work. I kinda think that mandrake
: will beat redhat with a upgrade to have the 2.4 kernel included; but maybe
: not. I don't follow mandrake too closely though.
Mandrake 7.2 comes with 2.4, but it is clearly marked "experimental".
I am waiting for the next version.
--
John Collier Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Philosophy -- U. of Newcastle Fax: +61 49 216928
Callaghan, NSW, AUSTRALIA 2038 http://bcollier.newcastle.edu.au
http://www.newcastle.edu.au/department/pl/Staff/JohnCollier/collier.html
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Hun)
Subject: Re: The Python is so powerful, easy to use? compared with C++
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 21:54:15 GMT
I sense it's possible to replace the Java in Web programming after reading your
opinion. It is only my personal feeling.
Web server <- Python component -> Web brower
-> or Web enable application
I gonna learn the Python first. :)
On 4 Apr 2001 20:16:51 GMT, Elf Sternberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>In article <i0ty6.11133$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Hun) writes:
>
>>I have a guide book for the Python language. I bought it one month ago,
>>but not yet to try learn it. I read the introduction chapter of the
>>book today. "Five or eight times faster than using C++ to develop a
>>application" "Three months length of the Python programming normally
>>takes one year of C++ programming." If so, it would be the ultimate
>>programming language.
>
> I started programming in Python two weeks ago for a new job.
>I've been a Perl programmer since 1992.
>
> Python is everything it claims to be, much to my amazement.
>Yes, it's interpreted, but these days, getting more performance out of a
>machine involves throwing more hardware at it, not switching to another
>language. Python is mind-bogglingly easy to learn in and of itself; I
>frequently find that what's really hard about yet another procedural
>language is learning the library that surrounds it. Java is notorious
>for this; everyone claims "It's just as easy as C++," and it is, until
>you're faced with learning the ins and outs of Java's threading model,
>or its windowing model, or its I/O model.
>
> Python's thread model makes a lot of sense and seems very
>straightforward.
>
> I've also been working with WebWare, the Python Server Page
>Application Server. It took only an hour to hook it into apache, it's
>very fast even on my little Pentium-I 333, and it makes so much sense
>that I may abandon recommending JSP to any of my customers.
>
> Python has a database standard and supports Postgres, MySQL, and
>Oracle databases. I've worked with all three.
>
> It just blows my mind; I write web clients in minutes, a minimal
>Webserver took half an hour, a full-blown Webserver took only a little
>longer. The tools that come with it make Java look second-rate.
>
>>I normally use C and C++. When I read source code, to understand the
>>structure and basic ideas is most time consuming not the language
>>stuff. C/C++ is so difficult to use? Many developers around me just
>>giving up learning C/C++. They prefer Java, script languages or
>>4GL. Maybe they are smart or I'm dump head standing out of the
>>change. :(
>
> To be honest, I use Python for prototyping as much as I do for
>deployment. Python's model is close enough to C++ that, to an XP or
>UML programmer, it doesn't make much difference. You can write in
>Python and then move on to C++ if you want, although for many of the
>programs you might want to write, Python is straightforward.
>
>>Well, I'm considering learning a new language: perl either python. "8
>>times faster" still buzzing in my head. :)
>
> Python and Perl have very different philosophies. Perl's is
>"There's More Than One Way To Do It," and the language reflects this:
>there are three different ways of passing arguments to a function, there
>are two different ways of representing an array, there are a dozen
>different ways of working with a database. Python, in contrast, has a
>more CS-like credo: There's One Obvious and Right Way To Do It. Without
>being a bondage&discipline language like Ada, Python succeeds in making
>it simple to do the very hard things, and possible to do the impossible.
>
> Of course, that's just my opinion after working with the
>language for two weeks. I may change my mind again.
>
> Elf
>
>--
>Elf M. Sternberg, rational romantic mystical cynical idealist
>http://www.halcyon.com/elf/
>
>Fast food restaurants are like gay bathhouses in San Francisco,
>places where people go to engage in high-risk behaviors.
> - Greg Critser
--
Registered Linux user #207121
http://counter.li.org
------------------------------
From: John Hasler <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: What are servers/services ?
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 18:48:04 GMT
Arctic Storm writes:
> However, if you go to the Hurd section of GNU website, it says that Hurd
> is a collection of servers that run on the Mach microkernel. Servers?!
Yup. Server processes that provide "kernel" services to client processes.
> When you talk about the "X server", what is being served?
The display, keyboard, and pointer device of the machine the server is
running on. The protocol is the same whether the client is on the local
machine or halfway around the world.
> If you have a single, isolated computer running Linux & XFree86, how can
> you have a server?
By having a server process that provides services to client processes.
> The concept of a host system providing a service to a client system
> cannot apply here; no network.
Sockets is sockets. They work the same whether I connect to a port on
127.0.0.1 (the local machine) or 192.168.1.1 (the machine on the other side
of the room).
> How does a server/service pertain to a Daemon?
Orthogonal concepts, really.
--
John Hasler
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (John Hasler)
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI
------------------------------
From: "Steve Wolfe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Problems installing qmail
Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 15:53:17 -0600
> >I have had a look at the /usr/local/sbin/qmail script. Here it is:
>
> I run qmail on three or four systems. I've never seen any of
> that svc/svscan stuff before. Where did you get that script
> from?
Now that djbdns is out, and using svscan, Dan is touting it as a great way
to run all of your services, and it's being promoted as the best way to
start qmail. The debates on the qmail and djbdns lists pretty much fell
into two camps, the camp that saw the need to control the order of starting
(say, bringing up the network BEFORE you launch the mail server) services,
and the "I wanna be like Dan!" camp that would follow him over a cliff
without thinking.
An argument against svscan is that it will continually try and fork off
copies of failed services if they are unable to start up (config error,
etc..) Dan says that is "inexpensive", but on one of my lesser boxes, I've
seen ~60% of the CPU being taken up by a mangled installation of djbdns
being repeatedly initiated at an incredible rate under svscan.
I still use svscan for djbdns (as I'm too lazy to write the init scripts
for it), and on one machine, for qmail. But on all other machines, I still
use an init script for starting/stopping qmail. They've never died out
once, so I've never seen the need for continuous monitoring and respawns. I
like it when a failed initiation of a service stays dead, so I don't have to
do something like "ps -aef | grep dns" twice, and compare PID's, to see if
it's being restarted over and over.
steve
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Pumpkinhead)
Subject: nslookup ok but can't ping (or net browse)
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 22:02:52 GMT
if i can resolve a host shouldn't i be able to ping it? this is
happening on my windows box.
also lynx on my linux console can browse the same site using a host
name but windows cannot. they are both using the same nameserver.
------------------------------
From: Bart Schaefer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Crossposted-To: comp.os.linux.hardware
Subject: Re: Intel CA810E
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 22:11:38 GMT
Kurt wrote:
>
> I would appreciate any advice -- When the system is using large amounts of
> memory (256MB installed) and swapping data to the swap partition (1024MB
> configured), I get kernel panics. Whatever application panics (including
> swapper, cron, and probably mine too) dies after the panic.
KR wrote:
>
> The one with integrated video & ethernet. IDE drives &CD. PIII 866, 256MB.
> RH6.2 install OK, noticed the video driver problem so don't run X. Uptime
> 3+ weeks OK with light ftp and telnet usage. Then five minutes under a
> serious load (top says 99+% cpu usage as it's processing large image files)
> and it just hangs. Won't respond to ping. It's not the program crashing;
> the same tasks run fine on RH6.2 elsewhere in the lab. No messages on the
> console and don't know where else to look.
I'm having the same problem with a recently-upgraded machine, although I
don't actually get any report of kernel panic, and the system load does
not seem to matter either.
Please Cc any advice by e-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. About the
system with which I'm having trouble:
Originally a Micron Millenium; replaced motherboard with an Intel CA810E
with 733Mhz Celeron processor, onboard networking/audio/video. Video is
not in use (PCI video card added) because XFree86 3.3 doesn't support
it.
Ethernet module is eepro100. 512MB RAM, 1GB swap (I've tried both 8 of
the old 128MB partitions and one big new partition, makes no
difference.)
System stayed up for 6 days with 2.0.36 kernel (RedHat 5.2), no
problems.
Then was upgraded to RedHat 6.2, all latest packages installed with the
"up2date" utility, kernel became 2.2.17.
Since then the system has not stayed up for more than 4 days, with
average
of 2 days to failure. Even building and installing a 2.4.0 kernel has
not
helped.
Symptom of failure is that the machine locks up -- networking stops,
can't
use the consoles. There's some evidence that the OS is actually still
running for a while after such a lockup (e.g. cron still writes logs)
but
eventually everything stops, and of course with I/O impossible the
machine
has to be power-cycled anyway.
With the 2.2.17 kernel, /var/log/messages had:
kernel: eth0: card reports no resources.
usually repeated several times about 5 minutes before the system locked.
These messages have stopped with the 2.4.0 kernel, but the lockups are
still happening.
--
Bart Schaefer Brass Lantern Enterprises
http://www.well.com/user/barts http://www.brasslantern.com
Zsh: http://www.zsh.org | PHPerl Project: http://phperl.sourceforge.net
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: I would like to register a complaint ...
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 22:18:29 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, hoffmyster wrote:
>I now realize that there IS NO equivelent in Linux.
I still don't understand what you think the difference is
between mkfs and format.
>The reason for this apparently is because the ext2 fs is so
>much of a different animal than the FAT fs. The most obvious
>differnce is the use of superblocks by ext2.
non-sequitor
>The DOS format command destroys everything then rebuilds the fs
>with whatever it needs.
And so does mkfs.
>In Linux it appears the closest thing is rm -rf *.
That corresponds to "deltree" in DOS, not to "format".
>This wipes out all files and directories under the current
>directory without touching the filesystem, ie. superblocks,
>inodes, etc.
You can't wipe out files without touching the filesystem.
>By the way:
>
>The "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdxX" or "cat /dev/zero /dev/hdxX"
>IS NOT the way to do this because not only does it wipe out the
>superblocks but fills the entire partition with one huge file
>full of zeros that involves entirely something else to get rid
>of. BAD ADVISE, ERIC!!
Another non-sequitor. The above command will fill the partion
with zeros. At that point there are no files and indeed no filesystem.
You would need to do a mkfs to create a filesystem. At that
point you will have an empty filesystem, and all of the unused
data blocks on the disk will contain zeros.
>mke2fs will restore the superblocks and build the inodes but
>will not destroy any data, so it by itself is not "formatting"
>a partition.
You seem to be obsessed with overwriting all of the data
blocks. Why? Got top-secret nuclear weapons data there? Or
porn? If you want to over-write an entire partition, use dd as
instructed. If you want to over-write a specific file use
"wipe".
>Actually in Linux as it turns out doesn't need a "format"
>command because the mounted partition is in itself is a
>directory and you can just clear its data by deleting it files
>and subdirectories. The fs remains intack.
That statement makes no sense either.
>I'll take back my complaint now but it sure was a learning
>experience trying to destroy my own data :-)
If you want to destroy data, use "wipe" for a file, "dd" for a
partition (you need to do it several times with various write
patterns to be even minimally secure), or a thermite grenade.
If you'd explain what it is you want to do rather than ranting
about DOS and superblocks and FAT and whatnot, we could tell
you how to do it.
--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! The Osmonds! You are
at all Osmonds!! Throwing up
visi.com on a freeway at dawn!!!
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Ivan Su)
Subject: display problems and other good stuff...
Date: 4 Apr 2001 22:10:55 GMT
hey i'm having trouble changing the settings for my monitor, everything
works fine like the resolution and the size but the icons are just too big
and the application windows i open do not fit the screen, any
suggestions?
also, I've been using rogers cable at home, how will I setup internet
access in the linux os?
Thanks a lot folks...
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: what 'language' to learn
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 22:20:56 GMT
In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, andi wrote:
>I'm new to linux and want to make the best use of it (for admin rather
>than development)
>
>I'm on a limited budget and don't have huge ammounts of time.
>
>I'd be interested in learning one of the scripting/coding languages
>(eg C or Perl or somesuch) - but I'd be interested in people's
>opinions of what to learn.
Python and bash.
--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! Hmmm... a CRIPPLED
at ACCOUNTANT with a FALAFEL
visi.com sandwich is HIT by a
TROLLEY-CAR...
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Grant Edwards)
Subject: Re: The Python is so powerful, easy to use? compared with C++
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 22:23:43 GMT
In article <9afvfj$fv8$[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Elf Sternberg wrote:
> I started programming in Python two weeks ago for a new job.
>I've been a Perl programmer since 1992.
>
> Python is everything it claims to be, much to my amazement.
>Yes, it's interpreted, but these days, getting more performance out of a
>machine involves throwing more hardware at it, not switching to another
>language.
Many python apps spend most of their time in library functions
that are written in C anyway. People do serious numerical
analysis stuff in Python. The number-crunchy bits are nice and
fast because they're done by using extention modules written in C.
--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! Quick, sing me the
at BUDAPEST NATIONAL ANTHEM!!
visi.com
------------------------------
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Yvan Loranger)
Subject: Re: I would like to register a complaint ...
Date: 4 Apr 2001 22:44:40 GMT
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Yvan Loranger)
hoffmyster ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) writes:
> I do appreciate the responses to my supposed dilemma of trying to "format" a
> partition in Linux.
I can relate. It was a while before I discovered mke2fs & family [no
thanks to a book entitled Linux Config & Install which doesn't even
mention the subject, though it mentions mkswap!].
> I now realize that there IS NO equivelent in Linux. The reason for this
> apparently is because the ext2 fs is so much of a different animal than the FAT
> fs. The most obvious differnce is the use of superblocks by ext2.
NO NO NO NO NO NO NONO................
mke2fs (mkfs) & format are equivalent
It's like making 2 sandwiches, one buttered the other with margarine, one
on white the other with brown bread, one of crunchy peanut butter the
other of vege-pate with layered leaves of lettuce. BUT YOU'RE STILL MAKING
SANDWICHES!
> The DOS format command destroys everything then rebuilds the fs with whatever
> it needs.
msdos format does not destroy everything, only file-allocation-table & root
directory. Ever use the command UNFORMAT?
> In Linux it appears the closest thing is rm -rf *. This wipes out all files
> and directories under the current directory without touching the filesystem,
> ie. superblocks, inodes, etc. Then you can write whatever you want back into
> the "empty" partition right away. Of course you wouldn't want to do this to a
> partition on the installation you have booted up in and are currently running.
> I am talking about "formatting" a partition on totally another hard drive that
> I mounted onto the current system.
rm -rf is more like msdos deltree
[& the filesystem *is* touched, at the very least to record the changes!]
> By the way:
>
> The "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hdxX" or "cat /dev/zero /dev/hdxX" IS NOT the way
> to do this because not only does it wipe out the superblocks but fills the
> entire partition with one huge file full of zeros that involves entirely
> something else to get rid of. BAD ADVISE, ERIC!!
>
> mke2fs will restore the superblocks and build the inodes but will not destroy
> any data, so it by itself is not "formatting" a partition.
i obviously disagree; see above
> Actually in Linux as it turns out doesn't need a "format" command because the
> mounted partition is in itself is a directory and you can just clear its data
> by deleting it files and subdirectories. The fs remains intack.
The mounted partition is *not* a directory; it's just mounted at a
mount-point which for convenience's sake is a directory. Nuance.
--
Merci.........................Yvan Pour le plein air: Club Vertige
[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ncf.ca/vertige
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