Joe:
I here you on that, but for many RedHat users it goes against
the idea of even using RPMs if your going to mix it with tar balls.
Personally, I for one do not install software not in RPM format, unless
it's a kernel patch of some sort.
For me it is simply a matter of time. I have so little time in
my week that for me to risk braking things that are not easy to back out
of, that is a major hassle. So, making RPMs is a good thing. Also, as I
understand it an RPM ought to work on SuSE as well as RedHat. If not,
that is the fault of an alternative distribution maker. RedHat RPMs work
fine on Mandrake, and a few other RPM based distributions. So, SuSE must
be gumming things up.
For me I use Solaris only on a sun workstation when I need it
for work I am doing, otherwise I run RedHat, since my disk space is
limited, and I am only needing one version of Linux to get the scripting
and other things I am doing done.
Aside from all that, I am very glad we can work together to
write RPMs for this, it will be helpful to many RedHat users. I would be
happy to be an active beta tester for the RPM stuff. Please remember,
that I am going to be upgrading from RH 7.2 to 7.3 (not that it ought to
impact RPMs though).
I am not saying that MUSCLE belongs in the kernel, if it is a
loadable module which can easily be compiled to work on most Linux
systems, that does in and of itself have an advantage of not having to
recompile the kernel for the purpose of adding support, so we are agreed
on that.
If what I have is a GEMPLUS GPR400, then does MUSCLE support it
with a DOD CAC card or the IBM smartcard?
Tonight I will start to work on getting my laptop ready to have
RedHat back on it again.
Have a great day!
Very Respectfully,
Stuart Blake Tener, IT3 (E-4), USNR-R, N3GWG
Beverly Hills, California
VTU 1904G (Volunteer Training Unit)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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JOIN THE US NAVY RESERVE, SERVE YOUR COUNTRY, AND BENEFIT FROM IT ALL.
Wednesday, June 05, 2002 5:36 PM
-----Original Message-----
From: Joe Phillips [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 12:40 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: 'Linux Smartcard'
Subject: RE: MUSCLE pcsc-lite-1.1.0
On Wed, 2002-06-05 at 15:18, IT3 Stuart Blake Tener, USNR-R wrote:
> Of course, the easiest way to deploy software in a RedHat
> environment is if such software is distributed in an RPM format. Given
> the choice of an installation, using RPM format distribution
> methodologies; I would of course be desirous of having that choice.
of course, but the most portable way is via tarball (eg. *.tar.gz)
I personally use Debian, Redhat, OpenBSD and Solaris. The tarball
source works on these platforms while the Redhat RPM will only work on
one.
The pcscd RPM on the MUSCLE site is for SuSE and doesn't work on my
Redhat 7.2 system. It should be easily ported.
I guess what I'm getting at is what's convenient for you is not
convenient for all.
> I am perfectly willing to spend some time testing this stuff,
> but this is not possible for at least a few more days.
Great. let us know when you're ready for an RPM and at that point, I'll
work to build one.
> Out of curiosity, has any move been made to make the MUSCLE
> drivers an integrated part of the kernel source?
MUSCLE doesn't belong in the kernel IMO. As for the GPR400 kernel
driver, yes, I got in touch with the Linux pcmcia-cs maintainer, David
Hinds late last year. He said he considered a smartcard reader to be a
special-purpose device and so the driver doesn't belong in the base
distribution.
With that, I patched the driver source to meet his suggested archive
format so it would easily integrate with the base distro for those that
desired to include it. It really is trivial to add the GPR400 kernel
driver to the pcmcia-cs build.
In any case, I will try to make a Redhat 7.x compatible RPM for the
driver. You can help me test the RPMs. We will release them back to
the community.
> Now you are bringing up something I did not realize! You mention
> there is a model number for the "smartcard" vice the "reader"!
Yes, all 'smartcards' are not created equal. They can (and usually do)
have different features/capabilities/protocols in order to use them.
For example, in my own posession, I have at least 7 unique vendor/models
of smartcards. You will have at least 2 (IBM card & the DOD card.)
> I was
> told that the reader is some sort of "GEMPLUS400" or something, and
that
> it can use any of the cards that there are drivers for.
Yes, it is a Gemplus GPR400.
> Now the
> smartcard I intend to use with this reader for the most part (in the
> future once I have one) is the DOD CAC card that I will get as I am a
> Navy Reservist. However, for testing purposes to assure that the
driver
> and hardware are working I have no problem to make use of the
smartcard,
> which came with the reader.
see previous email re docs.
-joe
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