Re: [SLUG] Virtual machine recommendations?
On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 12:48, Peter Hardy wrote: I need something able to run Windows XP Pro (that's the only current Windows licence I have). I only plan on installing a single application, I read through the XP license that came with my Thinkpad recently. It says if I choose I can instead install a copy of Windows 2000 or 98SE. Perhaps that's particular to the OEM license provided for this machine, but it might be worth looking at your own license to see. Regards, Bret pgpM8mwdIlT2H.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Re: Virtual machine recommendations?
On Mon, 27 Mar 2006 16:18, Matt Palmer wrote: I suspect your interpretation may be at odds with that of Microsoft -- otherwise you could run a dozen qemu- or vmware-encased images simultaneously on the same (very, very chunky) computer legally, which I doubt is their intention. No. A copy is a copy, and licenses are licenses to make copies. That's why the licenses explicitly say you can make one backup - if they didn't, you couldn't make any backup. It's the number of copies you're granted (although there may be other terms, of course). It's copyright law - the license grants deviation from 'natural' circumstance, which is that no one but the author can make copies for any purpose. Regards, Bret pgpyWbiC5DjO1.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Linux user's group?
Again, I write in the Royal you. On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 17:21, tuxta2 wrote: If being a Free Software group means no rules at all, cause rules are not in the right spirit, does that make it okay for me to start sending links to porn sites I like? The society we choose to create and live in takes the authority to impose behaviors to ensure a peace-freedom balance. Hopefully. This is not the purview of a non-governmental Linux User's Group. A short way of saying it is no one asked you to (no offense, it's just true). You can find ridiculous extremes in any direction without them necessarily being appropriate. Just because the words are strung together, that doesn't give the thought relevance. And I have no problem with this group/mailing list enforcing rules for posting, although as a separate issue, if they didn't enforce them equally or in some other way didn't do what they said they were I know I'd think less of 'them'. My questions look elsewhere, however. Society imposes rules. But this is about an agreement. You (this group) said the group is about Linux. Linux is the only software family in this group's name. This group didn't say it's a Software Hobby Group, or an Alternatives to Windows Software Group, or a Unix Clone Software Group. It says it's a Linux User's Group. The group says this publically. Linux is a copyrighted term. There are licenses and laws that define how 'Linux' can be used, and they apply. So what does it mean, that this is a Linux User's Group, and not some other sort of User's Group? I'm focused on one aspect particularly, which I realized while considering the RTFM discussion. Some people have no problem with it. Others do. The ones who do aren't just refraining from saying it themselves - they want to impose their view on the others. They aren't just deciding for themselves, they are taking it on themselves to decide for others, and their justification at the root for taking away other's choice includes that this is THE Sydney Linux User's Group. (We advocate Linux and spread it's message, and to do this we need to...etc.) Microsoft hasn't monopolized the software industry at the point of a gun - they did it at the point of a namespace. Their approach has been to get as many people as possible to think conmputer==Windows. And they twisted arms (economically) illegally to do it - that's where some aspects of the anti-competitive court convictions come in. They were (are?) willing to hurt other people in order to make things come out their way (bankruptcy hurts, loss of the only chance in a limited lifetime to realize a dream hurts, family pain and fighting over money problems damages marriages - the harm is real - and Microsoft lied and cheated to do it). To control namespace, to control discourse, is to control minds. Microsoft has real money in the bank for anyone who wants to scoff at this. And I see this group wants to take the Linux namespace, at least in Sydney. After reading the messages about who gets to say RTFM, I began to wonder if this group is actually interested in upholding the philosophy that comes with that name. Linux is GPL Free Software - it is, read the license. This group didn't write it, doesn't own it, but you're taking on the name - should you? Are you really about Linux? To be about Linux means to be about Free Software. If you aren't, leave the name for another group that is - maybe they're willing to back it up. And maybe you think you are? Are you? If this is about free beer, it's not about Linux. If you're going to impose sanctions on people, I think you'd better have your own house quite in order. I think that. So I'm asking, I want to hear people's thoughts - is this really about GPL Free Software Linux? It's not what you say it is, it's what the copyright holder says it is - that is certain. Free Software is against the censorship of software - is censoring people consonant with that? If you change the name to (say) Helpful Newbie Software Group, I could accept the argument that it would be. But you're appropriating the Linux colors for your flag. You are trading on the Linux name and meaning. So, is the THE Sydney Linux User's Group? Do you advocate what Linux stands for? Or should the name be something else? I am writing this to the list. Reply to the list, please, out where everyone can see it. Regards, Bret pgpwnu31xyhsX.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Linux user's group?
On Sat, 25 Mar 2006 01:25, Jeff Waugh wrote: This isn't censorship. I'm surprised you don't think telling people what they can and can't say is censorship. Telling people what they can and can't say is censorship. It isn't censorship because you do or don't have a good motivation, it's censorship because it involves telling others what not to say. Doing it under the mantle of a Linux User's Group associates Linux with that censorship. And you are claiming you are doing this for the sake of the LUG. That caught my attention - is that attempted censorship really in line with Linux's intent? In the news here is a report of a student commiting suicide because she was hounded with txt messages from bullies - do you mean to suggest all the messages saying don't say RTFM aren't intended to have some effect? Telling people not to say something is, at least attempted, censorship. The word means what it means. I don't question the positivity of your desire to help newbies, and I can understand wanting to promote a particular atmosphere to foster that. You are claiming that you represent Linux, that you promote it (this is a LUG), and you are also using that as the basis for a claim that you can tell people what they can and can't say. You have your arguments, having to do with your ideas about how newbies should and shouldn't be supported. You say you are doing this because it helps promote Linux with newbies. I'm not so certain that the end justifies the means, here. I can think of many ways to deal with comforting newbies that don't include telling others what they can and can't say. Perhaps you can't, but I'm not sure that's really a good reason to tell other people how to represent themselves. Perhaps if you are uncomfortable with what someone else says it should be on you to do the extra work of balancing that to achieve the outcome you want. Then it's all voluntary, on your part and on the (hypothetical) newbie's if they want you to balance things for them. If you want something, maybe you should be the one that changes what he's doing? That's not what you are proposing, though. That's what I'm curious about. I like it when people back what they say, so I notice such things, and I think about them. I see Linux as being about removing limits, not imposing them. Linux is about volunteers., about the freedom to do things, try things, change things I don't see your choice as promoting Linux. I do see it being about imposing the consequences of your limits on others. I have no problem using RTFM in a conversation, even with a newbie, even with my parents (who I support remotely - my father didn't finish High School, and he's beginning to diagnose Linux problems on his own). I can handle RTFM, and explaining RTFM, in a way that makes people laugh, even when someone else has said it. You can't do that? Instead of telling others they can't say something? Are you sure? Regards, Bret pgp22sznHTO2p.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Linux user's group?
On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 22:43, James Purser wrote: snip useless anti MS drivel useless and drivel, eh? Thanks for that opinion. When I last lived in Sydney, I shared a house with several other fellows. We got on well for several months, although this one who arrived after me had rather poor manners - he was the center of his universe. And then I found out he and another fellow were using speed - methamphetamines. At the same time there were several stories in the news about how drive-by shootings among some drug gangs had caught some bystanders as well. Why were those gangs shooting at each other? Money. If it wasn't for the money to be had, they wouldn't be competing for the market. So, those two people in that house were paying others to shoot at each other, and hit bystanders instead. No money, no shooting. Just because they only thought of themselves, that doesn't change the effect. The link is real. No money, no shooting. Why do you think MS is still around? They are convicted now in several countries of cheating and breaking the law. Do you think they do it out of altruism? It's the money. If people don't give them money, they will go away. If MS goes away, there will be a HUGE effect on Linux, and the Unixes, and Apple, etc. And if people took into account the effect of their spending on their neighbors in their community, there would be a huge effect on Linux, the Unixes, and Apple, etc. I won't pay money to criminals - they just keep coming back. So, it's useless, and drivel, eh? Nasty words. How do you reckon so? Since you passed that judgement on me, perhaps you'd care to justify those words? In public, where you wrote them. If you've thought it through, and are correct, it should be easy to write it down where we can all decide what we think of your argument ourselves. Regards anyway, Bret pgp5vqtqdXrx0.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] Linux user's group?
I will use the Royal you in writing this. It's not referring just to Visser, Martin, but to all the readers. On Fri, 24 Mar 2006 08:40, Visser, Martin wrote: Huh? When did this thread become a debate on the definition of Free or Open Source Software? When this group decided to advertise itself as a Linux user's group. Linux is GPL, not Open Source. Open Source allows restriction, GPL works decidedly against restriction - they are aligned by accident in some ways, and diametrically opposed in others. Linux came in on the GPL Free Software side - not the Open Source side - that's the philosophy and the license chosen. Linus was not bamboozled into this - he's smart and made his choice consciously - and he chose Free Software. He's the founder and the copyright holder - perhaps we know his philosophy about Linux from this? Open Source is an industry initiative, and allows restrictive licenses that allow reading the code, but not using it except at the company's terms. GPL Free Software explicitly prevents all restriction, except the reverse restriction that you can't use Free Software unless you make it free to everyone. Pretending they are the same does not make them the same - and doesn't provide an excuse for conflating them, either. Misappropriation of Free Software is just as unethical and illegal as software published under any other license - or your laws and your courts are dishonest and meaningless. So, since this group advertises itself as a Linux user's group - and Linux is completely Free Software, not Open Source (Linux being the kernel, although many surrounding packages are also GPL), I wondered if telling people they can't say certain things is really in the spirit of Linux. Copyright law holds that code is speech. It is an expression of thought, like a poem. The person that says it naturally owns it. I can't publish your writing over my name - I didn't say it, you did. I can't decide how it's used - it's yours. And I can't use code you wrote - unless you say I can, by granting me a license. Open Source software allows censorship of ideas - you can read the code, but may not be granted a license to use it (that is, say it yourself in your own pursuits). Free Software at it's core intends to make sure everyone can use code published under it's license, and no one can say no, you can't use those ideas unless you (pay me and behave in certain ways, usually). Free Software is deliberately opposed to Open Source - read their philosophy. So, as this group calls itself a Linux user's group, I was curious about how they hold the idea of Free Software, and how they support it or don't. Curtailing speech is consonant with Open Source (restrictive licenses welcome) but is it in line with Free Software (restrictive licenses not allowed)? If the group is actually promoting Linux, then they are promoting Free Software - as that's what Linux is and is about. Ask Linus. If the group couldn't care less about the philosophy of Linux (which is Free Software, not Open Source), should it promote itself as a Linux User's Group? Perhaps it should be an Open Source Software Group, or a Cheap or No Cost Software Group. Do you have a claim to the term 'Linux' if you don't actually hold to the Free Software philosophy? Are you flying under false colors, using someone else's image as your own? And is telling people they can't say certain things consonant with Free Software - with the approach, with the philosophy? You can have group rules that limit people's behavior in participation in the group, but are you really a Linux user's group philosophically - do you walk the talk? Is this about Free Software, because Linux is about Free Software - it says so in no uncertain legal terms. I'm wondering about this, and thinking about it, and so I posed the question to see what people have to say, to see if they've thought about it. I posted this to the list, please reply on the list. Regards, Bret pgpoSU9PUqm7d.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: Not the place for RTFM [Was: [SLUG] Fedora Core 5]
On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 19:44, Lindsay Holmwood wrote: On 3/22/06, O Plameras [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: You should just leave the policy making to the Slug Committee. Your time is over. Speaking on behalf of the committee, we side with Jeff's assessment of proper etiquette on the Slug list. Speaking as an observer, considering joining SLUG, I'll say that I saw Jeff descending into oh, yeah? type responses myself. And I was not impressed when he didn't write something like: We discussed this in meeting, and decided on the SLUG position and it's ___ or You can find the written guidelines here __ Nothing I read in his messages gave me reason to know that this was anything more official than a strongly held personal opinion, used as an attack. As for the committee's opinion, what about the membership's? Was this voted on? That would be legitimate - but you haven't mentioned that, either, I notice. It might be so, but no one is saying that, so I'll admit I'm wondering a bit about the culture of this LUG now. Regards, Bret pgpX6pF1BP7Gh.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: FW: [SLUG] Fedora Core 5
On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 20:10, Jeff Waugh wrote: Much of the friendliness part of it comes from phrasing and manner. RTFM is not friendly or helpful. Directing someone towards relevant documentation is a really good way of helping. Telling them to read the fucking manual [1] is insulting. No, it's not. I will accept you read it that way. I'll accept that some other people read it that way. I don't accept that it is. That is in the mind of the reader. It can be intended that way, but it isn't inherently intended that way. If you can't see that, I see a fixation in your viewpoint, like someone who can't accept anyone saying 'damn' in public. But I don't see it's inherent to the term. I have no difficulty sharing the joke in RTFM with my friends, including the non-computer savvy ones. There's an aspect of personal self-comfort and maturity that allows people to not take everything personally - I'm happy to say I have friends like this. You can say how it is for you as much as you like - but you are definitely not speaking for everyone, and I'm glad you're not speaking for most of the people in my life. I find it is legitimate and worthwhile to expect people to grow into tolerance, rather than downsize my own approach to match the least common denominator - and stay there. You being insulted is not the same as everyone being insulted - you aren't that universal. My own friends show me this daily. Regard, Bret pgpt6kL1jaBQW.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: Not the place for RTFM [Was: [SLUG] Fedora Core 5]
On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 21:01, Jeff Waugh wrote: quote who=Bret Comstock Waldow Nothing I read in his messages gave me reason to know that this was anything more official than a strongly held personal opinion, used as an attack. As for the committee's opinion, what about the membership's? Was this voted on? That would be legitimate - but you haven't mentioned that, either, I notice. There have been long discussions about this in the past. You can see the list guidelines here: And after several messages, this is the first time you've provided this pointer. Perhaps it should have been the first thing? However... http://www.slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html#q8 It might be so, but no one is saying that, so I'll admit I'm wondering a bit about the culture of this LUG now. Suggestions of positivity cause you to wonder? :-) I've looked back over the messages, and the ones that gave me pause weren't yours. My apologies. Regards, Bret pgpQOj2SwkBdK.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Fedora Core 5
On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 06:19, tuxta2 wrote: Rather than try and decide who is right and who is wrong on this issue, why don't we just understand that opinions vary, and why don't we find a term that essentially means the same thing, but does not have the insulting effect? Implicit in this is that you must decide upon a goal, about which you can then hopefully agree on a method of attaining (e.g. we can say RTFM or we can't say RTFM). Then you have to agree to enforce the decision in this context. Then you have to decide to exclude people who don't agree with either the goal or the approach to attaining it. Then you have to decide how to sanction people who don't act in accordance with your choice. Free Software is not Open Source Software. While they have some aspects in common, they are fundamentally opposed in others. OSS allows proprietary code - Free Software is deliberately opposed to it. FS acknowledges the existence of proprietary code, but works to supplant it's influence by providing a permanent alternative. OSS is code censorship - you can read my ideas (source code), but you can't use them (my copyright and often an exclusionary license). FS attempts to eliminate all possible censorship - no one can ever lock this code up again. No one can ever tell you you can't write this (my copyright, enforceable in court, and a license that allows anyone to use it, also enforceable in court, as long as any copyright law is enforceable in court). GNU/Linux is released under the GPL - it is totally Free Software, and many of the packages commonly used with GNU/Linux (which is just the kernel) are also GPL. Some are OSS. But Linux itself is Free Software - enforced in court, if necessary. Linus Torvalds is neither unconscious nor stupid. So, is this a Linux user's group? Is it just a I want my software for no $$ group? The hard bit about Freedom is giving it to others, even when you don't like what they are doing. The hard bit about Freedom is NOT controlling others. Freedom != 0$ I wonder if people do what they say. I like to note how well they keep to their principles. Yes, you can decide to have an association with these rules or those rules or some other rules. But are you sure the rules you're thinking of are really in the spirit of Free Software? LInux is not Open Source - it's Free Software, and consciously so, for a purpose. Is this really a GNU/Linux user's group? Should you call this the Sydney Open Source Software Group or the Sydney Alternative Software User's Group, but leave 'LUG' for people who know and respect that GNU/Linux is GPL Free Software, not Open Source, and opposed to censorship in it's intent? Are you flying under false colors? I expect any number of justifications in response. This is responding to the list - responses go to the list. Do not send mail to me directly. Regards, Bret pgpNkQURrSGH3.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Fedora Core 5
On Thu, 23 Mar 2006 17:28, tuxta2 wrote: I find your comments interesting and thought provoking, however I believe what you read was not what I wrote. My apologies for that. I was indeed writing to the Royal you - and not you personally. I was writing to the people who are thinking they are the SLUG, and especially the ones who want to constrain others. I wanted them all to think about this. They didn't write the software they are using as the basis for their organization and their claim to authority. (Well, maybe some of them did - but then they GPL'd it.) I hadn't thought this through myself, but I'll have it in mind from now on. Regards, Bret pgpyaBzTBS7PU.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: FW: [SLUG] Fedora Core 5
On Wed, 22 Mar 2006 15:33, James Purser wrote: It is also a great indicator of the ability of the posters ability to deal with people who a) Might not have the same level of experience, b) may have a different opinion or c) may not be able to communicate as clearly. The sooner RTFM is trotted out the lower on a ranking of between 1 and 100 the users interpersonal skills can be rated. I'm not so sure I agree with your slant on this. You go on to list a ranking of how bad this is, but don't say what/why you would do instead. My own view has been that with Free Software, it's really on the user to voluntarily do their own work, asking when necessary, or for social reasons - but with an expectation that everyone else's time is valuable too, and that I should join in and help. So, rather than seeing this as a brush-off, I can see it as teaching a man to fish - the skills he picks up help everyone. There may be times it's not appropriate to say 'RTFM' to some people, but in this context I think he's writing to someone who knows his way around. 'RTFM' IS the right thing to do in many cases - even for a newbie (although that may not always be the right way to say it). Reading gets the vocabulary and starts getting appropriate questions. Regards, Bret pgp3ipwalfrBM.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] ubuntu/debian
On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:19, john gibbons wrote: Do you install Easyububtu as a complete OS or is it grafted onto already installed Ubuntu? Install Ubuntu first Install EasyUbuntu run EasyUbuntu EasyUbuntu does the rest Regards, Bret pgpvMehSMVrL5.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] ubuntu/debian
On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 17:03, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If anybody can point me in the right direction, much appreciated. Google automatix. This is a family of scripts that are provided to do all the extra setup for K/Ubuntu. I have seen messages in the ubuntu forum about amd64 versions. I haven't tried it, but reviews and messages about it look quite good. It does all the sort of things you are writing of, including adjusting your sources.list file for the required repositories. And let us know how it goes, please. (I'm running Gentoo, and about to move to Australia, so it will be a month or so before I'm back on broadband to try it myself). Regards, Bret -- Given the degree to which Americans distrust politicians, it boggles the mind that religious leaders would consign themselves to that particular circle of hell. - Alan Wolfe pgpdUxeuhtO6S.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Linux Installation Problems - Please Help
On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:20, Bolero wrote: Hello Everybody, I resend this email in text mode since somebody complaint about the first HTML version, which apparently could only be read in text mode incl. all formatting characters etc., additionally apparently loading your server unnecessarily due to HTML mode. I am new to Linux (RH C4) and after some weeks of stuffing around to get even the basics working, I am asking for help. My advice is to ditch Red Hat. When it works, it works like anything that works. When it doesn't, it is too arcane to figure out and fix what isn't working. Red Hat, for example, doesn't follow the common Linux approach of accepting kernel updates as a way to fix bugs, which is half of why kernels get updated. Instead Red Hat back patches the kernel they shipped, so their software is only compatible with itself. Other aspects of their setup are specific only to Red Hat. This make it a pain to work through problems, as many of the details are known only to Red Hat experts. I know everyone using Red Hat will scream, but I've gone from SuSE, through two versions of Red Hat, to Debian, and now Gentoo (I hack to fix things the way I want, so I choose a distro that's designed for hacking - Gentoo might not be best for beginners.) Try Ubuntu or Kubuntu. They are specifically aimed at newcomers, and work very well out of the box. You could get the livecd via your Windows connection, and try it on your hardware to see how well it does. As well, Knoppix also will let you try your hardware out before installing. I set up the Red Hat Enterprise Servers at work, and built our software installation package for them (not properly - management wasn't interested in spending the time unfortunately). One thing I found was that if I didn't install mySQL at first, it couldn't be added later. Only after several years during which the term rpm hell was coined did Red Hat get around to coming up with a different package management tool -yum to make up for failures in their initial approach. If the rpm system worked, there would have been no reason to create yum. Problem 1 – ADSL Connection The installation program does not ask me to setup my network connection, which I tried under ‘Setup Internet Connection’ as well as ‘Network’. My modem is not listed and that’s were the trouble starts. Somebody advised that I should setup the connection using DHCP instead of PPPoA DHCP is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. It is a message passing standard so that two network devices can talk to each other - one requesting and the other granting a network IP address. DHCP will do nothing to negotiate the ADSL connection to your provider. If you have a combination DSL modem AND DHCP server, then your computer would connect to that and use DHCP to negotiate it's connection TO THE MODEM/DHCP SERVER - but the computer in that case has no knowledge of or involvement in the DSL connection. The connection to your ISP is DSL. You write that the modem has both USB ethernet connections - does the modem documentation say it can provide a DHCP server? If it only has the one ethernet connector, then it can only provide that service for one computer anyway (without you doing some fairly arcane work setting up bridging, etc., which is definitely not newbie territory). To share a single Internet connection among several computers, you have to have a router somewhere in the chain to aggregate the connections and translate the addresses. If the device you have has only one ethernet connection, it's very unlikely it's a router. My router itself can use my modem (two distinct devices here) to set up a DSL connection. However, if I connect the modem directly to my computer, either by USB or ethernet, my computer must use PPPoE (or variant) to drive the connection. So, does your device have more than one ethernet connector? Forget the USB stuff - that's a single dedicated connection - only if it has more than one ethernet connector might it be a router, in which case the DHCP stuff, etc. might come into play. Problem 2 – Monitor Resolution The only resolution that works is the monitor’s native one, i.e. 1280x1024. How important is it to you to switch resolutions? You don't get text the way you like it by switching resolutions - you set up the DisplaySize variable and then pick your fonts the way you like them. You might have other reasons to switch resolutions, but I'll suggest that's the wrong approach to take to fix fonts you don't like. Higher resolution means the fonts can be rendered with more pixels, making them smoother. Getting the right size is best approached differently. So, do you know that you have some other reason to switch resolutions, or do you simply want to make your fonts the way you want? We must give different advice for the different cases. Problem 3 – Audio Get a live CD for Ubuntu or Knoppix and try booting
Re: [SLUG] Re: [SCLUG] Re: Interesting view
On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 20:47, Bohdan S wrote: I dont like how all these Linux users bag Windows S much. Microsoft is convicted in US Federal Court of using unlawful pressure (economic extortion) to control the market. It's a crime, and they knew it was before they did it. If they were honest people I'd give them equal standing, but I don't like thieves: http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/cases/f3800/msjudgex.htm If Microsoft goes out of business, the smart people that work there would not evaporate - they would go and work for someone else and we'd have more diversity and opportunity in the market. If it wasent for windows how many of us would own a computer right now? Personal computers happened because the people wanted them. There is so much money in this market there is zero chance it wouldn't have been fulfilled. There are several lines of personal computer that were sold before Microsoft got anywhere near the business, and Microsoft didn't make the people who became it's employees smart - they just bribed them to work for Microsoft. Those smart people would have done it anyway - without the lies and crimes. Thievery is thievery, and this isn't opinion - it's a conviction in a lawful public court. it wasent until windows as we know it (9x) came around that she relised the potential of a computer! She didn't try a Mac. They did all that sort of thing long before Microsoft got around to it, before Windows 3.1. I know - I was in the business then - and I still am. TrueType fonts, for example, are an Apple invention: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_fonts It's only because there is so much you don't know that you can think that we owe Microsoft credit for anything besides relying on unethical marketing instead of honest technical ability. The choice between the technologies is a personal one - just 'cause I like it doesn't mean it's better. Or worse. But in addition, Microsoft is a company of convicted cheats. Who I'm willing to get in bed with says a lot about me, and what my values are. If Microsoft wasn't in business (it was the Bush administration that chose not to impose the proper penalties - he never met a rich donor he didn't like), then the games would be written for another platform - Mac or Linux or Solaris or NeXT or BEOS (which had multimedia powers Windows can only pretend to have in the ads - nothing Microsoft can do comes close). No one would leave that sort of money lying around - they'd write the games. The idea that we owe Microsoft allegiance because they've cheated their way into the biggest position is itself the best indication of the worth of your suggestions. In my opinion. I won't help cheats get away with more of it. How much of a good neighbor am I if I pay criminals to hang around where I live and dig themselves deeper into my neighborhood? Who will they attack next? It's not my responsibility - I just give them money. If it's ok for Microsoft to gain by lying (known fact) is it then also ok for you to gain by lying? What do you say to that proposition? This is really what it's about, you know. Microsoft sucks because they decided to, of their own free will. They could have played a hard but honest game, but they didn't. They knew the law, they have good lawyers, and they cheated, and brought a great deal of misery to the people who worked for the companies they put out of business by the cheating that they were convicted of. What about those people, whose own dreams were shattered so you could get your games on Windows? But you like your games, and anyone who gets them for you is ok with you, yes? Is that all there is to it? Why do you think the European Union is tearing Microsoft a new one even as we write these messages? If they were tough businessmen, I'd admire them - but that court conviction is real, and truthfully they owe all of their (ill-gained) profits to the people they cheated out of business. The employees are invited to get jobs with someone honest. Good luck, Bret pgpi2kpsU3PDL.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Re: [SCLUG] Re: Interesting view
On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 03:54, O Plameras wrote: This is cynical attitude to take towards IT depts. The major reason why we standardise is due to cost. It is not due to the whims and caprices of IT dept. This may be true (I'm not disputing it). I can, however, point out another reason IT depts. choose software - management, and in particular, poor management. I've often seen managers and executive staff make decisions, some of which make sense by their criteria, and others which turn out to be disastrous. But it's often an uninformed decision - people without a better understanding of their own are swayed by advertising and herd instincts - they have no other inputs. As the pointy haired boss said once, We want to make sure we jump under the bandwagon before the train leaves the station. While I was at IBM NZ, a manager made the decision to move development of the national police computer system off OS/2 and onto Windows. Mid-stream. For no technical reason, it was just herd mentality. Didn't cost less - IBM has the license to OS/2. Result? 4 years and $25 million over budget, it's cancelled, sparking a Parliamentary inquiry. IT departments, like employees, often have poor decisions thrust upon them. Cheers, Bret pgpfDnMqQa5VA.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Re: slug Digest, Vol 2, Issue 31
On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 12:52, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Thursday 16 March 2006 07:30, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: dear slug I am a convinced linux user (on principle, not because I know anything about computers) I am retired and really appreciate not to get all the bugs around that other operating systems get. Now my HP officejet 635 printer has given up after 8 years and I need a new one. 'does this one support linux ?' never gets an unambiguous answer. The HP and Epson customer support people - not helpful. The shops usually have models that dont feature on the linux compatible list. Is there someone out there that can help ?? Is this the list you are referring to? If not, I've found it helpful: http://www.linuxprinting.org/suggested.html Cheers, Bret pgptKDgqYkrXx.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: FW: [SLUG] hylafax
On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 23:35, Phill O'Flynn wrote: Hylafax seems to work if I do this: but this does not persist across reboots. How do I do this? Tell your system to do it every time it starts up. Tell us your distro (name version) and we can tell you how to do that if you don't know. Cheers, Bret pgpzu4rvcvh8h.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] internet access via mobile phone
Is anyone using a mobile phone for internet access? Is there a provider that is Linux-friendly? (or OS agnostic, anyway) I'm moving to Oz soon, and considering this approach. I'd be interested in any experiences, resources, etc. Cheers, Bret pgpRtEOx2GEWd.pgp Description: PGP signature -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG]
Volunteer with ComputerBank. They need help creating distros, figuring out hardware settings, setting up networks, coordinating people, liasing with Council, etc On Mon, 2004-04-19 at 11:02, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello, I was just wondering whether you have any advice on how to find work experience in the IT field. I am a great worker, with excellent marks who wants to work in IT THank you, Tim -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] Open Source and non-profit organizations
http://www.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=04/04/09/1854218 -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] Evolution won't retrieve from a pop account
I have an install of Debian using Evolution 1.4.5 which fetches mail from my pop mail account without difficulty. (I posted this query on the Evolution mailing list and someone asked if the pop account actually resolved, so please note - it works just fine.) I also have an install of SuSE 9 (via ftp) using Evolution 1.4.4 which refuses to retrieve mail from the same account (I was thinking of switching). This is the error I receive: Unable to connect to POP server pop.compuserve.com. Error sending password: -ERR Failed to open mailbox bwaldow Please enter the POP password for [EMAIL PROTECTED] Re-entering the password repeats the above error message. The same settings work fine with Evolution 1.4.5 on Debian. I've gone directly into my account at Compuserve and verified I know the password. In the working setup, pop3 extensions are not disabled. In the failing (SuSE) one, either setting provokes the error dialog. I've removed and re-installed Evolution on SuSE. No difference. Any ideas? Google found several old and one new messages about this error, but I didn't find anything conclusive or applicable. Thanks in advance, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] Why I was thinking of switching from Debian to SuSE (please be merciful)
On Tue, 2004-04-13 at 09:52, Craige McWhirter wrote: Best advice I can give is to stick with Debian, you've just come across one good reason to stay there :) I'd be very interested in hearing why you'd be switching from Debian(Sid) to SuSE(Novell), if you've the time. I'll admit I've been quite pleased with Debian and Debian based distros, and would prefer to support them most when I give computers to my friends and family (which happens regularly - I codified a natural law once: when my income rises, I emit a computer at my family). Before the Sun-Microsoft settlement that was just announced was just announced, I was looking at SuSE, Novell, Ximian, Sun Java Desktop, and IBM, all of which either are or own or support SuSE, and thinking that learning how to run SuSE (again) might be a good investment. (Hey, at least it's not Microsoft.) That's why I was thinking of it, and one of the things I can do to get more of a basis for acting was to try it out. For one thing, if I can't make it work, I might remember why I went with Debian. Regards, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] finding Linux professionals
I'm advising some people who are establishing a business. I know GNU/Linux can do their computer stuff, and they are interested. How do I go about finding people to do the work? Likely there's a website to set up, and perhaps e-commerce, and likely a database backing it all up. I know I can put a message on slug - what I want to know is, are there other avenues, perhaps with more context and information? Is there any established market place to look at? Thanks, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] [Fwd: LINUX Consultants needed.]
On Sun, 2004-04-04 at 20:22, Pia Smith wrote: Your name was provided to us as a high calibre Linux professional that By who? * Must bring local contacts with them Ah... -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] New Membership Benefit
On Thu, 2004-04-01 at 11:25, Jasper streit wrote: Is this for real??? Yeah, it's for real. The committee can go to hell. It's still a free country. Regards, Bret I'm thinking that it's too close to april fools day to take such absurd statements seriously. If not then i'll second Mary's motion. On 01/04/2004, at 10:52 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: As a former committee member, I'd like to distance myself from this sell-out. I attended the first hour of the last committee meeting and would like to emphasise that we discussed only things like putting speaker slides on the website, and the format of the minutes. I move that an SGM be held to vote on the following motion: That the SLUG committee can go to hell. -Mary -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] NSW targets employers' email snooping
On Tue, 2004-03-30 at 16:38, Howard Lowndes wrote: hfl I guess there are a few of out there that will be needing some legal opinions on this one and some re-defined acceptable practice conditions. It looks like a minefield. /hfl http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1077250.htm The New South Wales Government is moving to outlaw bosses spying on workers' emails, unless they have a court order to do so. My first thought is so what? get back to work. It's the company's time and money, etc. But then in light of the Wesco stupidity comes the thought of a person stalking another using their position in the company... It might be a manager that's wasting/misusing the company's time and money, etc. So maybe this is something that does need some consideration. The step is said to be an Australian first. New South Wales Attorney-General Bob Debus says the union movement has been justifiably lobbying for laws to stop employers from spying on workers' emails. The Government proposes to tackle this problem and in this respect we will be the first Australian state to do so, Mr Debus said. Under the template proposed by the Government, a balance will be struck between the employee's right to privacy and the legitimate needs of employers to protect their intellectual and commercial properties, he said. He says the laws being drafted will not place a blanket ban on email surveillance but will make sure it is done ethically. Mr Debus says the new laws will make it a criminal offence to undertake any form of covert surveillance unless an employer can show a reasonable suspicion of wrong-doing by an employee. Unless employers have a court order, they will need to give employees notice that surveillance will be conducted, he said. That could mean a warning box pops up when the computer is turned on. -- Howard. LANNet Computing Associates - Your Linux people http://www.lannetlinux.com -- Flatter government, not fatter government - Get rid of the Australian states. -- To mess up a Linux box, you need to work at it; to mess up your Windows box, you just need to work on it. - Scott Granneman, SecurityFocus -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] NSW targets employers' email snooping
On Wed, 2004-03-31 at 14:51, Benno wrote: On Wed Mar 31, 2004 at 14:41:15 +1000, Bret Comstock Waldow wrote: On Tue, 2004-03-30 at 16:38, Howard Lowndes wrote: hfl I guess there are a few of out there that will be needing some legal opinions on this one and some re-defined acceptable practice conditions. It looks like a minefield. /hfl http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1077250.htm The New South Wales Government is moving to outlaw bosses spying on workers' emails, unless they have a court order to do so. My first thought is so what? get back to work. It's the company's time and money, etc. But then in light of the Wesco stupidity comes the thought of a person stalking another using their position in the company... It might be a manager that's wasting/misusing the company's time and money, etc. Wow, I'm amazed at this `workers as slave' mentality people have. I would not like to work in an office, or for a company, with such policies, it sounds like a depressing, draining, stressful environment to work in. (I'd wonder how productive/creative a bunch of stressed out and depressed emplooyees would be anyway.) Does anyone on this list really want to work in this kind of environment? Reductio ad absurdum. Yes, anyone can use such an argument, and it's a great distraction. But that isn't the position I'm speaking from, although it's the position you may want to cast the discussion into. If I agree to paint the inside of your house, and root through your underwear while I'm there and drink your beer, I've broken my agreement, and your trust. I have no business doing that. On the other hand, you and I probably have no problem with me taking a personal call on my cell phone while I'm there, as long as I get my job done, and don't abuse any of your possesions while I'm there. It's less clear cut, but it might be resonable to assume you wouldn't mind me making a local call on your phone while I'm there if it's innocuous, say calling the office, or ordering lunch. I do that from work, and don't worry about it. But if I use your possessions to arrange a drug deal, or rack up a bill on a pay-per-minute call on your phone, I've taken what isn't mine from you. When I agree to represent somenone (i.e. be an employee), it's my agreement I'm giving. I don't abuse it knowingly. It isn't about them controlling me, it's about me taking responsibility for my agreements. It's their computer, their time, their business. I don't treat it as a straitjacket, although you might wish to pretend that's what I meant. It isn't. I treat it as a trust I've been given in return for my agreement, and I'm comfortable acting within that. I meant what I said, not what you said. Cheers, Bret Cheers, Benno -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] NSW targets employers' email snooping
On Wed, 2004-03-31 at 13:34, Howard Lowndes wrote: On Wed, 2004-03-31 at 13:16, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I guess it comes down to ethics when I was working for a top 10 fortune 500 organisation I was asked to snoop. I turned it down stating it's not ethical unless they have a valid reason and I would prefer to hear that command from HR or the CEO. Absolutely agree, in writing, signed by someone who has the necessary authority to make such decisions. Otherwise tell them to find someone who is prepared to sign such an authority. I agree with this. That said, I have a thought I'd like to explore... (Just hanging this off your post, as it let's me state right up front the agreement above.) If (hypothetical) you ride in my car, I pretty much consider your person inviolate, yours, not subject to my curiosity, etc... But I'm not sure that's what we're speaking of here (generally, I mean). Suppose (hypothetical) you ride in my car, and then leave a package, addressed to someone, and they then pick it up from my car later, and then they put a package in to return to (hypothetical) you, and when I ask what it is I'm transporting back and forth for the (hypothetical) two of you, (hypothetical) you tell me it's none of your business. Isn't it? It's my car. The law holds me responsible for what it's used for, because most resonable people hold me responsible for what it's used for, because I'm the one who has control of it, and thus I'm the one who decides what it's used for (or not). I'm not inquiring (in this hypothetical) about (hypothetical) you, I'm asking about what *I'm* carrying for (hypothetical) you. Is this actually about personal privacy, or is it about what the employer is enabling by providing capability without oversight? Are we mistaking what the actual issue is here by rushing to view it in terms of personal privacy? Is that actually what this is about? If I hold a slanderous opinion about someone in my head, that's privacy. If I say it out loud, is it private? Is privacy the issue if I let it out of my person into the world? Am I flying under false colors to consider this as if it were a privacy issue? Again, this was just a place to hang my thoughts, not particularly about anything you say/think/etc. Given the potential for abuse by people within the company monitoring other people's contacts, I agree that this is something that there should be some legal oversight of. But I'm not sure personal privacy is actually involved at all here. Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] D-link Dl-624 802.11g router vs. 3Com AirConnect PCMCIA card 802.11b
I've got these. They won't speak to each other. The PCMCIA card loads just fine in Debian Woody, and connected with the Linksys router used at the Debian Bug Squish at Sydney Uni last saturday just fine. It's working ok. The Dl-624 is in daily use as a wired router, and connects with another 802.11b device I have reliably. It's working ok. But they won't speak with each other, so they're not so useful to me. I'd like to get them working, or I'd like to replace one of them with something that works with the other. Fixing them would be best - I might learn something (hey, it could happen). If someone's interested in one or the other and we can work out something that helps me to replace it, I'll entertain that idea too. So, any suggestions? Despite my lackadaisical tone I'd really like to solve this. Regards, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] [O/T] Microsofts - One world... a little something more disturbing.
Ah, paranoia... For a while I've been pointing out to people that the shit will hit the fan when we begin deploying autonomous devices. When cars drive themselves, for instance... We can't write 100% reliable software for anything complex enough to want to bother to automate it. When the device has the capability to maim or kill us... And how soon will it be hacked? Terrorists reprogramming cars? Rival gangs? Script kiddies? If I can do it, someone else can do it too. In fact, I like the idea you propose below: We should begin counter engineering now to keep things under control, ie, world terrorism. I think demonstrating the ability to misuse it is the best and only way to slow the introduction of such capabilities. Fear of death usually trumps greed. Cheers, Bret On Mon, 2004-03-15 at 21:52, Nicholas Tomlin wrote: To quote Jeff Waugh... One World, one Web, one Browser. - Microsoft promotion Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer. - Adolf Hitler ¨One world, Its a battle ground, One world We´re going to smash it down... ¨ -- Pink Floyd, ¨The dogs of war...¨ Have a read of these.. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/1714242, http://www.grandchallenge.org and http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/13/1933247 Has anybody refreshed themselves on Terminator 1,2,3 lately? We should begin counter engineering now to keep things under control, ie, world terrorism. Thought I might scare you for a bit. Regards, Nicholas Tomlin. [c/w asbestos suit] -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Home Wireless
On Thu, 2004-02-26 at 00:56, Hal Ashburner wrote: Has someone done it and blah-whatever is some hardware they used that worked well? I've seen Netgear wireless stuff (router card) for sale at a bookstore(!) for c. $200 Does this mean you're unwilling to buy a gateway/router? That's the simplest solution. Else: Base computer with firewall software (you want this bad) and ethernet in card and... another ethernet out card in the base computer for each other PC wired to the base computer or... one ethernet out card in the base computer plus a hub for other PCs wired to the base computer and... a wireless card in ad-hoc mode for the base computer and... another wireless card for each other connecting PC So, a base computer with ethernet in, and a minimum of two wifi cards to use one satellite computer. Which configuration do you choose? (That is, what have you got, or are willing to buy?) Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] Crystal Lan adapter and IBM 300GL platforms
Hello all, Computerbank has a boatload of IBM 300GL systems, including integrated LAN using the Crystal Lan 8920 chipset. Theoretically the cs89x0.o module will utilize this, but it didn't last weekend. Does anyone have experience with this? If you've got it working, could you tell me with which distro/version, and any other suggestions you can contribute? Thanks in advance, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] So Linux is American.....read on!
On Sat, 2004-02-14 at 20:42, Michael Lake wrote: he states ...Linux (in spite of its Scandinavian origins) is a profoundly American idea. America does not have a monopoly on the concepts of freedom. It's disapointing to see such drivel written by the senior editor of LinuxWorld Magazine. I do hope that future articles are written more carefully. I would suggest you read future articles more carefully, instead of reactively. I wouldn't have any problem constructing the sentence freedom is a profoundly Australian idea. There's nothing about the fact that other people value freedom to say it is exclusive to them, nor to think they are saying it's exclusive to them. I think that interpretation is only in your mind. Linux, as an expression of individual choice and creativity, is definitely an expression of American values (I was born there). It is also an expression of New Zealand values (I migrated there). I don't see anything in what this fellow wrote (he's speaking to an American audience, he thinks he's trying to get them to wake up) that suggests he thinks it's exclusive to America only. I suggest you are reacting to something he didn't say. Perhaps you could see your way to another viewpoint about this? The only expression of exclusivity I read in this is in your suggestion of it. Regards, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] $ms patents
I would suggest America is not the problem, but rather Corporations and human greed everywhere are the problem. The manifestation is particularly sharp in the US, due to embracing commerce as a societal value (over what are arguably higher principles). In my experience, New Zealand has lost significant quality of life due to a similar change in approach, and from my experience of Australia so far (only Sydney after all), it looks like it has happened here too - personal enrichment is valued over aspects of integrity and consideration of others. There are drive-by shootings here now. Regards, Bret On Mon, 2004-02-16 at 23:56, Nicholas Tomlin wrote: To all those who worry about it, An amersgtfican patent should only be valid in amgfdgerica, if you want a world wide patent you have to apply for a world wide patent, that is, a patent in every country in the world. They have to patent it here for it to be valid here. You can develop your gear over here without a patent, most likely your programs will not be able to be copyrighted/lefted because they are developed open source, so you sell your services as an IT consultant instead of selling the software, you shouldn´t be touched, because you aren´t selling software are you ... ? - check with a solicitor to confirm - what was that song?? . better get a lawyer son, better get a real good one, I fell down, I got up, better get a lawyer son ... They can´t patent anything that is a prior art, so if the art exists before they applied for the patent their patent is not valid, those are Australian patent laws, Alan Tyree might be able to illucidate on this. If you ever wrote a scripting file (and it worked) before they did, that is prior art - go to the earliest examples of your programming, send your art to the patents office so they know it is so, before they hit the Australian IPO. An example of this is that in the states I recently saw a patent for roof top sprinklers (against bushfires) was granted, about 3 ~4 years ago, we´ve been doing it here for over 20 years, those Amdsgdseriafsdfdgfcan scum grab everyone´s ideas and patent it in their own country and then claim they came up with the invention first - ¨how dare you indians extract drugs from that neen tree for the last 3000 years, we´ve got a patent now that says you can´t do it!!! and we´ll sue your sorry ass for twenty trillion dollars for good measure¨ ... just the legal fees would scare anyone off fighting the bastards. As another example you should see how the Brits were treated by the yanks with relation to the development of SuperSonic flight, all their ideas ( and the lives of some brit airmen) were taken by the amerxshgcans, but none were given in return, and the ameriddgsvans developed a supersonic vehicle, they misled the british ministry of defence into believing that is wasn´t worth pursuing, the govt then withdrew funding to the brit program, the yanks then proceeded, though with funding the brits would have got it before them, never be fooled by an amaergsdican. Another thing I saw was a brilliant invention by an aussie guy named Mafgagiake O´Ladfseaasfdry - the caseless ammunition gun, now known as ¨metfjlkjaal stoadsfjhjksam¨, who discovered that in order to sell his invention, he had to manufacture in amaericak, the last time I looked he had a sorry selection of amerieaetscacn retired generals on his board of directors sucmkiong his brains and back pocket just so he could get an op to sell in the ameetyralnaph market, its a sad state of affairs. No wonder 9/11 happened. Patents are a form of oppression for intelligent people who have some brilliant ideas but can´t afford to patent them, patents only favour rich people and countries (usually the USA) at the expense of poor people and countries, take the AIDS antiviral as an example, I have been thorough the mill, with one simple invention it could cost as much as $250k AU$ to patent it world wide, a copyright costs nothing my patent cost $5k so far, I had to give up on an international patent due to the expenses of establishing one, I missed the boat because I couldn´t come up with the money. I´ve heard it said that Marsdfcosdgsni didn´t develop the wirdfselefdsss (radfsdsdffdisdfo)., he merely came up with the fees to patent it, with his name on it pity the poor immigrant he ripped the idea off, don´t fall into the same boat - refer led zepplin - immigrant song, followed closely by ´hangman´. Hope this helps, Nicholas Tomlin. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
[SLUG] SuSE CDs?
Hi, I'm not up on SuSE's license terms. Can someone make CDs for me to use to try it out? (The latest version, please). I'd be happy to provide blanks in exchange, or pay a small fee. Thanks, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] SuSE CDs?
On Fri, 2004-02-13 at 20:29, Chris Deigan wrote: Basically, the free way to install SuSE is to do a FTP Install or over NFS. You can donwload a set of floppies / a cdrom that starts the install, and the rest is downloaded off the internet as the installer needs it. I tried that, burned the install CD and started the process. It's glacial. I've tried both ftp.suse.com and mirror.aarnet.edu.au, and I'm working off a cable modem. I'll evolve before I get a system that way. That's why I'm asking for CDs. Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] Computerbank Hardware Sorting Days and Perpetual Monitor Sale -- THIS Weekend!!
Hi, I'm going to be at Computerbank Sunday to help out. If anyone has SuSE CDs, or the SuSE live eval CD that I can try out, could you bring it please? Thanks in advance, Bret On Fri, 2004-02-13 at 16:49, Dan Treacy wrote: Greetings All. Apologies about the short notice. Due to recent events within Computerbank, namely interviews and the arrival of over 20 pallets of equipment your presence is requested (or required) this weekend to help sort hardware and install machines and other computerbank-type activites. Date: Saturday 14th Feb AND Sunday 15th Feb Time: From 10am both days Where: Unit 32 195 Prospect Highway Seven Hills Contact: Dan 0410526200 If the trains aren't running on either day give me a call and we'll see what we can do about getting you picked up. I'll be out there both days and whilst we'll probably be finishing up a little earlier on Saturday for those who have *cough*obligations*cough* there's LOTS of stuff to be done. And many hands make light work. As for the monitor sale.. $20 and you get to choose and test ur monitor first. loads of 14in and 15in. Perfect to buy for your SO to make that Valentines Video Wall. Also bring your money with you $10 membership to computerbank to help support our work and make sure that we can pay teh insurance for next year :-) There will be stripping down stuff testing hardware, monitor testing. Installation and some usability testing. Plenty of stuff to keep lots of people occupied. P.S On Sunday if the gates are closed please call 0410526200 and someone will come let you in. Apparently teh nearest public phone is at the station. Dan. -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: Debian install process not recommended (Re: [SLUG] Trouble finding Linux)
On Tue, 2004-02-10 at 10:30, Mary Gardiner wrote: My advice to people considering Debian is to have someone who's done a Debian install help you out, or fill you in in advance. I would not recommend it to someone looking to dip their toe in the water unless they get someone else to install it for them. I'd offer another suggestion for getting Debian - install a Knoppix variant. There are a number of flavors, sone Gnome based, some with a slant towards multimedia. All allow trying before writing to the hard disk, all end up with Debian. Straight Knoppix installed fine for me, as did MediaLinux. I'm currently checking out Mepis - I don't know if it's Knoppix based off hand, but it also allows booting from CD to trial it before writing it to disk. Regards, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group Mailing List - http://slug.org.au/ Subscription info and FAQs: http://slug.org.au/faq/mailinglists.html
Re: [SLUG] dd speed (copying whole disks)
On Tue, 2003-12-16 at 22:24, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 17:12:24 +1100 Bret Comstock Waldow [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: My 20G disk copies in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I've experimented with Mine took 15 minutes for 6.4Gb. (athlon 1700+, dma4 disks) Why do people dd disks anyway. In my case it's my backup method, so duplicates are in fact the idea in the first place. There's a few pitfalls such as duplicate serial numbers, duplicate mac addresses. (yes, sometimes mac addresses are stored in file base configuration) tar/dump/cpio are faster and more flexible. dd gets any partition changes I've made. I'm using PartitionMagic, and slowly shrinking my Window$ partition, and occassionally making other changes. Matt ps. i had a specific data recovery purpose in my exercise Me too. Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] dd speed (copying whole disks)
My situation is a bit different - I'm copying between identical drives. I wonder if geometry translation might be a factor? Also, are both drives IDE and on the same channel (both Primary or both Secondary)? Given you're reporting hda and hdc I suspect no. The other device on the channel (like a slow CD) will limit the disk to it's limit, so maybe that's slowing down hdc in your case. I copy hda to hdc, but I have no hdb or hdd at the same time, so both channels run at the disk's full speed(s). My 20G disk copies in 2 hours and 40 minutes. I've experimented with different bs= settings, and haven't noted much variance between them. I run date; dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc bs=16384k; date. Someone suggested I use time but my Tom's RootBoot diskette doesn't include time. Cheers, Bret On Mon, 2003-12-15 at 10:58, Simon Males wrote: Im copying 40g drive onto a 120g drive. I am using a CD live type linux distro. using the command # dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc bs=2048k The thing is I dont know if its working, dd gives no active feedback. I dont think i could even ^C it. I left it running for some 12hrs, hard reboot, jumped back to fdisk and a partition table was written of some sort (well there was a hdc1 now, just like how there was only hda1). It was fresh from the shop, so the disk was completely blank. First time i tried, while dd was running I did a `fdisk -l /dev/hdc` and I was given constant hdc errors. So basically can I query the destination the disk and see...something?! Further, is # cat /dev/hda /dev/hdc slower than doing the above dd command? I've had cat running for around 22hrs now. I have a little theory that running top may freeze the process, because since running top once, the dd or cat process cpu time has not changed. -- Simon Males [EMAIL PROTECTED] No More AOL CDs Australia - www.anticd.org -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Still trying to copy a disk...
I suggest: 1) Try the command I posted. 2) See if it's ok. 3) Expand the partitions. I have Partition Magic, but I believe there's a free software tool to do this as well. Keep your boot disk handy so you can run lilo or fiddle with grub (I don't think you have to). Perhaps it works fine. Cheers, Bret On Sun, 2003-12-07 at 08:58, Peter Vogel wrote: Yes, I am trying to make a copy of the disk as you say, but my new disk is bigger. I wonder if that will cause problems with what you suggest? And if that does work, will I be able to increase a partition to utilise the bigger disk? (these are two different issues, I will be happy just to have a backup in the first instance). On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 08:44:02 +1100 Bret Comstock Waldow [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: What are you trying to do? Back up is too vague, there are lots of approaches, with differing physical requirements. My backup is a second disk of the same size. I boot on Tom's RootBoot diskette (so no partitions are mounted) and run: dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc bs=16384k and then I go to sleep (my 20G drive takes about 2 hours, 40 minutes). When it's complete, I can hook up the backup disk and boot on it immediately, with a complete copy of my system, including any partition changes I made in the original plus the boot sector, and it even backs up my Windows 98 install as well. Everything just works. Curiously, it kills Windows 2000, even on the original disk (I have no idea how the original Windows 2000 disk partition knows it's been backed up, but it is consistently screwed). Windows 98, on the other hand, is fine with this approach. I can try any software experiment I want, and if it fails, I'm up and running in 3 minutes again, and remake my backup over night. Cheers, Bret On Sat, 2003-12-06 at 10:08, Peter Vogel wrote: Thanks for the pointer, but I don't think this will do what I need. It looks like I would need a working system to restore the partitions. I want to make an whole disk copy so I can put the drive in another computer, put the whole computer away, and pull it out if my server dies. Ghost theoretically allows me to put the second drive in teh computer, boot the Ghost floppy, it copies the disk and that;s that. But after doing this GRUB no longer works, and I have been unable to make it work, there are instructions for doing so but I get error messages which I don't understand. I need an idiot's version like Ghost but which works with Linux disks. On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 09:37:36 +1100 Graham Smith [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 09:11, Peter Vogel wrote: I can SAMBA all the files off the Linux box onto my Windows box, but then what? There must be an equivalent to Ghost that works with Linux... Try looking at http://www.partimage.org/ Partition Image is a Linux/UNIX utility which saves partitions in many formats (see below) to an image file. The image file can be compressed in the GZIP/BZIP2 formats to save disk space, and split into multiple files to be copied on removable floppies (ZIP for example), ... Partitions can be saved across the network since version 0.6.0. -- Regards, Graham Smith - -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug Peter Vogel ZapTV Pty Ltd 30 Adeline St, Faulconbridge 2776 Australia Tel: 02 4751 8735 Fax: 02 4751 2601 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peter Vogel ZapTV Pty Ltd 30 Adeline St, Faulconbridge 2776 Australia Tel: 02 4751 8735 Fax: 02 4751 2601 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
[SLUG] Power supply for router
I have a D-Link router, and a US power supply. Does anyone know of a supplier of power supplies for Australia? It must plug into the wall (240v) and put out 5v at 2.5A (according to the label on the existing power supply. Alternatively a step down transformer for less than the $100 Dick Smith wants. Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] linux help for educator
On Fri, 2003-10-31 at 21:52, Alper Ciftci wrote: Hi, I am a Maths/Physics teacher at Sule College and I want to install Linux on my laptop. My purpose is to run mathematical scientific software free. Of course office programs as well, but teaching software is my preference. SAL (mentioned by another poster) is great. I used redhat at uni about 5 years ago. Regardless of the distro you choose, you'll need to do some hand work, even if only because you want to build the data structures and processes for analysis - scripts, directory structures, source control for the scripts, etc. To that end, the distro matters as you'll be learning how to customize that distro - you're specializing. Partly because of this, I worked my way to using Debian, because it's more of a community based standard. I used SuSE, and Redhat, and they both work well, but each makes proprietary choices that aren't portable to other distros. This may not be an issue for your usage model, and it's not the only reason I chose Debian (hard to beat that update/upgrade scheme, and I've had trouble resolving dependencies with RPM based distros. To be fair, I've had occasional problems with Debian dependencies too, but not so much so far). But I do not know how to install. Currently XP is loaded and I want to keep it. This isn't itself an issue. What might be is how your hard disk is partitioned currently. If it's one big partition, you'll have to shrink the space dedicated to XP to make room for partitions for Linux. If it's several partitions, decide if you can delete everything off one or more to use the space for a Linux install. If you can't get any/enough room that way, you're back to shrinking space currently given to XP. I have a few questions: 1. Which distribution will be the best for me I reccommend you burn/get a Knoppix CD. It boots a Debian based distro without writing anything to the hard disk, and has excellent hardware detection. You can however, install it to the hard disk and have a working system. Then it's just a customized Debian system - you'll need to learn how to work with Debian, but you need to do the equivalent with any other distro too. Another well regarded option is Libranet. Also Debian based, with what appears to be very good GUI configuration support included. Either of these leave you with a Debian system to work with. I suffered through getting Debian Woody itself to install to my taste on my Thinkpad, and now I'm comfortable with it generally. Redhat, Mandrake, and SuSE seem to be the most widely used commercial systems. All will have good support (I quote that because it may or may not be good for your purposes - certainly for general concerns they're all good). Since you're using non-mainstream software packages, I'll suggest a Debian based distro is best in the long run. I've had painful experiences attempting to resolve dependencies with RPM based distros, due to trying to patch in software that wasn't compiled by the Manufacturer, like scientific packages. The automatic update feature of each distro may not play nicely with all possible non-standard changes either. And Redhat makes proprietary patches to the kernel to make it work with their other choices - I've had hardware patches fail on Redhat for this reason... 1. If I select any of the distributions can I install any linux application from the net? Or is there any restriction that an application will only work on redhat and not slackware etc. Library versions can sink this boat. Redhat's non-standard kernel patches have given me problems. I've had problems trying to get Mandrake packages to work on SuSE, and I suspect that's a general problem - library versions, and differences in the file structure that each distro uses to accomodate their particular philosophy of how it should be done. Without being deeply knowledgeable about all Linux distros it seemed to me that Debian was the most standard of the distros with a good package maintainence system. It's free, so it's cheap, so it uses standards is my explanation/fantasy... 1. Can I install multiple versions at the same time to test and evaluate which version is best for me? Packages/programs? Yes. Distros? Yes. You need to dedicate disk space to each distro. 1. If possible can I meet with anyone to do the installation process together? I have fast internet and a burner. Can download anything. I'd be happy to, but won't be in Oz until after November 12th. If you're still interested then, I'd be willing. I'll be looking, but likely unemployed for a bit... Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] ide cd-writer
On Thu, 2003-10-30 at 05:57, Shaun Oliver wrote: hi all, I have here a reco mp70-40a 4x ide cd-writer. I'm attempting to run it on debian woody. how does one set up scsi emulation for this device? any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance. btw. how should I enter in the information in /etc/fstab? Aside from /proc/bus/usb I don't have anything in fstab for my burner, but mine's attached via USB, so it isn't always there. In lilo, I have: append=hdc=ide-scsi hdd=ide-scsi hdc is the on-board ide CD ROM, hdd is the external ide-cdrw-in-a-USB-enclosure. The source needs to be scsi-emulated too, or some of the burning programs won't do CD to CD copies. ganesha:/etc# cat modules # /etc/modules: kernel modules to load at boot time. # # This file should contain the names of kernel modules that are # to be loaded at boot time, one per line. Comments begin with # a #, and everything on the line after them are ignored. usb-uhci input usbkbd keybdev nvram ppdev lp agpgart joydev mousedev eepro100 ppp_async irport irtty ide-scsi cs46xx usb-storage visor scanner apm I haven't worked out permissions so anyone can burn. I start eroaster from an su'ed command prompt. HTH, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
[SLUG] Re: [chat] Advice for someone moving to Sydney
On Wed, 2003-10-29 at 23:49, Matthew Palmer wrote: On Wed, Oct 29, 2003 at 09:54:34PM -0800, Bret Comstock Waldow wrote: In Sydney? Bwahahaha! Anywhere even vaguely cheap is going to either be scum central or halfway to Adelaide. Even here in Wollongong (90 minutes by train from the CBD) it's getting expensive, and anything ground-level has a walk right in, steal it all sign on it. I was afraid of something like this. Sydney has the most IT jobs, and I've been working in Software QA, Automated Testing, Java Whitebox, etc., so it seemed the best place to get a start. Certainly it's the place to be for IT jobs (or Melbourne, but it's similarly priced), but it's not going to be cheap. One option might be to see if there are any sluggers with a spare room, at least for the shorter term. Might want to post to the main list for that. Ok. Here goes... Quiet IT worker arriving in Oz the 11th of November from the US looking to settle needs short term accomodation (a month?) to get my feet on the ground and find work. I've got clothes, a bicycle, and a laptop setup. I'd need/want an Internet connection and phone access for job hunting. I've got my work permission. I can pay rent, food, phone, etc., but want to limit it until I've got income, so I'm flexible about accomodation. Aussies I've stayed with before told me I'm a good houseguest. I'm male, 45, don't smoke, only drink a bit. I'm willing to help with house chores and some heavier jobs if you've got them - last year I helped a neighbor renovate his house and I'm helping the friend I'm staying with now with hers. If you've got a room to spare, or a friend with one I could use while I'm finding work, please let me know. Thanks in advance, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Too early for easy PDA Linux installs?
On Tue, 2003-09-16 at 08:31, Jeff Waugh wrote: Lastly, will Windows CE and Redhat sync if the palm remains on the windows OS and how does one install a cradle under Evolution (the piolt settings didn't seem to work). Well, fortunately you're not using a Palm, it's a Windows CE PDA. Palm is a brand name, which makes things somewhat confusing. What you've got uses an Intel XScale CPU, which can run Linux's ARM port. Here's a link: http://tuxmobil.org/pda_linux_xscale.html It's highly unlikely that you'll find anything that usefully syncs Windows CE based PDAs with FOSS applications, although things may have changed since last I looked. Expanding a bit, Palm, Inc. is a company. Palm OS is the operating system their PDA's use. Also Handspring, Sony and some others use the Palm OS on their hardware platforms. I don't know if anyone's put GNU/Linux on a Palm hardware platform, but then, there's not so much need perhaps. Palm OS is fast and lite - designed to get the job done. If you switch from one Palm OS app to another, the first one is saved. This doesn't happen with WinCE. Having a GNU/Linux computer in that small form factor might be useful for other than PDA reasons, I suppose. Palm PDA's sync easily with Evolution/Jpilot/GnomePIM etc. 'cause someone wrote the channels to do it. The latest Palm OS 5 runs on ARM processors, so perhaps the port you mention runs on them now. Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] two intractable problems
For the benefit of the hair of future generations, moving the cable modem and the power point it plugs into away from the PC in question appears to have fixed the problem. Why it wasn't a problem for the first 18 months of operation remains a mystery to this reporter. Does Debian radiate more than Red Hat? Thanks, Bret On Mon, 2003-09-15 at 00:35, Felix Sheldon wrote: On Mon, 2003-09-15 at 13:50, Bret Comstock Waldow wrote: The other problem is much weirder. The desktop machine kills the cable modem connection when it's powered up. Even when there's no ethernet cable connecting it to the modem. Didn't used to. It's worked for almost 2 years on that setup, and now it's killing it. Windows or Linux. Pulling the machine into another room and powering it up there seems not to kill the modem, so power is all I can think of, but that's ridiculously inconvenient in his house - the cable goes into the computer room. Has anyone seen such behavior? Could be radio interference from that PC. Are all it's covers on? You could try running an extension power lead from the other room to test the theory. If the 'cable' internet is running coaxial cable, it should be fairly safe from interference, but maybe a connection is loose, or the cable modem itself is not very well shielded. -- Felix Sheldon [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
[SLUG] two intractable problems
Apologies for cross-posting. I'm trying to get my Dad's machines set up so I can leave the US and return Down Under, and I'm tearing my hair out with some problems I'm running into. I bought both the machines involved, and have run Linux on them successfully for a while, and so has he. We want gnomemeeting on them, so we can keep in touch. Windows and Netmeeting has worked just fine quite a while, but I can't get Linux set up. On the Toshiba Tecra 780 laptop, I can't get sound with any modern distro. Not Debian, not Redhat 9, not SuSE 8.2. SuSE 7.3 does it, but then no Gnome 2 and no gnomemeeting. I had a look at the modules loaded in SuSE 7.3/alsa 0.5, and I've built alsa 0.9 and alsa 0.5 in Debian but no joy. The alsa configuration program in debconf builds the configuration, but it doesn't then work. It's a Tecra 780 with a Yamaha OPL3-SA2 sound card - does anyone know how to make one of those work? The other problem is much weirder. The desktop machine kills the cable modem connection when it's powered up. Even when there's no ethernet cable connecting it to the modem. Didn't used to. It's worked for almost 2 years on that setup, and now it's killing it. Windows or Linux. Pulling the machine into another room and powering it up there seems not to kill the modem, so power is all I can think of, but that's ridiculously inconvenient in his house - the cable goes into the computer room. Has anyone seen such behavior? Lesser problems with the desktop involve the BestData VC-100 bttv video camera not working with Debian Woody (drivers lock up), but if we can't put it on the net, that doesn't matter a lot. I'd hate to have to leave him with Windows only, and me having to boot Windows to contact him. He'd rather use Linux, and I'm sure I do too. A shot in the dark, but I don't have a lot of hair left at this point. Anyone seen either of these problems? Cheers, Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Linux Oracle Client
On Wed, 2003-09-03 at 23:18, Tony Green wrote: All, I'm trying to do some work on some Oracle instances and the GUI tools would be really nice. I've downloaded the installer for 8i from Oracle and it 'sort of' works, but not really. Has anyone got it working (specifically on Debian SID), if so how? What problem are you having? I put 8i (8.1.7) on Debian (Woody with backports), and while I haven't progessed very far yet, the gui stuff I've looked at seems to work ok (Oracle newbie). Bret -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] targeted virus or paranoia central ?
On Thu, 2003-08-28 at 19:05, Anthony Wood wrote: On Fri, Aug 29, 2003 at 08:59:30AM +1000, Anthony Wood wrote: On Thu, Aug 28, 2003 at 10:49:51AM -0400, Bret Comstock Waldow wrote: On Thu, 2003-08-28 at 02:36, Del wrote: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: during last weekend, I received several hundred of the the latest ms 'virus' emails, all about 100k, with about 7 different subjects. on Monday, the flow slowed down, just maybe a hundred or so all day, and, I assumed the worst was over, so to speak. However, between Tuesday and Wed this week, I received in excess of 1,000 emails in say 12 hours, and, when I looked at it in the afternoon, I was getting one new mssg every minute. I had the same problem. It was all coming from one machine at cornell.edu so I put in a .procmail rule to redirect all mail with a header Received: (from that machine) line in it back to the complaints address I found on their web site (which otherwise wasn't responding when I sent them mail asking them to fix it). After that the flood lasted another 2-3 hours then stopped, all by magick. Newbie question here. Is this definitive? I've read that this virus spoofs the return address, which I understand to mean the text, but what about the IP chain? I've read in separate articles about untraceable spam. Is this happening here? If there's a definitive way to be sure of the origin of an email, I'd like to know that's so, and how to determine it. When a mail comes into a server, they usually put in a received line which nowadays usually reports the IP address of the connecting server and what it says it's hostname is. You can send a mail message with a few recieved messages of your own like I've done with this one. Sorry, looks like postfix and/or mutt strips it out. What a responsible program. This is what I had: Received: from momandpop.com (cia.whitehouse.gov [4.3.2.1]) by beast.switchonline.com.au (Postfix) with ESMTP id C08CC53B for +[EMAIL PROTECTED]; Fri, 29 Aug 2003 08:57:54 +1000 (EST) momandpop.com is what the server said it was, cia.whitehouse.gov is the reverse lookup of the actual ip address sent from (4.3.2.1) Here's one of mine: Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Received: from LUCKYLZ ([211.154.93.35]) by siaag1af.compuserve.com (8.12.9/8.12.7/SUN-2.7) with ESMTP id h7SCxV7X003565 for [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Thu, 28 Aug 2003 08:59:39 -0400 (EDT) So, [EMAIL PROTECTED] is spoofed, but the originating IP is correct? Or just the reporting server siaag1af.compuserve.com? Does compuserve take any steps to verify the included sender IP? Bret -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] just a thought
On Thu, 2003-08-28 at 23:00, Adam Hewitt wrote: Hi All, After reading this slashdot article: http://www.circleid.com/article/215_0_1_0_C/ which discusses the background 'noise' that has been increasing on the internet, I began thinking about the possibility of a sub-net for lack of a better term. Bascially the idea would follow that of www.wafreenet.org however instead of providing a free network outside of the internet (free as in beer and free as in spam :) it would be created inside the internet using tunnels and trusted peers (like PGP). This would then give us the ability to remove peers from the network if they do not comply with the sub-nets constitution (ie. they allow spam relays, send spam themselves, relay viruses, DoS attacks etc). Obviously this subnet would need to either utilize IPv6 or Private Address space (which would need to be handed out by a central organisation). Peers would also have the ability only accept subnet traffic or internet traffic also, but never relay anything from the outside in and vise-versa. Maybe this is too grand an idea, but it doesn't seem too hard to me and although it wouldn't stop the background traffic, if noone was listening why would it continue? Has this been discussed before and I was spring cleaning my cave at the time?? Let me know what you think. Ya' have to sign up for it. We could just sign up for doing the admin work to keep our nodes from being spam relays, DoS zombies, etc. now. If you can get everything you want from inside the subnet, you'd be happy, but if some of what you want is from the outside you have to protect against all the threats anyway... And you'd still be subject to the overall deterioration of service that comes from the noise on the net. The noise won't go away as long as there are many people outside to prey on, and once a sizeable number are inside you get similar disputes in different clothing. If you can identify a small sub-set of people you're happy to confine all your contact with, then it could be practical, but I don't see how it could be a solution to the problem overall. And who polices it? Who resolves disputes about how to police it? Yes, you did! No, I didn't! As a fellow in a SF book was made to say Shucks, you can't get that many people to whistle Dixie. My personal opinion is that isolationism is like standing in traffic with my eyes closed - the truck is going to hit me whether I see it or not. I can pretend I'm separate, but that's different from the reality of things. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] targeted virus or paranoia central ?
On Thu, 2003-08-28 at 02:36, Del wrote: [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: during last weekend, I received several hundred of the the latest ms 'virus' emails, all about 100k, with about 7 different subjects. on Monday, the flow slowed down, just maybe a hundred or so all day, and, I assumed the worst was over, so to speak. However, between Tuesday and Wed this week, I received in excess of 1,000 emails in say 12 hours, and, when I looked at it in the afternoon, I was getting one new mssg every minute. I had the same problem. It was all coming from one machine at cornell.edu so I put in a .procmail rule to redirect all mail with a header Received: (from that machine) line in it back to the complaints address I found on their web site (which otherwise wasn't responding when I sent them mail asking them to fix it). After that the flood lasted another 2-3 hours then stopped, all by magick. Newbie question here. Is this definitive? I've read that this virus spoofs the return address, which I understand to mean the text, but what about the IP chain? I've read in separate articles about untraceable spam. Is this happening here? If there's a definitive way to be sure of the origin of an email, I'd like to know that's so, and how to determine it. Thanks, Bret -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
[SLUG] how to adapt this iptables setup?
Yes, I'm cross-posting. But it's kind of a cross-question. I'm working with a copy of Real World Linux Security, 2ed. by Bob Toxen. Right now, I'm working on getting his iptables firewall up. He gives instructions for installing it onto RedHat, SuSE, Mandrake, Slackware. I am using Debian Woody with backports, and there are some differences in the init scripts. His system comes in two/three parts. There's an iptables_pre script which fits simply into the Debian init system - put it in /etc/init.d and use update-rc.d defaults to plug in the symlinks so it runs before the network is up. It locks everything closed and optionally has support for alternatives to dhclient if that's not what I use. The second/third parts run after the network is up. He writes: Now that the iptables_pre script will protect the system while the network interfaces are being brought up, it is time to arrange for the main script, rc.fwsoho ... to be invoked on bootup. While we could invoke it the same way we invoked iptables_pre, instead we will use a real rc.d-style script to invoke it. This rc.d-style script is based on Red Hat 7.3 iptables startup script but has been modified to generate a message and error exit if IP Tables is not available. He instructs me to copy rc.fwsoho into /etc/rc.d, then put iptables (script) into init.d and symlink it in (the update-rc.d step in Debian). iptables is hard coded to call /etc/rc.d/rc.fwsoho on the appropriate start. Ok. There is no /etc/rc.d in my Debian system. /etc/rcX.d has some meaning beyond just being another place to gather files - it corresponds to runlevel X, and gets swept automatically as the system passes through that runlevel. What is the meaning and equivalent of /etc/rc.d? The other directories referenced appear to exist. To those who want to tell me why I shouldn't use his approach, I welcome the comments, I'll learn from them. But please also tell me the answers to the questions above, so I can get a context to put it all in. Thanks much, Bret -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] inter-machine tools
Thanks for the tips. I've been investigating, and wrestling with some mis-configuration of unknown origin. Currently, the systems I'm going to be doing this between are all attached to the inside of the same hardware gateway/router, all on the 192.168.2.0 network. In the next month or so, his will remain there and mine will be on the road, probably using PPP. In the longer term, I'm hoping mine will be settled behind it's own hardware gateway/router, attached to some broandband connection down under. Starting with the current setup, which is my practical lab and classroom, how does one system find the other? All the machines are getting their IP via DHCP, so it's not guaranteed to be the same. The system names aren't available in any DNS scheme I know of (I'd love to hear about a facility for this). I can put entries into /etc/hosts if the IPs were static, but they aren't, and certainly won't be when I'm connecting by PPP. We are already connecting through IM protocols, using gaim. Conceivably I can simply tell him my IP when I connect, but I'm wondering what is the canonical way to handle this? How do I handle it now, when the IP is dynamic (even though it's unlikely to change I want to work on the general solution while it's easy to do it - while I have my hands on all the systems). The power fails here periodically, and the cable modem he's on renegotiates it's IP each time - even that's not static. Thanks for info, Bret On Tue, 2003-08-12 at 17:44, Peter Hardy wrote: Morning! On Tue, Aug 12, 2003 at 04:02:13PM -0400, Bret Comstock Waldow wrote: I mean how do I do these things: There really should be a HOWTO for things like this... 1) Run a program on someone else's machine. Both console and X. ssh. You use it to get a shell on a remote computer. It's also the most secure and simple way to run X programs remotely. This is usually as simple as running it with the -X option. Check the X11 and TCP forwarding section of the ssh man page for details. If you want the party at the other end to also see what you're running, keep reading. 2) Show them a program I'm running on mine. Both console and X. In console, you want to be using screen - kind of a window manager for the terminal. Run your programs inside screen, and the other party will be able to log in to your machine with ssh, and connect to your screen session in a listen-only mode. Again, check the man page for details. An alternative that I've never used before is vtgrab. The easiest way I've found in X is with VNC - an alternative to straight X11 that will feel very familiar (but a little slower) if you've ever used Microsoft's terminal server. The vncserver will start a seperate X server that you will both need to connect to. There's a program called rfb which will export your current desktop, and it also has a listen-only mode. 3) Do it securely over the Internet. You can tunnel console, X and vnc traffic over ssh. Read the ssh man page or the full online manual at the OpenSSH website for details on TCP forwarding. Or you can look in to setting up a VPN connection. Much more flexible, but will take a bit more work to get off the ground. For two Linux machines, I'd suggest freeswan (http://www.freeswan.org/), because it's what I know best. Somebody else may have other suggestions. 4) Transfer files (besides attaching to email). Do I need to set up an ftp server on both machines? No. The ssh package will include sftp - essentially ftp over ssh. It will also have scp, to securely copy files back and forth. 5) Can I do 1, 2, and 3 for more than one person (I'm the Alpha Geek in my family). Both screen and vnc will let multiple clients connect. Bandwidth may start to become an issue with multiple vnc clients. -- Pete -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
[SLUG] inter-machine tools
Hi, I come from a background of Windows, where things like I'm asking about weren't really part of the design. In Windows, I used NetMeeting to support my Dad when I was Down Under and he was still back in the States. Now we're using GNU/Linux, which apparently (like Unix) inherently networks. I, however, don't know how to do it here. I'll do the RTFM, and ask better questions. But first, I need to know what to R about. I mean how do I do these things: 1) Run a program on someone else's machine. Both console and X. 2) Show them a program I'm running on mine. Both console and X. 3) Do it securely over the Internet. 4) Transfer files (besides attaching to email). Do I need to set up an ftp server on both machines? 5) Can I do 1, 2, and 3 for more than one person (I'm the Alpha Geek in my family). Thanks for pointers on what to bother reading about. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Debian - what is needed to compile?
On Tue, 2003-08-05 at 16:17, Chris Barnes wrote: Hi sluggers, I have recently installed Debian 3.0r1. I also tried to compile OpenSSH-3.6.1p1 but it tells me my compiler cant make executables or its broken. So my question is, what are the packages i need to install to be able to compile stuff? There may be better ways, but one possibility is to run 'tasksel', and choose the entry about 'C' development. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum dot mit dot edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
[SLUG] usefulness of DVD-R/RW drive
Hi folks, I've got a chance to get one of these somewhat cheaply. Not cheaply enough not to think about it though. It's a Cendyne and it says it does: DVD+R DVD+RW CD-RW and a list of various CD whatever formats that looks like what my CDRW drive can already do. I've got a Thinkpad and an external USB enclosure which holds, and works with, my CDRW drive. It's only USB 1.x, so it's limited to 8x burns, but it does it. (And the DVD thingie only does 4x anyway.) The Thinkpad's bay drive reads CD and DVD, including videos (although I haven't done this in GNU/Linux yet). What's it good for? I'm not a video producer, but might make some home movies for the folks back home. I like the thought of having an install DVD of Woody instead of CDs, but it's not a high priorty. Backups are handled with my now famous, patented two-hard-disks system. How much utitlity is there in such a gizmo? Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] dam mandrake and @localhost
On Wed, 2003-07-30 at 10:29, Voytek Eymont wrote: hmmm, is that correct to have 127.0.0.1 in this, rather than the proper IP address ? [EMAIL PROTECTED] root]# cat /etc/sysconfig/networking/profiles/default/hosts # Do not remove the following line, or various programs # that require network functionality will fail. 127.0.0.1 koala.sbt.net.aukoala localhost.localdomain localhos t [EMAIL PROTECTED] root]# Izzat the only file you have that lists this? On mine: [EMAIL PROTECTED]:~$ cat /etc/hosts 127.0.0.1 ganesha localhost It's been a while since RH9, but I thought it had 'hosts' in /etc too... The 127.0.0.1 is the loopback address - it's how your system talks to itself. Try 'ifconfig' and you should see an entry for 'lo'. This *is* the IP for 'localhost' (Wherever you go, there you are). And that's all I know so far about it. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] binfmt_coff.o: where can I get/build it?
On Sun, 2003-07-27 at 22:25, Chris wrote: I recently update my kernel to 2.4.20-18 and now binfmt_coff.o is missing. It normally resides in /lib/modules/2.4.20*/kernel/fs/. Where I can I get this file? I am not that familiar with kernel modification, how do I make a copy of this file? Hi, You didn't tell us what you did. Do you have RedHat, and you used up2date, or are you running Debian, and did apt-get install kernel-image...etc., or...? Or do you mean you got the source for 2.4.20-18 and you recompiled the kernel and installed it? What does update my kernel mean? Thanks, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Filesystems
-Mary ... still genuinely interested in the filesystem debate, in which people make surprisingly few good arguments. Ok, I'll throw my diaper into the ring... PartitionMagic works with ext3, I'm slowly shrinking my Window$ partitions, thus... Also, something I know quite a bit less about, but would like to educate myself on, I believe mounting ext3 as ext2 allows running noflush. Any wiser heads care to comment? I have a Thinkpad that works great as a desktop, but I will be on the road sometime later this year... Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Filesystems
On Tue, 2003-07-29 at 00:45, Brett Fenton wrote: http://www.vmars.tuwien.ac.at/courses/akti12/journal/02ws/article_02ws_Menedetter.pdf I read this a while back it's about as clear as it's going to get, though has dated very slightly. It's also not there. Cheers, Bret Brett Jeff Waugh wrote: quote who=Mary On Tue, Jul 29, 2003, Jeff Waugh wrote: But you're better off choosing ext3, jfs or xfs over reiserfs. :-) C'mon, back your assertions, it makes world domination easier you know! :-) Lots of rehashing here, but for the benefit of the list: Okay, so, reiserfs has no recovery tools. None. If something goes wrong, whammo, you're potentially toast, eggs and bacon. It doesn't use inodes internally, so if you're running an NFS server on top of it, there's a translation layer in between. Slow, and not worth the indirection. It doesn't scale particularly well with SMP. It's a metadata-only journalling filesystem, so you're not protecting the integrity of the data itself, just the description of the data. It has had a number of extents-related issues in the past, writing over files and data that it should not have. Personally, I would not use reiserfs in a production environment, though I do use it for /tmp, for cvs checkouts and for big build trees. XFS is a long-standing filesystem that has been used on OS/2 and IRIX. It is especially good for high throughput applications, such as media work (which is not surprising given SGI's market). Metadata only journalling, scales incredibly well with multiple CPUs (even under 2.4) and includes POSIX ACLs (even under 2.4), which are kind of cool if you're using recent versions of SAMBA and serving up to Windows PCs. XFS also supports a realtime partition type, which is designed to guarantee very high throughput rates for the most demanding applications (though it will be a while before this is fully supported in Linux). On the other hand, ext3 is a relatively slow filesystem which is on-disk compatible with ext2, with optional full data journalling (which in some cases actually makes it faster; mail queues are a good example). You can upgrade to ext3 from ext2 without any hassles. There are lots of improvements to ext2/3 all the time, such as Daniel Phillips' htree patch which improves directory indexing performance. Because basically everyone uses these filesystems, you can rely on them as the most heavily tested and most likely to be improved filesystems available for Linux. - Jeff -- Brett Fenton General Manager NetRegistry Pty Ltd ___ http://www.netregistry.com.au/ Tel: +61 2 96996099 | Fax: +61 2 96996088 PO Box 270 Broadway | NSW 2007, Australia Your Total Internet Business Services Provider Trusted by 10,000s of Oz Businesses Since 1997 This email is from NetRegistry Pty Ltd. The contents of this message are commercial and in confidence to the intended addresseee. The message may contain copyrighted and/or legally priviledged information. No person or entity other than the intended recipient may read, print or store this message, including any and all attached files. The intended recipient may not forward this message to any third party without express written permission from NetRegistry Pty Ltd. -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] First post, and question about Wireless
On Thu, 2003-07-24 at 16:53, Benjamin de Waal wrote: To try to simplify matters before I asked for help, my wireless network is ad-hoc with WEP completely off. I'd like to turn WEP back on once I'm set up obviously, but just for initial setup, I thought it'd be prudent to leave it off. Hi, Ok, you have a wireless PCMCIA adapter in your laptop, and it's an ad-hoc network. Half of your local network is wire, half wireless... What is the access point it's using (or that you're intending)? A card in your desktop system? Not a gateway/router, or you wouldn't be using ad-hoc...? Can you describe more of what is between the Internet and your laptop (assuming you want to access the net from the laptop itself)? What other machines are in your home network? Which ones are wired to which ones? Are you running a DHCP server on one, or are all intended to have static IPs? Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Hard disk
You need to worry about the mbr (Master Boot Record) as well as the disk partitions. Keep in mind no malware (virus, etc.) does anything on it's own - your CPU must be tricked into running it. Just 'cause there's a sequence of bytes some where on the disk doesn't mean your system's at risk - it must be in the file system so that it can be loaded into memory by your OS and the CPU's nose must be pointed at it and told to run it. I've had circumstances where using fdisk to kill, and then recreate partitions allowed me to recover files afterward, but recovery tools bypass the directory listings. Otherwise, if you initialize a partition, there's no way for the OS to find the files, load the byte sequences, etc., 'cause the facilities the OS uses read the directory listing to find the files, which the directory listing says aren't there... There are secure wiping tools for spy situations (industrial espionage, MI5, etc) that overwipe a disk so it can't be read forensically in a lab, but you probably don't need that - again unless you have a file your OS can read there isn't any way to point your CPU's nose at it to tell it to run the malware, which is the only way the malware can have any effect (other than taking up disk space, maybe). dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda bs=512 will put zeros all through a drive (I think - I haven't tried it), but you'll have to be running from another disk to do this (the dd program comes from somewhere). I use Tom's rootboot disk for maintenance, and it's write protected. I'd just remake the partitions (from a secure starting disk) and initialize them, and re-write the mbr. If you connect to the net before you've hardened your system you can't trust it. So it helps to have local CDs from images you've checked the md5 signature of...etc. Buying official CDs is probably ok. A DOS/Windows fdisk /mbr will overwrite the mbr (assuming your DOS/Windows disk is not infected, of course). It's a bit Machiavellian, eh? Cheers, Bret On Tue, 2003-07-22 at 01:44, Dan Banyard wrote: Hi, Recently my linux box was hacked. I re-installed the OS but I am still having problems with the machine. At this stage I am unsure whether these problems are due a hardware or software issue. I would like to totally wipe the hard disk and start again just in case the hackers have left any files. There seems to be loads of disk wiping utilities for Windows but I cannot see a way in which I can totally wipe the disk. Does anyone know of a utility or command? Also does anyone know of a hardware checking facility? I am using SuSE 7.2. I am getting to the stage when I am considering junking the whole machine, but this seems a real waste. Comments from anyone who has been hacked on what they did? Thanks in advance. Dan -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] intel i875
On Sat, 2003-07-19 at 06:57, Brett Fenton wrote: of course after 4 hours of frustration, five minutes after posting, it all works. You're welcome. We live to serve. Cheers, Bret recompile 2.5.75 with hyperthreading support and all systems are go .. brett On Sat, 2003-07-19 at 20:19, Brett Fenton wrote: has anyone been successful in getting linux to run on a board with an i875 chipset? apparently the latest 2.5.x kernels can support it, but i'm not having a great deal of luck. brett -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Mandrake 9.1 downgrade
On Thu, 2003-07-17 at 06:38, Ron Daniel wrote: Great. Here I sit, stuck in the world of M$ writing this email cause I just upgraded to 9.1 Somebody should have told me about the descent (downgrade) on the other side. The first three times I tried to install Debian (Redhat and SuSE before) I failed. It was frustrating, but each time I learned some more from exposure, and I've ultimately succeeded. Now I expect such each time I try something new, and I'm prepared for it. I have a laptop too, and I would like to recommend an approach I use (it works with desktop systems too). I have a Thinkpad, and a carrier that goes in the replaceable drive bay (they call it the Ultrabay). I also bought a second hard drive, identical to the one that came with it. My standard backup is: 1) Boot on Tom's rootboot disk (so the main OS and it's files are not involved in the process). 2) dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc bs=16384k. This makes a complete image of the hard disk to the backup disk. (Note: I actually use date; dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdc bs=16384k; date so I can time it.) 3) Go to bed. (My 20G drive takes 2 hours and 40 minutes) If something goes wrong otherwise, I can physically swap the disks and be up and running right back where I was. I can experiment with a new distro or upgrade, and guarantee access to my old system within minutes. I can do it selectively: dd if=/dev/hda7 of=/dev/hdc7 bs=x to just backup my /home partition so I have up-to-the-minute copies of my emails or the changes to my VMware images. The value in bs=xxx doesn't seem to affect the time it takes to do the backup. The main approach even copies the partition info, which I periodically juggle with PartitionMagic as I tune my system (and slowly but steadily shrink the Window$ partitions). Occasionally I use cp -au whatever wherever to just update some of the files quickly. I think rsync does this too, but I haven't looked into it yet. Only dd gets the partition info and bootloader across. I don't know of anything that can cost-effectively back up a 40G HD besides another 40G HD. And that 2 minute swap drives and be in business again aspect is good for my digestion and blood pressure. You could split a drive in two as well and use this technique, but then a restore would require reversing the dd, so you lose the 2 minute restore aspect. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] RE: Ron's Mandrake install probs.
On Thu, 2003-07-17 at 20:36, Laurie Savage wrote: But I should have mentioned that even if you keep user names the same, different distros presumably allocate different UIDs to the users and so the ownership of home directories becomes confused. Redhat always made me uid=500, and Debian makes me uid=1000. During installs, there's always been a place where I can specify mount points, including for already initialized partitions, and I specify my existing /home partition then. I also create the named user account, same name as before, and don't concern myself about the uid. After rebooting, but before signing in as my user, I go in as root and do cd /home; chown -R user.user user. I've gone both ways, and haven't lost anything I cared enough about to recall now. I haven't found anything this doesn't work for, but I'm running a personal system, so my experiments are limited. If I had a lot of users, I'd write a script that wrote out the account names and run it while things were working, so I'd have it against the day. Then I'd run another script that did the above off the list to restore them all. If the user data is kept somewhere as uid numbers, this would be more complicated, as those might change. I don't know of such, but there might be a volid reason I don't know of to do that, or just an unfortunate design decision. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Agfa and bit of attitude.
On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 07:32, Bill Bennett wrote: I have been given a scanner. An Agfa 1212 Snapscan. Parallel port. snip Has anybody else had experience with this model. Or, if it comes to that, with Agfa? No, but I got curious, as I've been working out some other scanners recently, and intend to write drivers for two parallel port scanners in the future. I can't do that yet. I did find there are SCSI, USB, and apparently parallel port versions of this scanner. The SCSI and USB versions are reported to work: http://lists.suse.com/archive/suse-linux-e/2002-Mar/1708.html http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-mfgs.html From my reading to date, I understand many parallel port devices are SCSI internally, and GNU/Linux code exists to deal with this aspect in many cases. I don't yet know what sort of surgery is needed to graft this onto a working SCSI Agfa model, though. One possibility that's mentioned generally is to install the programs and driver in WINE, and use that. Several people mention this as a way to gather the info to reverse engineer the protocol, so perhaps it works in it's own right. Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Display problems with laptop
On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 00:11, Ron Daniel wrote: I am running Mandrake 9.0 (dual boot) on a Compaq EVO 800N. I have a display problem the cause and recurrence of which I cannot fathom or reproduce on demand. I am running KDE windows manager The symptoms of the problem are that upon termination of a program, and it does not appear to be dependent on a program, the screen display goes haywire. The screen appears to be broken up into about 30 or so horizontal segments all of which abutt one another vertically and all of which are joined together by a thin white line from the top right corner of the segment above to the top left corner of the segment below. I don't have this machine, or this exact problem, but I do have one example of weird screen behavior I can report. I gave my Toshiba Tecra 780 to my Dad. We tried Redhat 8 and 9 on it, and the display does several things: 1) Flickers badly. A very low refresh rate, or maybe an interlacing mode. 2) When we try switching to console mode with a framebuffer (for higher text resolution - it's a 1024x768 LCD) the screen appears to melt, with some distinction into horizontal segments and other difficult to describe in words behavior. This sounds more relevant to your experience. I solved this by using XFree86 3.3.6. XFree86 4 drivers didn't play well with this chipset (S3 Virge/MX). This is true in Debian as well as the Redhats. So, what's your chipset, and how old is your laptop (I'm not up on Compaqs)? Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Agfa and bit of attitude.
On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 08:16, Bret Comstock Waldow wrote: On Wed, 2003-07-16 at 07:32, Bill Bennett wrote: I have been given a scanner. An Agfa 1212 Snapscan. Parallel port. snip One possibility that's mentioned generally is to install the programs and driver in WINE, and use that. Several people mention this as a way to gather the info to reverse engineer the protocol, so perhaps it works in it's own right. Another thought. Do you have DOS drivers? You can access the parallel port with dosemu... Cheers, Bret -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] xcngmz
Hey folks, Can anyone tell this (near newbie) what this message is/was? My Evolution shows it has an attachment, but I haven't figured out what the attachment is. The IP appears to be publically unrouteable, localhost in fact usually. Hmmm? Cheers, Bret On Sun, 2003-07-13 at 21:23, 127.0.0.1 wrote: FCVZBN __ -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] Linux box hanging on startup
Hi, You say it stops but really you need to say what it does - you're assuming it stops. For instance, it might switch to a video mode that doesn't show you the prompt you expect and blithely waits for you to login as you always have. What do you see up until it stops, what do you see when it stops, and has it ever worked before? Is this a change in a working system, or an install that didn't complete successfully? If it was working, what did you attempt last (that changed something so the outcome is different now)? Cheers, Bret On Tue, 2003-07-08 at 18:33, Dan Banyard wrote: Hi, I have a linux box which is hanging when it boots up. At this stage I am not as to why this has happened (hardware or software) but I am trying to work out what to do. I watch it go through the boot sequence and when it gets to the point where should give me a login prompt is just stops. So far I have managed to restart the box in rescue mode (i am using SuSE 7.2) and can successfully mount the hard disk. I am really trying to find information on what exactly is going wrong. I have been looking through the /var/log files and nothing jumps out. I realise there could be a million things going wrong but can anyone think of where I can look for clues? Does anyone know of anyone who offers a good linux doctor type service? thanks in advance dan -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
Re: [SLUG] urgent request
Oh, thank goodness we finally received one of these. I was worried eveyone else was going to get rich and we were going to miss out... On Sat, 2003-07-05 at 13:34, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: sir, I need your help, i am Benedict moful, the son of a Late minister during the reign of mobutu seseko, I came to know you in the course of my search for a reliable and God fearing partner and I decide to contact you because I believe you are a reputable person and I felt you can help us over this confidential matter. I count on your intergrity and honesty to be able to handle this business. My father was a minister in Democratic Republic of Congo during the reign of Late President Mobutu. Our father was killed during the rebel attack and our house was burnt. We manage to escape to Ghana with my mother and two of my sisters where we are now taking refuge.Before the death of my father he deposited US50 MILLION, with a security company in Europe.The money is kept in a trunk boxes and was registered as precious substance. Thus there is nobody that knows that it is money that is in the box. All the document with which the money was deposited is with us. I am lookinf for somebody to that is capable and willing to travel to any part of Europe to receive the two trunk boxes of money on behalf of my family from the security company. We need a trust worthy and experience person that will help us to invest this money in your country and take us as one family and will also buy a house for us over there where we can live safely. We are expecting to hear from you.Please contact me on this Email Address:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks for your anticipated cooperation.please include your telephone number and fax number in your reply Best Regards, BENEDICT MOFUL -- bwaldow at alum.mit.edu -- SLUG - Sydney Linux User's Group - http://slug.org.au/ More Info: http://lists.slug.org.au/listinfo/slug
