Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Peter and Google earth - I did have it working a couple of versions ago of Kubuntu, but not any more. Something for me to occupy my time with when the kids have gone back home on Tuesday. See Google Earth offers 32 and 64 bit downloads for Debian/Ubuntu and Fedora/OpenSUSE as default Linux options. So I guess maybe issues with other distros? Cheers Mark -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:29:20 +0100, t...@ls83.eclipse.co.uk said: mount.cifs in Debian Squeeze requires entries in /etc/fstab. Use libpam-mount (unless I've misunderstood what you are trying to do). -- You can have everything in life you want if you help enough other people get what they want - Zig Ziglar. Who did you help today? -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Hi Keith On 29/08/11 16:59, Keith Edmunds wrote: On Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:29:20 +0100, t...@ls83.eclipse.co.uk said: mount.cifs in Debian Squeeze requires entries in /etc/fstab. Use libpam-mount (unless I've misunderstood what you are trying to do). I looked at libpam-mount a couple of years ago and ran into a couple of issues. First, it seemed to share group id issues with mount.cifs (not too surprising, and I appreciate you're specifically suggesting this as a way to lose the entries in /etc/fstab). But the second issue seemed kind of fundamental, which is that if you're logging in via ssh, you have to allow password authentication rather than being able to use digital certificates. Cheers Tim -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On Fri, 2011-08-26 at 22:02 +0100, Mark Elkins wrote: Peter Have in the past discussed scanner issues on the DLUG. It seems to me now that as a 2nd hand scanner that Linux supports is so cheap it is probably better to avoid the attempt at a full scale software engineering project to try to get Linux to support very old scanners that won't give a great level of scanned resolution whatever os is used. I tried and tried to find an answer to get a old scanner I had to work properly on Linux and spent far too much time on it. Taking the view I would get there in the end but I didn't on this occasion. Passing a charity shop one day I got another for about £4 which works well with Linux and gives a good scan resolution. I agree. I never said that I intend to do anything about it. I will live with it until I get an up-to-date scanner. Not too sure I want to spent too much time reading ebooks as more than a certain amount of time in front of screen does not go down to well with the old eyes. However I am surprised that ebooks are a problem. Will look into this further when get time. Same goes for Google Earth as make no use of this myself. As Terry and Ralph note, the transfer/conversion from an ASCM file to an epub is the property of Adobe, but it can be accomplished under wine, but not natively in Linux. and Google earth - I did have it working a couple of versions ago of Kubuntu, but not any more. Something for me to occupy my time with when the kids have gone back home on Tuesday. Peter -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On Wednesday 24 Aug 2011, Peter Merchant wrote: How good is your linux installation? Well. Not bad by and large, but to answer your three queries: I still have three problems that are preventing me from getting rid of M $. 1. I need XP for my scanner, which is so old and odd that it is not supported in Linux. Can't help you with this one; I've never used a scanner that was particularly hard to set up under Linux. I've had two scanners attached to my boxes over the years; an old Epson with a SCSI interface and my current HP J4680. I recall that the Epson worked fine with a bit of jiggery-pokery. I remember taking it to one of our Installfests at Bournemouth Uni (probably the 2002 one). My J4680 'just worked'. The hplip package gives me as many features as a Windows user and is *much* easier to install and set up than the software provided for Windows. Despite HP's current PC woes, I've had nothing but praise for their printers/scanners. 2. I cannot get Google Earth to work. Nearly there, application is running, but no earth. That's an interesting one. I recall installing Google Earth when it first came to Linux some years ago. I can't remember how, but it installed and worked fine. I think I did it by downloading the package on Google's site. I never bothered to reinstall when I did a clean upgrage aome time ago. I just installed it again using Ralph's 'deb building package'. This created a deb file for me (with hundreds of warnings about filenames and versions not being found) and the deb installed cleanly. However, I'm obviously missing a font because I only get lots of squares instead of chars in the dialogue boxes. The earth is there OK though. 3. Downloading library ebooks. They come as an ascm XML file, that is used by Adobe to download the epub document, that I can then import into Calibre. But under linux I cannot get the epub document. That seems to be something that has not been done in linux yet. Hmmm; I'm not sure I understand what isn't working here. At first I thought that you couldn't load epub files into Calibre, but I think you are saying that there is no Adobe app on Linux to download the epub. Calibre certainly works with epub files (that's it's reason for being), so I'm assuming the latter. Will the Adobe App work under wine? If the App you use is Digital Editions, then V 1.7 was given Platinmum status on April 22nd see http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=versioniId=15545iTestingId=43373. -- Terry Coles 64 bit computing with Kubuntu Linux -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Hi Terry, 3. Downloading library ebooks. They come as an ascm XML file, that is used by Adobe to download the epub document, that I can then import into Calibre. But under linux I cannot get the epub document. That seems to be something that has not been done in linux yet. Hmmm; I'm not sure I understand what isn't working here. At first I thought that you couldn't load epub files into Calibre, but I think you are saying that there is no Adobe app on Linux to download the epub. I did a bit of reading up too and that is the problem. ascm has the information in it for Adobe Digital Editions to do the DRM to download a epub. If the App you use is Digital Editions, then V 1.7 was given Platinmum status on April 22nd see http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=versioniId=15545iTestingId=43373. Some of the comments there show folks are successfully doing the ascm to epub download. Cheers, Ralph. -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On Wed, 2011-08-24 at 11:19 +0100, Sean Gibbins wrote: On 24/08/11 10:36, John Carlyle-Clarke wrote: If I were in that position, with an A4 1200dpi scanner costing less than £50 I'd be tempted to buy a new one, since the money spend would soon be saved through not having to dual boot and maintain two OSs. Heh, I agree with the solution if not the logic! Alternatively there is almost certainly a more compatible, better spec'ed free scanner lurking unloved and unused somewhere in a loft of garage. Sean I keep my eye on Dorset Comp recycle forum, But there is no cost to me in keeping everything as it is, except for the time that XP needs to upgrade things every time I boot it. Ralph is right it is a Umax Astra 1210p, which was a bit of an oddball. It was chucked out by surrey Univ. and didn't cost me anything originally. P. -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Hi Peter, 2. I cannot get Google Earth to work. Nearly there, application is running, but no earth. I had the same problem. Excuse me for a bit of vagueness on but this was 18 months ago. If I remember right the problem was down to 'googleearth' installing the data files to the first user to run it. I naturally installed as 'root' and then went on to run the programme while still logged in as 'root'. So all the data files were set up in roots home directory with root access permissions. If I remember correctly the solution was as simple as 'rm -rf /root/,googleearth'. I don't think /opt/googleearth/ needed any attention at all. Then run GoogleEarth as your normal user and it will reconfigure itself and run properly. If this doesn't work then I'm pretty certain that 'uninstall, reinstall, exit root, and run as normal user' will do the trick. I believe that the CORRECT 'nix solution would be to setup a googleearth group, move the data to the /opt directory with 'googleearth' group permissions? Any cooments? However, this seems a bit complicated for the average desktop system now that mine is working I'm invoking 'if it ain't broke, then don't fix it'. Cheers, Kev Giles -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Hi, Kevin Giles wrote: I believe that the CORRECT 'nix solution would be to setup a googleearth group, move the data to the /opt directory with 'googleearth' group permissions? Any cooments? If Peter's on Ubuntu then there's a googleearth-package package, SGTNIT, that has make-googleearth-package(1) which downloads stuff from Google and builds a .deb. That .deb could then be installed. (Haven't tried it.) $ pkg sh googleearth-package | sed -n '/^Desc/,$p' Description: utility to automatically build a Debian package of Google Earth Google Earth is a 3D planet viewer that lets you interactively navigate satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and so forth. Google Earth is available for GNU/Linux from their web site, but is non- free software and is undistributable. It also does not integrate well into a Debian system. This utility makes it possible to build your own personal Debian package of Google Earth. The packaging itself is Free Software, but the Google Earth program is governed by the copyright holder (Google), so you may be limited as to what you can do with the resulting package (i.e. no redistribution, etc). This package will simply help you create the package --it is your responsibility to use the resulting package responsibly. Google Earth's homepage is located at http://earth.google.com/. $ Cheers, Ralph. -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Alternatively there is almost certainly a more compatible, better spec'ed free scanner lurking unloved and unused somewhere in a loft of garage. Sean Briefly, my experience is that a lot of the older SCSI scanners work well, but the nasty-cheap-scsi-adapters they came with were a hit-and-miss-affair. I have a nice HP and Epson SCSI, that work beautifully with sane, and hence with all the different tools gscan2pdf / simple-scan / xsane / etc... I happened to get a very cheap adaptec SCSI card that works well. Whereas, the Windows drivers for such nicely-made SCSI-scanners, are often no longer supported etc etc. The only snag is that you may need to add something to set the right permissions on the /dev/sg? device as that permission-setting doesn't seem to be well-maintained anymore. --Simon (a lurker, not from Dorset ;-) ) -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
[Dorset] Linux Limitations
How good is your linux installation? I still have three problems that are preventing me from getting rid of M $. 1. I need XP for my scanner, which is so old and odd that it is not supported in Linux. 2. I cannot get Google Earth to work. Nearly there, application is running, but no earth. 3. Downloading library ebooks. They come as an ascm XML file, that is used by Adobe to download the epub document, that I can then import into Calibre. But under linux I cannot get the epub document. That seems to be something that has not been done in linux yet. Cheers, Peter -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
Hi John, Peter, you wrote my scanner, which is so old and odd that it is not supported in Linux What model of scanner? There are some generic scanner drivers, one of these may just need a bit of fiddling to make it serve your scanner. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's a Umax Astra 120P parallel-port scanner. http://umax1220p.sourceforge.net/ seems to support some later models, including a 1220P, so perhaps that's the closest thing to start with? Cheers, Ralph. -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On 24/08/11 08:55, Peter Merchant wrote: I still have three problems that are preventing me from getting rid of M $. 1. I need XP for my scanner, which is so old and odd that it is not supported in Linux. If I were in that position, with an A4 1200dpi scanner costing less than £50 I'd be tempted to buy a new one, since the money spend would soon be saved through not having to dual boot and maintain two OSs. Hopefully Ralph's suggestion will avoid the problem altogether, though! -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On 24/08/11 10:36, John Carlyle-Clarke wrote: If I were in that position, with an A4 1200dpi scanner costing less than £50 I'd be tempted to buy a new one, since the money spend would soon be saved through not having to dual boot and maintain two OSs. Heh, I agree with the solution if not the logic! Alternatively there is almost certainly a more compatible, better spec'ed free scanner lurking unloved and unused somewhere in a loft of garage. Sean -- music, film, comics, books, rants and drivel: www.funkygibbins.me.uk -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
Re: [Dorset] Linux Limitations
On 24/08/11 08:55, Peter Merchant wrote: How good is your linux installation? My biggest gripe is with networking in a mixed environment. Samba has been fantastic for around 8 or 9 years now. I think it is also the best option for networking even in a Linux only environment. However with each Debian distro update, the CIFS support seems to get more and more broke, which is a real shame. mount.cifs in Debian Squeeze requires entries in /etc/fstab. This is supposedly for security reasons but is a huge pain. Apart from now requiring loads of entries for every user and every share in /etc/fstab, Nautilus now gets in on the act trying to mount shares (sometimes failing due to password requirements), resulting in multiple copies of shares appearing in file open windows, some of which work, some of which don't. Horribly broke. There also seems to be new problems with the Linux extensions which also group/user rights to be passed to clients. Used to work in Lenny/Etch, now broke. Really frustrating when new releases seem to take you backwards. Cheers Tim -- Next meeting: Bournemouth, Tuesday 2011-09-06 20:00 Meets, Mailing list, IRC, LinkedIn, ... http://dorset.lug.org.uk/ How to Report Bugs Effectively: http://goo.gl/4Xue
