Announce July 2001

announce@lists.alug.org.uk

3 participants
6 discussions

[ALUG-announce] Best of ALUG... to 16 July
by MJ Ray 16 Jul '01

16 Jul '01

OK, we hit a massive off-topic drift near the end and this is, again, very late in being compiled. The next issue should be on Friday. Apologies to all for any bad editing on my part. There's a slightly different format to this edition. Email the main list, alug(a)stu.uea.ac.uk to comment if you want. Highlights: IRC Nicknames list published BBQ meeting booked for Martlesham on 12 August Topics: Re: [Alug] linux expo.. Re: [Alug] Retail theropy - AC3, DVD and linux [Alug] Xdefaults [Alug] Curious Re: [Alug] Small question [Alug] latest IRC list [Alug] Suse contact [Alug] Alug Book emporuim Re: [Alug] Sending information between databases [Alug] BEER!!!!!! [Alug] Next Meet Is BOOKED [Alug] Tempest True type font [Alug] Going Alpha Re: [Alug] Which Linux distibution, please? RE: [Alug] Which Linux distibution, please? Re: [Alug] Connection Trauma Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 08:38:02 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: Re: [Alug] linux expo.. -- oms101(a)freeuk.com wrote: > > Silly, whats silly? I learnt yesterday whilst talking to the Gay > > person with a tail, "why do i give a shit what others think?" and > > he's right, why do I care? > > He was a nice girl and part of a tail related internet comunity > apparently his girl friend was a fox and he was some other anaimal, > some one I did not know made a joke about beastiality, but a good > relief from the goat sex related topics that sprang up at manlug Actually HE was called moof and is actually not interested in women, so it was his boy friend who is the fox and it was that latters tail he had borrowed. He says there are more like him at http://www.londonfurs.org/ Also he is from kent and is a student at Kent Uni. > Ah poor bunny, why not track down the tail based internet comunity > they seemed fun to. I cant bitch though as It was remarkably > friendly and no matter how desperate you where to get hold of soft > toys people thought it was perfectly natural. ( Bet you cant guess > who that may have been) http://www.londonfurs.org/ - I don't really relate to the furries but the geeks/nerds/hackers which were in the bar I could relate to. > I met Wylug members, ManLug members and sheflug members as well, as > the locals. Its was like a tribal gethering for this nomad. I met Sheflug and manlug and Lonix and GLUG people also a group looking to form a LUG in kent. Like you say it was a tribal gathering. Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 7 Jul 2001 17:42:22 +0100 (BST) From: Adam Bower <abower(a)thebowery.co.uk> Subject: Re: [Alug] Retail theropy - AC3, DVD and linux On Sat, 7 Jul 2001, David Freeman wrote: > 1) Is it worth getting TV out on a graphics card? for a desktop > machine? IMHO no, unless you want to watch DVDs on a larger screen etc. but I don't know if this is supported under Linux. I did have TV out on my last Nvidia TNT and never used it. > 2) How well is the geforce 2 MX supported on Linux? I have a GeForce 2 GTS and all Nvidia cards later than the Riva128 are supported with hardware acceleration, BUT the drivers to do this are binary only (they work fine though) Nvidia will not open source them. There is an implementation built into XFree86 that supports them but no hardware acceleration == no Quake III. > 3) Are DVD rom drives fixed as a single region? if so how do I unfix > it? Yes, but you can unlock quite a few with a patch (a bit like a Bios update) I don't know where there is a site that tells you more, google might. If you do find more info let me know as I am also looking at some retail therapy! > 4) Do DVD rom drives have a S/PDIF output on the drive? I would of thought that some do and some dont. Sorry I can't be more helpful. > 5) Can any one recommend a cheap sound card which will give me 6 > channel sound output from the DVD drive and allow me to output it to my > surround amp? Probably one of the cheap Creative Labs would do, again don't know really > 6) What dvd decoding software would people recommend? don't know :-( My god I am soooo tempted to spend money at the moment! I am tempted by an Athlon 1.2Ghz 512Mb 2100DDR memory, motherboard and DVD drive along with a IBM UDMA100 60Gb hard disk and a Iiyama Vision master Pro 451 19" monitor, but I have to keep telling myself that I live in the real world and can't afford it...... Adam ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 07 Jul 2001 20:48:35 +0100 (BST) From: oms101(a)freeuk.com Subject: [Alug] Xdefaults A while ago we where discussing X and .Xdefaults and I discovered that some people might want some of my settings for X If you type use KDE it can be anoying the way you X applications look and feel is modified by apply changes to all X windows deleting some of your changes to the ~/.Xdefaults file. (I now use ice which is well customised now maybe I should post my theme some time to themes.org or even here) at the end of the ~/.Xdefaults file on my account you will see the line <Quote> #include "etc/X/Xresorces/Main" </Quote> This prevents programs overwriting my Xdefault which I set So fav I have only set up a couple of programs The links to a file called Main which further links to setups for 4 applications and looks like <Quote> #include "XTerm" #include "Nedit" #include "Netscape" #include "Ddd" </Quote> The files XTerm Nedit Netscape and Ddd have appended I hope this will improve the look of your X enviroment, The support for wheel mouse in Xterms and Nedit is now an essential for me. Enjoy Owen - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- Ddd - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- Ddd*XmText.background: black Ddd*XmText.foreground: white - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- Nedit - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- !========================================================================== ! NeDiT Settings from OMS !========================================================================== ! NEdit*fontList: -*-lucidatypewriter-bold-r-*-*-17-*-*-*-*-*-*-* NEdit*text.selectForeground: red nedit*text.selectBackground: gray80 nedit*text.highlightBackground: red nedit*text.highlightForeground: white nedit.remapDeleteKey: False # NEdit NEdit*text.Translations: #override\n\ Shift<Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>: scroll_up(1)\n\ Shift<Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>: scroll_down(1)\n\ Ctrl<Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>: previous_page()\n\ Ctrl<Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>: next_page(1)\n\ <Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>: scroll_up(3)\n\ <Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>: scroll_down(3)\n nedit.stdOpenDialog: True - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- Netscape - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- !## NETSCAPE Netscape*drawingArea.translations: #replace \ <Btn1Down>: ArmLink() \n\ <Btn2Down>: ArmLink() \n\ ~Shift<Btn1Up>: ActivateLink() \n\ ~Shift<Btn2Up>: ActivateLink(new-window) \ DisarmLink() \n\ Shift<Btn1Up>: ActivateLink(save-only) \ DisarmLink() \n\ Shift<Btn2Up>: ActivateLink(save-only) \ DisarmLink() \n\ <Btn1Motion>: DisarmLinkIfMoved() \n\ <Btn2Motion>: DisarmLinkIfMoved() \n\ <Btn3Motion>: DisarmLinkIfMoved() \n\ <Motion>: DescribeLink() \n\ <Btn3Down>: xfeDoPopup() \n\ <Btn3Up>: ActivatePopup() \n\ Ctrl<Btn4Down>: PageUp()\n\ Ctrl<Btn5Down>: PageDown()\n\ Shift<Btn4Down>: LineUp()\n\ Shift<Btn5Down>: LineDown()\n\ None<Btn4Down>: LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()\n\ None<Btn5Down>: LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()\n\ Alt<Btn4Down>: xfeDoCommand(forward)\n\ Alt<Btn5Down>: xfeDoCommand(back)\n Netscape*globalNonTextTranslations: #override\n\ Shift<Btn4Down>: LineUp()\n\ Shift<Btn5Down>: LineDown()\n\ None<Btn4Down>:LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()LineUp()\n\ None<Btn5Down>:LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()LineDown()\n\ Alt<Btn4Down>: xfeDoCommand(forward)\n\ Alt<Btn5Down>: xfeDoCommand(back)\n - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- XFMail - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- !========================================================================== ! XFMail Settings from OMS !========================================================================== ! xfmail*text.Translations: #override\n\ <Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>:a\n\ <Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>:a\n\ - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- XTerm - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- ! =========================================================================== ! Basic !=========================================================================== !Changed as to big a window on display !.xterm.geometry: 80x45 .xterm.geometry: 78x18 .xterm.vt100.background: black .xterm.vt100.foreground: grey .xterm.vt100.color0: #000000 .xterm.vt100.color1: #d36265 .xterm.vt100.color2: #aece91 .xterm.vt100.color3: #e7e18c .xterm.vt100.color4: #7a7ab0 .xterm.vt100.color5: #963c59 .xterm.vt100.color6: #418179 .xterm.vt100.color7: gray .xterm.vt100.color8: gray40 .xterm.vt100.color9: #ef8171 .xterm.vt100.color10: #e5f779 .xterm.vt100.color11: #fff796 .xterm.vt100.color12: #4186be .xterm.vt100.color13: #ef9ebe .xterm.vt100.color14: #71bebe .xterm.vt100.color15: white .xterm*fontMenu*background: green ! =========================================================================== ! Motif ! =========================================================================== !*XmText.translations: #override\n\ ! <Key>osfDelete: delete-previous-character()\n\ ! <Key>osfBackSpace: delete-next-character()\n ! !*XmTextField.translations: #override\n\ ! <Key>osfDelete: delete-next-character()\n\ ! <Key>osfBackSpace: delete-previous-character()\n ! =========================================================================== ! XTerm ! =========================================================================== !*vt100.translations: #override \ ! <Key>Home: string("[1~") \n\ ! <Key>Insert: string("[2~") \n\ ! <Key>BackSpace: string("[3~") \n\ ! <Key>End: string("[4~") !============================================================================= ! xterm defaults from OMS !============================================================================= ! ! !# In the scrollbar we map buttons 5 & 4 to 1 and 2 otherwise, core dump !# This will move proportionnaly to cursor position but we dont know how to !# program the same exact behavior as in the text widget. XTerm.vt100.Scrollbar.translations: #override\n\ <Btn5Down>: StartScroll(Forward)\n\ <Btn4Down>: StartScroll(Backward)\n\ XTerm.vt100.translations: #override\n\ Shift<Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>:scroll-back(1,line)\n\ Shift<Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>:scroll-forw(1,line)\n\ Ctrl<Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>:scroll-back(1,page)\n\ Ctrl<Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>:scroll-forw(1,page)\n\ <Btn4Down>,<Btn4Up>:scroll-back(1,halfpage)\n\ <Btn5Down>,<Btn5Up>:scroll-forw(1,halfpage)\n\ ! xterm (and friends) XTerm*highlightSelection: true ! Uncomment this to use color for the bold attribute XTerm*VT100*colorBDMode: on XTerm*VT100*colorBD: blue ! Uncomment this to use color for underline attribute XTerm.VT100*colorULMode: on XTerm.VT100*underLine: off XTerm*VT100*colorUL: magenta ! Uncomment this to display the scrollbar XTerm*scrollBar: true ! This resource specifies whether or not to ignore the 'alternate screen' ! of applications such as vi. When it is on, these applications will restore ! the contents of the screen when they are exited to what they were before ! they were started. When it is off, the contents of vi will remain on the ! screen after the program is quit. XTerm.VT100.titeInhibit: true ! Uncomment this to turn off color mode in your xterms !XTerm.VT100*colorMode: off XTerm.VT100*dynamicColors: on ! Number of lines of scrollback to save XTerm*saveLines: 1500 xterm*reverseWrap: true !*visualBell: true *visualBell: False *scrollTtyOutput: False *scrollKey: True !XTerm.vt100.Scrollbar.translations: #override\n\ ! <Btn5Down>: StartScroll(Forward)\n\ ! <Btn4Down>: StartScroll(Backward)\n\ xterm*background: LightYellow2 xterm.eightBitInput: true xterm*multiScroll: on xterm*jumpScroll: on xterm*ScrollBar: on xterm*SaveLines: 2000 ! xterm*VisualBell: true xterm.eightBitOutput: true !xterm*font: -adobe-courier-bold-r-normal--14-140-75-75-m-90-iso8859-1 !xterm*font: -bitstream-terminal-bold-r-normal--14-140-75-75-m-90-iso8859-1 xterm*font: 10x20 !This Stuff was cut from the top XTerm*Scrollbar*width: 16 XTerm*Scrollbar*height: 16 XTerm*Scrollbar*shadowWidth: 2 XTerm*Scrollbar*borderWidth: 3 XTerm*RightScrollBar: True *Scrollbar*width: 15 *Scrollbar*height: 15 *Scrollbar*shadowWidth: 2 *Scrollbar*borderWidth: 2 *Scrollbar*cursorName: top_left_arrow *Scrollbar*pushThumb: false *Label*shadowWidth: 2 *Label*borderWidth: 2 *shapeStyle: Rectangle *shadowWidth: 2 *SmeBSB*shadowWidth: 2 *Toggle*highlightThickness: 2 *MenuButton*highlightThickness: 2 *Command*highlightThickness: 2 *Panner*shadowThickness: 2 *SimpleMenu*shadowThickness: 2 *topShadowContrast: 20 *bottomShadowContrast: 45 *PushThumb: False - -----------------filedelimiter----------------------- please note that I have included the Files in the body of the text to avoid hastle, if the delimiter confuses you you can always mail me for the raw files Owen ------------------------------ Date: 07 Jul 2001 15:37:39 +0100 From: MJ Ray <markj(a)cloaked.freeserve.co.uk> Subject: [Alug] Curious Well, I was getting some nasty errors on my CDROM recently while trying to play a CD that I knew worked before. XMMS just hung there, while xconsole showed errors about "SeekComplete DriveReady Error". So I rebuilt my kernel with only the drivers I actually use (removing the swsusp patch that makes my machine panic if I try to use it) and that didn't work. I installed ALSA (which debian have now got quite a nice build process for now, I think, although I hacked it about a little bit). The sound quality is absolutely loads better, but it still hung on the "bad" files. I searched around the net a bit, confident that my system was fairly neat and tidy now. Someone mentioned that they see that error when the CD is scratched. I took the CD out, polished it with the "Magic Cloth" I use on my glasses (3 pounds or so from Boots Opticians) and now it works. Ooops. -- MJR ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 08 Jul 2001 18:06:09 +0100 From: Andrew J Glover <flexifoil(a)btinternet.com> Subject: Re: [Alug] Small question Steve Kuo wrote: > Anyone know how I'd go about taking a screenshot? Not > in KDE or anything, just plain bash If you have Imagemagick (likely) installed, then : import -window root some.jpg Andrew ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 11:13:51 +0100 From: Jenny_Hopkins(a)toby-churchill.com Subject: [Alug] latest IRC list [this will appear on http://www.anglian.lug.org.uk/articles/2001a/ircnames.html at midnight tonight, 16 July] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 09:05:52 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: [Alug] Suse contact Does anyone know of the LUG contact in SuSE? I remeber phoning someone before NLD but can't find the name or number. An email address would be useful. Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 9 Jul 2001 09:24:57 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: [Alug] Alug Book emporuim All, I have just spoken to pearson Education who are offering a discount on there books to ALUG members, we just have to put a link on the web page to there site which if we use gives us the discount. Pearson are offering Prentice hall books which are the publishers of books by Andrew Tanenbaum. Andrews books are some of the best technical ones out there, his book on OS's helped Linus no end when he was writting linux originally. Also his book "Computer Networks" 3rd edition is very good and recommended reading for all members. Whilst on the subject of books, I was thinking of taking Jens page on Lniux books and building it into a larger page with details of the ALUG discounts and also the recommended reading list. Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 10:15:29 +0100 From: Andrew Savory <a.savory(a)btinternet.com> Subject: Re: [Alug] Sending information between databases On Wed, 11 Jul, 2001 at 9:50 +0100, Ashley T. Howes Ph.D. wrote: > It's a general question more than anything. Assume the database does not > support native replication. Hrm. All I can say is, perhaps it's time to consider a database that DOES support native replication? Doing it yourself is going to be at best tricky, at worst prone to errors and omissions. When you're talking about customers valuable data, this is a BAD thing. There's plenty of free databases out there that support it, so there's little cost argument against (aside from time to implement). Heck, even MySQL supports replication now, and you should all know my thoughts on *that* particular RDBMS-wannabe by now.... ;-) Andrew. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 10:41:13 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: [Alug] BEER!!!!!! List, Is anyone on the list planning on going to the linux beer hike in belguim at the end of august? Seriously contemplating it. Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 01:57:44 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: [Alug] Next Meet Is BOOKED All, I have booked Martlesham heath scout hut for the 12th august 2001. So the next meet will be sunday 12th August. I will be inviting some members of GLLUG and LONIX. The cost of the hall is £10 and I was going to cover this by raffling off a book and possibly a T-shirt. So Usual system now applies, let me know what you will be bringing in the way of hardware and that you will being coming. ALso Don't forget the LUG BBQ afterwoods. Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 05:35:34 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: [Alug] Tempest True type font Does anyone know of a true type font which should screw up tempest equipment? I know pgp shipped with one but I need a free anti-tempest font. Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Jul 2001 14:52:52 -0700 (PDT) From: David Freeman <david_freeman(a)rocketmail.com> Subject: [Alug] Going Alpha All, My web site has now gone alpha. So could I ask for people to take a look and let me know of any bugs, speiling misstakes etc... Also constructive criticism would be nice. http://freemadi.alug.org.uk/ Thanks D ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2001 00:00:12 +0100 (BST) From: Adam Bower <abower(a)thebowery.co.uk> Subject: Re: [Alug] Which Linux distibution, please? On Sun, 15 Jul 2001 Ruleng(a)aol.com wrote: > If there is not enough disk space for a recommended distribution, would > it be possible for me to use only part of it at first, and which > parts should a novice select? I would appreciate any advice that you could > give me. Oh yeah, there is also this HOW-TO document for getting linux on a laptop with less than 4Mb of RAM and a hard disk of around 200Mb which you can find here http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/4mb-Laptops.html which may be useful. I just had a look at the Slackware website and it does say the minimum system is 16Mb of RAM and 50Mb of harddisk so that may be more suitable for you http://www.slackware.org Adam ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 23:39:08 +0100 (BST) From: oms101(a)freeuk.com Subject: RE: [Alug] Which Linux distibution, please? SuSe tends to be a bit bulky maybe debian, which I would not normally advice to A) a begginer B) some one without free internet access. ( I know Suse will install in that size though the default kernal is now pentium optimised so not 486 compatable) Owen (SuSe user) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 15 Jul 2001 23:32:33 +0100 From: Steve Fosdick <fozzy(a)pelvoux.demon.co.uk> Subject: Re: [Alug] Connection Trauma On Sun, Jul 15, 2001 at 10:06:58PM +0100, David Howe wrote: > Win2K machine is looking to 10.10.10.200 for web pages (for example) > but is not getting any further i.e. getting no imformation from > 10.10.10.200's ppp0 connection. ppp0 was set up in linuxconf rather > than kppp and connects fine at boot and the "set default route" > option is checked. I have no default route set as Linuxconf help > suggested not to for ppp connections as they sort it themselves As you have 10.something addresses on your LAN, simple IP forwarding will not be enough to enable the machines on your LAN to access the internet using the Linux box as a gateway. If you are only interested in web access then you could install a web proxy server like squid or wwwoffle on the Linux box and configure you LAN client to use the Linux box as a web proxy. This is an especially useful arrangement if you have more than one LAN client as the proxy can cache things and the cache is shared by all the clients. For other protocols (mail, news, games etc.) you will need to configure IP masquerading on the Linux box. There is a HOWTO on this at the Linux documentation project site (http://www.linuxdoc.org/) Steve. ------------------------------

1 0

[ALUG-announce] [Alug] Next Meet Is BOOKED
by David Freeman 16 Jul '01

16 Jul '01

All, I have booked Martlesham heath scout hut for the 12th august 2001. So the next meet will be sunday 12th August. I will be inviting some members of GLLUG and LONIX. The cost of the hall is �10 and I was going to cover this by raffling off a book and possibly a T-shirt. So Usual system now applies, let me know what you will be bringing in the way of hardware and that you will being coming. ALso Don't forget the LUG BBQ afterwoods. Thanks D ===== -------------------- "We all know Linux is great... it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." Linus Torvalds __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ _______________________________________________ alug, the Anglian Linux User Group list Send list replies to alug(a)stu.uea.ac.uk http://www.anglian.lug.org.uk/ http://rabbit.stu.uea.ac.uk/cgi-bin/listinfo/alug See the website for instructions on digest or unsub!

1 0

[ALUG-announce] Linux Expo meetings
by jo＠yee-ha.demon.co.uk 03 Jul '01

03 Jul '01

> Steve Fosdick wrote: > > > > There was apparently an agreement reached on IRC tonight as to a place > > and time within the exhibition where alug members would meet to > > compare freebies etc. > > > > M J Ray asked if someone would post the details to the alug-announce > > mailing list, but I think by then anyone who had been party to the > > discussion has left IRC. > > > > If you were party to the discussion and rememeber what time and place > > was agreed could you please post a message to the alug-announce > > mailing list with the place and time concerned. > > I believe it was decided to meet at 12:15 at the front entrance of the expo, on both days. I stand ready to be corrected, of course :) Jo -- <>-- jo mitchell --------icq#104771112 ----------<> http://deskdemon.com | http://futurshox.net Linux-powered! | mobile: +44 7974 219809 <>-----------------------------------------------<>

1 0

[ALUG-announce] ALUG Notes -- two weeks to 20 June
by MJ Ray 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

Hi, here's a short summary of what's been on the ALUG mailing list in the last 2 weeks. Hopefully, in future, these will be done weekly. Any volunteers for a rota? All that you need is some saved ALUG messages... Where I know IRC nicknames they're included in the write-up somewhere. I hope this is useful for the Monday evening IRC meetings, but if I've fluffed one, please let me know and I'll try not to do it again. [Alug] online services in Norwich question 36 messages Joss Winn will be coming to UEA later this year and asked Norwich members to "advise me on a couple of things regarding networking and accomodation in the area. [...] can anybody tell me about the availability of cable or DSL in the area?" Andrew Savory (ajs) confirmed that the old-fashioned modems are still common in the city: "It isn't available. According to NTL, it will be available in 'early 2001', 'Easter', 'May', 'June', and now 'later this year'. Don't hold your breath." He recommended an unlimited dial-up deal instead until the situation changes, while Jo Mitchell suggested ISDN. Adam Bower took this forwards by asking about using 128k ISDN on these deals, although no-one answered. With ADSL supposed to be coming early next year, Martyn Drake helpfully pointed out that "I'll just bet whoever is offering ADSL services in the area will be using the USB Speedtouch modems. Mandrake 8.0 pretty much supports these straight out of the box" Once again, the "MJR and David Freeman fireworks show" got into action. This time it was about BT's slow roll-out of ADSL with David's initial claim that "BT has the technologie and ability to role out ADSL to everyone, except it costs so much to do. OFTEL wont let us loss lead" getting the intolerant response from MJR that "BT is solely interested in screwing as much money as possible out of the current technologies (eg ISDN) before having to discount them when they introduce the superior DSL systems." From there it became an argument about whether it's the government or corporation's fault and whether the will of the people makes any difference in modern society. Other network technology was explored, including ham radio ("you don't want to go there. [...] 9600 baud is considered fast. [...] Welcome to the twilight zone where valves are the vogue and your circuit looks like it's a particularly tricky plumbing problem." -- Bill Hill (wbh) ) and 802.11b wireless networking ("A group in ipswich considered building the SWAN, Suffok Wireless area network, we just need more people to make it worth while." -- David Freeman). [Alug] basic routing/config prob for mail 26 messages Jen spent a while on the list getting help in trying to figure out how to persuade her Linux box to play nicely with work's network. Once we'd helped her to get the right Debian packages installed (and pointed people at http://www.uk.debian.org/ for future searches), we made some progress in correcting some errors but Jen reported back 'No, I get "a record cannot be found"' before it mysteriously started working. Further investigation suggested that "problem was ignorance about how WINS and DNS work, probably. Did a crash course yesterday. I'll try and do a write-up." The thread continued for a while after this success with points about firewalls and discussion of a newbie list again. John Woodard (BigJohn) summarised past discussions with "I don't think there is too much trafic on the main list to warrant a newbie list quite yet." [Alug] ALUG Librarian stuff 16 messages, +3 in another thread This thread continued with MJR (slef) casting aspersions on UML, while being enlightened by Neill Newman with the confirmation that "in some respects, UML, booch and the like are biased towards OO". UML was still seen as the right way forwards for the library design, as "it is impossible to design a system that is exactly righ the first time round", but to date, no design has been posted. [Alug] ANNOUNCE: ALUG 2001.4 (End Of The Academic Year!) 7 messages, +8 in other threads The final meeting announcement was posted, finally provoking protest that it was on Father's Day and would cause BJ to miss his first meeting ever. Sadly, it was too late to change. Also, more details of the demonstrations planned for the event were given in responses from David Freeman (akula) and others. [Alug] Usage Stats for anglian.lug.org.uk 6 messages http://usage.alug.org.uk/ was announced by Martyn Drake, which was quickly followed by Ashley T Howes spotting "In June 2001 3.3% of visitors were using a BBC Micro" and Steve Fosdick (fozzy) correctly spotting that "The other possibility, of course, is that someone has a browser that lets the user configure the agent header (doesn't opera let you do that?), or a proxy server that can be made to falsify it." Some OT discussion of the feasibility of a BBC Micro web browser followed. [Alug] MS Exchange Server 5 messages Govind Chandra asked "if it is possible to query Exchange Server like POP3 or IMAP servers. Email is the only thing that I have to boot into windows for and use outlook." In general, even though this is possible, Bill Hill confirmed that it was likely to be a local sysadmin's decision not to allow it: "POP/IMAP/anything-useful is disabled by default as being a security risk. I just set it up to have all mail forwarded to somewhere with a more sane server!" -- MJR

1 0

[ALUG-announce] We need *YOU*!
by MJ Ray 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

ALUG needs people to do the following tasks: - Write for our web site and this newsletter (email me) - Organise the next few meetings (email alug@stu) - Help organise the IRC meetings on Mondays at 8pm (ask online this week) - Be witty and inspiring people (email alug@stu) - Come meet up if you're at LinuxExpo this week (more details in next edition) If you want to do any of the above, please get in touch as listed above. Thanks. -- MJR

1 0

[ALUG-announce] ALUG Notes -- 10 days to 1 July
by MJ Ray 01 Jul '01

01 Jul '01

OK, so I didn't get this done weekly. Probably something to do with travelling back from Belfast on the day I wanted to do it. Anyone want to do the next one? Well, here we go for our irregular summary of the ALUG list activity... Topics: [Alug] Microsoft FUD [Alug] pppd problem [Alug] Virus on Linux? [Alug] Disappearing messages [Alug] Problems with Mandrake, silly questions and the result. [Alug] linux and USB! Can it be achieved with SuperMicro P6SBA, AmiBios R1.5b? [Alug] Linux Expo... [Alug] A complete beginners view [Alug] Van Eck X config [Alug] Secure FTP Subject: [Alug] Microsoft FUD Adam Bower posted a link to "the document with the worst use of grammer (not that mine is great but then hey I'm not an advertising exec) and the greatest FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt) from Microsoft ever." and noted that the document's comments (don't you love Word giving the game away?) described it as "Our latest anti-linux paper.." Steve Fosdick reasoned "why does Microsoft write a document about operating systems to target the end user? For the same reason that Intel advertise the Pentium Processor on the TV - because they want to convince the end users who don't have the technical understanding to specifically ask for the advertised product when that decision is better left with someone who understands the technology." There were also numerous specific rebuttals. Suffice to say, the group wasn't impressed with the tactics used. George Waring posted a link to "Microsoft: We Use FreeBSD at: http://www.betanews.com/article.php3?sid=992921150 ... These guys sure know how to make themselves easy to hate." And Jen implored us to "Just remember, all, - Linux is NOT FREE, your system can be hacked into by ANYONE due to the open source software, and there are NO DRIVERS for ANY of it so it WON'T WORK. The trouble is, of course, that there are a lot of people out there who will read that and believe it." Subject: [Alug] pppd problem New list contributor Andrew Glover complained about "disconnecting straight away with pppd." He answered his own question shortly after "I found out it's a compatibility problem with debian potato and 2.4.x". Welcome to the list Andrew. May we solve all your problems so easily ;-) Subject: [Alug] Virus on Linux? Vanisa Surapipith asked: "Can virus attact a linux system? People with MSWindows are constantly affected and need to update their Norton or McAfee virus scanner. Is there a similar thing in linux world? Neill Newman replied that "installing a virus on a linux box is much more dificult than under windows..." and pointed out that "for Redhat, ther are a fre options for updates.. if you are new to this, and want things to just work smoothly, I suggest looking at the up2date and up2date-gnome programs." Meanwhile, xsprite gave the short answer that "Yes. <http://www.big.net.au/~silvio/> However initial infection can be harder because of the multiuser nature of gnu/linux (and peer review). Worms are far more common. <http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,5080656,00.html> <http://www.computeruser.com/news/01/01/23/news13.html>" and Steve (brodders) offered a link to http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue65/lg_toc65.html Subject: [Alug] Disappearing messages Adam Bower and numerous others complained of strange happenings with the list. The short answer was some network and electrical maintenance which occurred near the list servers at UEA. Hopefully we're back to normal now. Subject: [Alug] Problems with Mandrake, silly questions and the result. John Seago reported more success with Red Hat than Mandrake, but there were some lingering problems. Owen offered condolences saying that "I still feel a begginer much the time, I think its the nature of linux. Some times I feel like its a "Civalisation" like stratagy game, in that as soon as you master one aspect of the system you find there is another level of technology to explore. Unless this is a hobby or profession I should target your efforts to what you want to do. Sound cards are a little tricky to install. Each sound card is installed slightly differently." John posted a later message: "Having now got over the initial euphoria of actually having a working (?), (see later), set of "Linux", Chris, my daughters fiancee, and I have now come up against several problems, In my case numbers of applications just don't work,and trying them delivers a bug report window> I can't believe that a complete system was sent out with a non working spreadsheet, time manager, and other bits that just don't work. I am of the opinion that I haven't installed or set up the system properly or may have installed something that needs other, installed items to work." Once again, Adam's message summarised many: "Yeah, Linux at the beginning is/can be frustrating. I remember the initial learning curve of How-to X would recommend reading Y that would recommend Z that would recommend X again. Made me say arghhhh more than once, although when you find you have 'got it' on one thing (in my case how init worked and the rc.d directorys) you suddenly find that nothing is a real problem and you can fix things yourself. What distro are you using though as it does sound a little buggy! I found that I had the same experience (installed apps not working etc.) as you until I found Debian, although Debian was more stressful to install and the prior knowledge of other distros was very helpful. Take the time to read and you will find yourself never going back to windows, it can take some dedication but it is really worth it." Subject: [Alug] linux and USB! Can it be achieved with SuperMicro P6SBA, AmiBios R1.5b? Tim Gowing announced: "I am having trouble making USB work under Linux (stand alone Linux only system, SuSE 6.3). ... Does anyone have any suggestions for a remedy?" Adam was swift with his reply: "I just had a look here http://www.supermicro.com/TECHSUPPORT/BIOS/bios.htm and it looks as though your Bios is now at version 3.1 so I would also suggest upgrading this and the kernel." Of course, how do you run these upgrades with a Linux-only system? This is a problem the seasoned Linux hackers have hit before. John Woodard answered: "Use a dos boot floppy you can use freedos if you really don't want to run Redmond code. Plenty of boot floppy images on the net if you look. My Epox mobo has the award awflash utility accessible in the bios!" Sounds like manufacturers are getting Clue. Subject: [Alug] Linux Expo... Many messages flew about, trying to arrange an ALUG meet at this event. So far, it sounds like Earl, Owen and David are there on Wednesday, while Jo, Adam and myself appear to be going on Thursday (Adam: "(damn less freebies!)"). Probably it's time to take up Adam's suggestion of "a big organising session on who is going on which day on Mondays IRC?" Subject: [Alug] Van Eck X config David Freeman "was reading cryptonomicon for the second time and I was wondering how I would go about do what Randy does with X windows. For those who don't know, Randy configures X so that there are no window titles, and the background is a script generating windows which open and close at random. Also I wondered if it was possible to output morse code on the scroll lock LED." The answers (from many): "The window titles bit would be the work of your window manager" ... "I did once have a program that would find a random .jpg from the net and display it in the root window as a background, although I would not reccomend using this program as it could be more than a little embarassing considering some of the content of the net" http://www.sudac.org/~napolium/linux/ http://sourceforge.net/projects/ditdah/ A discussion of Sun 3s broke out. http://www.sunhelp.org/faq/sunref1.html Subject: [Alug] Secure FTP Ashley Howes asked "I was wondering if anyone knows of a secure FTP server. By secure I mean the difference between telnet and SSH (so all traffic is encrypted in transmit). I briefly saw references to scp (part of SSH) on a google search. As anyone used this or could comment on alternatives?" Andrew Savory answered "Yes, I use scp all the time. It's usually available as part of the standard ssh package on linux (debheads do 'apt-get install ssh') and works quite nicely. If you're a windows user, search for putty and grab a copy of pscp." Adam (Ubiquitous?) Bower: "sftp is an interactive file transfer program, similar to ftp(1), which performs all operations over an encrypted ssh(1) transport." Andi Chandler offered http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=sftp&sektion=1 "This has the man page for sftp client" and http://www.xbill.org/sftp/ "This package contains sftpserv. I haven't tried it yet - when I do I'll email the list." -- MJR

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

Announce July 2001