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Meta stuff about comparative operating systems and Switching Sideways
by Ruth Bygrave 19 Jun '07

19 Jun '07

This is an essay on the abortive blog that was my last blog, until it sank without trace because it had 0 readers and comments and I got discouraged and wandered away. http://mogcow.blogspot.com/2006/11/switching-sideways.html I'm still quite proud of it, and think it contains useful if opinionated advice. I don't expect people on this list to agree with it necessarily, but feel it's an interesting point for discussion... except I'm probably wrong about that because nobody ever read it: I put up Statcounter, and it had about 38 hits, most of which were probably me checking in from the library to see if anybody had read it yet... Regards, R

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Re: [ALUG] usb wireless card for visitors
by Elisabeth Fosbrooke-Brown 19 Jun '07

19 Jun '07

"Rob Grant" <r.grant at uea.ac.uk> wrote: > > Visitors to UEA need to get their network cards registered in order to > access our network. ITCS can provide temporary access for visitors at conferences etc., which could be what you want. When I worked at the BA Festival last year there was a simple process involving username/password being signed out to a user; no idea what the innards were. They're not anti-Linux as far as my experience goes, but maybe that's because I haven't had any problems - apart from the newsystem mess-up last year, of course. -- sfr

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RE: usb wireless card for visitors
by Rob Grant 19 Jun '07

19 Jun '07

> > Message: 1 > Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:38:21 +0100 > From: "Rob Grant" <r.grant(a)uea.ac.uk> > Subject: [ALUG] usb wireless card for visitors > To: <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Message-ID: <007001c7b1be$b35f2c50$018ede8b(a)UEA.AC.UK> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > > Visitors to UEA need to get their network cards registered in order > to access our network. As a more convenient alternative, the > technical support manager here suggested that our school buy two or > three usb wireless cards which can be pre-registered and loaned to > visitors. > > Obviously, I'd like to make sure that whatever we get will have a > good chance of working for any visitors who arrive with Linux > laptops. Hence, any ideas on either of these would be appreciated. > Rob > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:02:43 +0100 > From: Simon Jude <s.jude(a)uea.ac.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] usb wireless card for visitors > > I'm not sure that you are aware of this, but the first time you > connect to the UEA wifi network it asks you to register. I did this > the other day with my laptop running ubuntu and it was registered and > working straight away (although the registration page says it can > take 20mins). > I'm not sure how this works for 'guests' at UEA but there used to be > a similar system for visitors wanting to use the UEA ethernet network > connections. Alternatively, parts of UEA are covered by the > Norwich-wide wifi which is free to use, and there are also numerous > departmental wifi networks too that are accessible. > > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 17:15:42 +0100 > From: Richard Lewis <richardlewis(a)fastmail.co.uk> >> > You can only register a network device's MAC address if you have a > valid UEA network user account. However, a single user account can > register more than one device. So Rob, if you register some wireless > cards, you (or whoever registers them) would be responsible for > whatever use is made of them. > > Also note that the University hosts a second wireless network provide > by BT OpenZone which visitors can pay a fee to use. > > http://www1.uea.ac.uk/print/home/services/units/is/services/itservices/netw… pus/wireless > > (apologies for UEA's ridiculous > CMS-generated-ultra-long-just-to-annoy-pretty-much-everybody URLs). > > And Simon, did you manage to use netreg.uea.ac.uk with a non-MSIE > browser? I'm very impressed ;-) > > Message: 4 > Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:35:29 +0100 > From: Wayne Stallwood <ALUGlist(a)digimatic.co.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] usb wireless card for visitors > > It is going to be a difficult search I am afraid, naturally you want > to > go the USB route rather than PCMCIA because not all new laptops have > PCMCIA. > > Of those that work a lot require a firmware image download (which is > going to be difficult to do before you get the link up) and/or only > work > for specific hardware revisions (and it's not easy to buy a specific > hardware revision of a card). For the former you could of course stick > the firmware with installation instructions on a CD or USB keydrive > > Then the range of wireless USB dongles that will play nicely with OSX > without lots of fiddling (you mention wanting it to be Mac compatible > too) is pretty limited, I am not even sure OSX will let you use a > third > party card if there is built in wireless hardware available. > > Even Windows is a bit of a problem if the machine already has Wireless > (and a fair percentage of recent laptops will) as you can get > unexpected > behaviour by adding an additional card. Even more so if there is no > way > to make the existing wireless card disappear without disabling the > driver in the device manager. And things only get worse if the > existing > card has a third party connection management bundle of nastiness on > the > taskbar. > > I've tried to help Coffee shops and pubs etc with this sort of set up > before and to be honest it is more trouble than it is worth. > > Perhaps you should ask the UEA should consider having a area on their > MAC registration page where a temporary visitor pass can be granted, > perhaps this would have restricted access compared to a fully > registered > MAC. It just strikes me that offering pe-registered cards for loan > effectively weakens the presumed reasoning for having the MAC > lockdowns > in the first place. > > Sorry I usually try to be more positive about the advice I give :-) > > > Message: 6 > Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2007 10:47:43 +0100 > From: Simon Jude <s.jude(a)uea.ac.uk> > Subject: Re: [ALUG] usb wireless card for visitors > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Message-ID: <4677A63F.2030200(a)uea.ac.uk> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed > > >> And Simon, did you manage to use netreg.uea.ac.uk with a non-MSIE >> browser? I'm very impressed ;-) >> >> > Yep, that worked fine, it even identified me as using linux! (just > don't > tell ITCS I'm running Linux!!! ;-)) > > > Simon > > > Wayne Stallwood wrote: >> O >> Perhaps you should ask the UEA should consider having a area on their >> MAC registration page where a temporary visitor pass can be granted, >> perhaps this would have restricted access compared to a fully >> registered >> MAC. It just strikes me that offering pe-registered cards for loan >> effectively weakens the presumed reasoning for having the MAC >> lockdowns >> in the first place. >> >> > It might be worth checking whether they have this already. > Simon, Richard, Wayne, thanks very much, that is very helpful. I anticipated that the IT manager would come back with a suggested card and wanted to see if I could propose something Linux usable- if you are right Wayne it seems more likely that the IT manager will come back and say that the whole idea is flawed even for MS machines. If a speaker turns up at 12pm wanting to access the internet during his talk, catch up on a few emails in the common room afterwards then be on a train at 5pm, we don't want to be poking around in his wireless card configuration trying to disable the built in one and enable our usb one. Apart from the hassle a visitor might feel justifiably annoyed if they then get back home and have problems getting their own wireless connections working again. I appreciate the info regarding the BT and Norwich networks. I think though that we are keen to offer the courtesy of a free connection to our guests and the Norwich city network has an uncertain future. Plus, how good is indoors reception with these? Looks like I should bring my own laptop in and try all the options with both Ubuntu and XP. Then if necessary our school can do what it can to push for a streamlining of the visitor registration process. I don't want to over push the linux thing at UEA as I get the feeling that attitudes to FOS in general vary considerably among our technical people here and I don't want to come across as too much of a trouble maker. I'm especially wary as someone with low technical knowledge- but you have given me some useful pointers to do what little I can here. Best wishes, Rob Rob Grant Lecturer in Development Economics School of Development Studies University of East Anglia NR4 7TJ +44(0)1603592324 r.grant(a)uea.ac.uk

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usb wireless card for visitors
by Rob Grant 19 Jun '07

19 Jun '07

Visitors to UEA need to get their network cards registered in order to access our network. As a more convenient alternative, the technical support manager here suggested that our school buy two or three usb wireless cards which can be pre-registered and loaned to visitors. Obviously, I'd like to make sure that whatever we get will have a good chance of working for any visitors who arrive with Linux laptops. Hence, any ideas on either of these would be appreciated. i) suggestions for a usb wireless card that should plug and play with Linux, Macs and Windows. Physical robustness probably a help too. ii) or is this whole idea a bad one? Apologies if this 'which wireless card?' thing has been rather done to death here recently. I can't recall anything specifically usb and mac/win interoperable though. Thanks, Rob Rob Grant Lecturer in Development Economics School of Development Studies University of East Anglia NR4 7TJ +44(0)1603592324 r.grant(a)uea.ac.uk

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 18 Jun '07

18 Jun '07

Tried what you suggested Adam, and got 'command not found' for aptitude install apt. Also had 'command not found' for sudo aptitude install apt. In fact I also tried commands ls, man, sudo, and they all returned 'command not found'. Does this mean that all (most) of my commands are unavailable? About a week ago I went through the update procedure. I started with Dapper 6.06 (from live CD), updated to Edgy 6.10, then updated to Feisty 7.04. Things worked perfectly until last weekend when I tried to boot up linux and got this result. Would I presume that the live CD 6.06 would not now be of any use since I am 2 upgrades up? I've alo tried recover mode at Grub but doesn't work either - same results. Is there such a thing as a rescue disk that will repair my OS without losing my work? Fortunately I am dual booting with Win98 (wash my mouth out), but it is a right pain rebooting backwards and forwards. I look forward to any suggestions - elc > > It gets to a point > > "the program 'apt-get' is currently not installed. You can install > > it by typing: > > apt-get install apt > > > Try > > aptitude install apt (or possibly sudo aptitude install apt) > > >> > What I am trying to get to is my normal GUI or desktop. >> > > It sounds like your machine might have serious problems, has anything > changed recently or any other things that might be relevant to this > problem? > > Adam

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FAO: Wayne (was Re: [ALUG] [ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : The Milestone, Woodbridge Road)
by samwise 17 Jun '07

17 Jun '07

Hey, Wayne, Are you coming tomorrow, should I bring my pair of book-laden carrier bags? Peter.

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 16 Jun '07

16 Jun '07

Various people at ALUG are trying to help me with my problem, and I thank them for their help in trying to get me back into Kubuntu. Someone asked if anything unusual has occured in the recent past to maybe cause my current situation. Only one thing comes to mind, is that when I first enter my password at the beginning of a session the first character depressed on my keyboard is not registered. There is no fault with my keyboard, - I have checked this. When I have tried to test my OS with your suggestions during the past week, I have got to a terminal prompt without any imput from me and at the first occassion of me entering a character the character is not registered, the second character (which is a repeat of the first) is registered. Do I have a gremlin here? Is it a cause or a symptom of my problem? On another thought, can I re-install my OS on top of my existing (non-working) OS to resolve my problem, as I can do with Windows? elc

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 16 Jun '07

16 Jun '07

I entered 'cat /etc/environment' and got PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/games" LANG="en_GB.UTF-8" LANGUAGE="en_GB:en" in this order elc Wayne Stallwood wrote > Right this either means that something nasty has happened > to /etc/environment or your boot process is getting suck because of > another problem and not even getting to the point that the running PATH > is set. > > Can you tell me what the output of the following looks like- > > cat /etc/environment > > You should get something like > > LANGUAGE="en_GB:en" > > LANG=en_GB.UTF-8 > PATH="/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/bin/X11:/usr/games" > > It's the PATH= bit that I am interested in > > If it looks similar to mine then I suspect the problem is earlier on in > the boot process and we are just looking at a symptom.

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 16 Jun '07

16 Jun '07

I entered 'find / -name dpkg' and got '/var/lib/dpkg' '/etc/dpkg' '/etc/logrotate.d/dpkg' '/usr/bin/dpkg' '/usr/lib/dpkg' '/usr/share/doc/dpkg' '/usr/share/dpkg' '/usr/share/lintian/overides/' I entered 'find / -name wget' and got '/usr/bin/wget' '/usr/share/doc/wget I'm typing at 'root@elc-desktop:~# _' I entered 'set> /tmp/set.txt' 'set>/tmp/set.txt' 'set > /tmp/set.txt' and got nothing to all three I entered 'more /tmp/set.txt' and got about 50 lines of BASH=/bin/bash BASH_ARGC=() BASH_ARGV=() and so on, elc > '$ which dpkg' and got nothing - just returns to cursor > '$ which wget' and got nothing - just returns to cursor > > this means that it didnt find the command. If you are used to M$ DOS then the path is normally c:\windows\system32 > > try the commands > find / -name dpkg > find / -name wget > > if this comes back with "not found" then > cd /sbin > and then issue the commands with a dot slash in front > ./find / -name dpkg > ./find / -name wget > > or cd into /bin /usr/sbin /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin > > and I hope we can find the commands. > > Is this as a user or root you are doing this? If its a user the "su minus" which gets you to root with roots environment. > su - > > and then try the "which dpkg" and such like again. > > Keith >

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

Did as suggested 'echo $PATH' gave /lib/init:/sbin:/bin and 'ls' just returns me to desktop cursor and '/usr/bin/apt-get' gives me a fast scroll which I was not able to record and 'cd /bin' gives 'root@elc-desktop:/bin#_' and 'cd/usr/sbin' gives 'root@elc-desktop:/usr/sbin#' Wayne Stallwood wrote > Given that it worked for a while after the upgrade I am guessin that > either your system volumes is not available or your path is wrong. > > > What is the output of - > echo $PATH > > (case sensitive) > > does /bin/ls work rather than ls on it's own ? > or /usr/bin/apt-get ? > > Can you 'cd' to /bin or /usr/sbin ? >

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

I also entered 'type -a ls' and got 'ls is aliased to 'ls --color=auto' 'ls is /bin/ls' also entered 'type aP /bin ls' gives '$type -aP /bin ls' '/bin/ls' elc

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

At command line I did 'set' and this gave a long listing which might have scrolled off the top of screen. What is showing on screen is no line starting with PATH= , nearest to it is a line 'verbose= no = path' Ted wrote > On 12-Jun-07 22:31:22, elc wrote: > >> > Tried what you suggested Adam, and got 'command not found' for aptitude >> > install apt. >> > Also had 'command not found' for sudo aptitude install apt >> >> Looks to me as though your PATH is empty, so your shell has >> nowhere to look for the commands. >> >> >From you command line, enter: >> >> set >> >> and look down the resulting list for a line that starts >> with "PATH=...." >> >> If you do not find one, then you have an empty PATH and that >> is the problem. On the other hand, if you get a result which >> includes things like >> >> PATH=/usr/local/bin:/bin:/usr/bin:.... >> >> then you have real problems. In particular, the command 'ls' >> should be in /bin. and therefore found; the command 'man' >> should be in /usr/bin and likewise found. So in that case >> there is something seriously wrong with your installation. >> >> If you have an empty PATH, this means that some initial >> configuration is not taking place when you log in, and we >> can probably help you track that down (there are not a lot >> of possibilities for what could go wrong there). >> >> But if you get a PATH like the above, it's trouble! >> >> ('set', by the way, should work regardless of your PATH >> since it is a shell command and not a binary. On the other >> hand, if your PATH is empty, then 'echo $PATH' will not >> work, since 'echo' is in /bin. Nor will 'env', since it >> is also in /bin)). >> >> Hoping this helps. Let us know what you see! >> >> Ted. >>

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

Did 1) as suggested did '$ which dpkg' and got nothing - just returns to cursor did '$ which wget' and got nothing - just returns to cursor Did 2) '$ wget' and got 'bash: wget: command not found' Didn't do 3), was this reliant on 2) ? you'll need to forgive me I'm a newbie and didn't really understand your instructions, but thanks anyway. > On Tuesday 12 June 2007 23:31:22 elc wrote: > >> > Tried what you suggested Adam, and got 'command not found' for aptitude >> > install apt. >> > Also had 'command not found' for sudo aptitude install apt. >> > In fact I also tried commands ls, man, sudo, and they all returned >> > 'command not found'. >> > >> > Your problem may well be disk errors, but in case you just want to get apt > installed (which will be handy for helping to diagnose other problems) try > this. (Note, however, that if your disk is /very/ broken, this is unlikely to > work.) > > 1) Check dpkg and wget are still available: > $ which dpkg > /usr/bin/dpkg > $ which wget > /usr/bin/wget > > (if dpkg isn't there then, um, well I'm not sure what you'll do) > (if wget is unavailable then you can just use a web browser) > > 2) Download the apt deb: > $ wget > http://www.mirror.ac.uk/mirror/archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/a/apt/ap… > > [previous command all on one line] > > 3) install it: > $ sudo dpkg -i apt_0.6.46.4ubuntu10_i386.deb > > And then you should have apt back on your box which will mean you can > (re)install other useful things. e.g.: > > $ sudo apt-get --reinstall install coreutils > > May I also suggest smartmontools? To help diagnose any possible disk errors? > > > Also, you may like to run an fsck (filesystem check; see $ man fsck). The > easiest way to do this is to force one to be scheduled next time you boot. > (fsck is most effective when run in single user mode.) > > $ sudo tune2fs -c 0 -i 30d -T 20070501 > > (This is a bit of a hack so I'd better explain: it makes tune2fs check the > drive on boot every every 30 days ["-i 30d"], tells it not to schedule tests > based on the number of times the drive has been mounted ["-c 0"] and tells it > that the last time it was checked was 1st May 2007 which, assuming your > computer's clock is about right, was more than 30 days ago; see also $ man > tune2fs) > > This will do an fsck next time you boot. > > Cheers, > Richard > > PS. I've just read the rest of this thread more carefully and now my message > seems a bit unhelpful (seeing as how you don't seem to /any/ programs > available). But I've typed it now, so I'm going to send it anyway.

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kubuntu apt-get not installed
by elc 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

Tried 'type echo' and got 'echo is a shell built in' Tried also 'which echo' and got '/bin/echo' this doesn't mean anything to me, - hope it means something to you > On 13-Jun-07 08:07:29, Jon Dye wrote: > >> > (Ted Harding) wrote: >> >>> >> On 13-Jun-07 07:02:04, Brett Parker wrote: >>> >>> >> >> > Try "type echo" instead of "which echo" >> > >> > JD >> > > And, now that you point that out, > > type -a echo > > gives you the lot: > > $ type -a echo > echo is a shell builtin > echo is /bin/echo > > $ type -a type > type is a shell builtin > > Which raises an interesting question: If "type -a" can find everything > (including binaries), it must be making implicit reference to a PATH > which presumably is the user's $PATH by default (though neither > "help type" nor "man bash" is explicit about this). You can of course > set a search-path with option "-P" to "type". > > So, since "type" is a shell built-in, it should work for elc whatever > the PATH situation is. Therefore, going back to the "missing" commands, > if elc enters, for instance, > > type -a ls > > and gets: > > $ type -a ls > bash: type: ls: not found > > while "type -aP /bin ls" gives > > $type -aP /bin ls > /bin/ls > > this is presumably a pretty sure-fire diagnostic of PATH problems. > > Best wishes to all, > Ted. > >

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Network printer
by Barrys linux mail 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

Hi Just a request for some information about connecting a network type printer to a windows Xp desktop and a wireless Linux laptop. Thinking of purchasing a Samsung colour laser printer CLP300 that has a network connection on it. I wondered if if set it up in windows how difficult would it be to get my wireless laptop set up to send documents to the printer when the desktop is not in use. The printer states it has Linux driver support. I am using ubuntu 7.04. Any advice? Barry

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Connection loss in Storms
by Nick Daniels 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

Hi I keep loosing my broadband connection during thunderstorms, I am sure this never happened in the previous years. I usually loose it about an hour before the storm appears here, and then for the duration of the storm. Would this be an exchange problem (or is it a totally a silly question) Kind Regards - Nick Daniels

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adding pci=conf1 parameter to boot configuration file
by Venura Mendis 15 Jun '07

15 Jun '07

Guys, Ive been trying to get audio drivers to work and one of the possible suggestion was to add pci=conf1 to the boot configuration. Apologies for what is probably an obvious question but what file is this and where can I find it. Quick google search revealed several different options. I'm running ubuntu feisty. thanks, Venura

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : The Milestone, Woodbridge Road
by samwise 13 Jun '07

13 Jun '07

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Third Monday" ALUG Ipswich Social Meeting is on next week (Monday 18th June) at 20:00: This week, Mr. Thorpe has agreed to give us a basic tutorial on the GIMP and show us how to do some of the simple image manipulation stuff which can be a bit troublesome if you're not familiar with the interface. It will probably help him, if you can post any questions or whatever now, rather than springing them on him on the night (it's not his day job). Tracey, this is a good opportunity to post that pic you always go on about ... :) I'll start by asking how I combine two A4 scans together without making GIMP freeze for an hour! ;) The Milestone Beer House 5 Woodbridge Road IPSWICH IP4 2EA Tel: 01473 252425 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP4+2EA The Milestone pub is in the centre of Ipswich, near the now-defunct Odeon cinema and not far from The Regent Theatre. There is more information on the venue, including car parking info, on the ALUG wiki: http://www.alug.org.uk/wiki/moin.cgi/Meetings All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Hopefully, it shouldn't be too hard to find the pack, look for those huddled around a laptop! Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. Hope to see you there, Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Re: Monday meet
by Matthew 13 Jun '07

13 Jun '07

I've managed to get out of my normal other commitment so I hope to be there this Monday. I'm looking forward to a GIMP tutorial, because I find graphics packages - especially the GIMP - completely mystifying. Matthew

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problems locating mesa dependency packages
by Venura Mendis 13 Jun '07

13 Jun '07

Hi, Ive beeen trying to install graphics drivers for an Epia EX10000 board. Ive been following rather detailed and long instructions from viaarena on building and installing the graphics drivers. As required dependencies it lists VIA DRIMesaLib 6.5.2 and required packages for Ubuntu feisty as mesa_6.5.2.orig.tar.g mesa_6.5.2-3ubuntu7.diff.gz It lists lots of other dependencies (all of which I have found and installed using synaptic). I'm guessing I need to add an extra repository to find these mesa files. Though googling it has turned out several places I can actually download the file, I presume using a package manager to get it is safer. Also Ive downloaded tohe source from the mesa site, it doesnt look like these files are in the tar. Any advice? Thanks, Venura

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[OT] FTGH: Various Socket 370 Intel CPUs
by Jonathan McDowell 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

Apologies for the off topic post, but as people have been talking about rather ancient machines here perhaps this might prove useful to them. I have 3 Socket 370 CPUs looking for homes. If anyone wants one I'll bring it to the Norwich meeting this Thursday, or might be prepared to post them to people if they really can't make it. The CPUs are: Intel Celeron 800MHz, SL4TF, 800/128/100/1.7V Intel PIII 800MHz, SL4MB, 800/256/133/1.7V Intel Celeron 900MHz, SL5MQ, 900/128/100/1.75V All should be working fine, I just don't have a use for them any more and it seems a shame to throw out working kit. J. -- Purple alert! Purple alert! - Holly

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[ALUG Announce] 2nd Thursday Norwich Meet : Reindeer, Dereham Road
by Jonathan McDowell 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- The monthly "Second Thursday" ALUG Norwich Pub Meet is this Thursday, 14th June. It's at the Reindeer pub on the Dereham Road, just opposite the City Gate. People will be there from 8pm-ish, though there may be a few people there earlier. Topics for discussion will no doubt be as varied as ever. The Reindeer has a reasonable selection of beer as well as decent coffee (with biscuits, if you're lucky). Directions to the Reindeer can be found at: http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/reindeer.html Pictures of some of the regulars, and irregulars, and, well, just some pictures of people that might or might not turn up are available from: http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2007-05-ALUG/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2006-02-ALUG/ http://the.earth.li/~noodles/stilvoid-alug/mp20050811/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2005-01-ALUG-Xmas/ http://www.earth.li/~noodles/Photos/2004-08-ALUG/ Which should hopefully aid those of you wondering who to look out for - the most recent images are from the meet last month. We now have an area reserved for us, so should be easier to find. As you enter through the main door you'll see a small set of steps ahead of you - the area just up those steps and to the left is where we'll be. J. -- I may be cool Beavis, but I | .''`. Debian GNU/Linux Developer can't change the future. | : :' : Happy to accept PGP signed | `. `' or encrypted mail - RSA + | `- DSA keys on the keyservers. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Python question about classes
by Chris G 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

I'm trying to understand (and re-use) some Python code. In general I find Python very easy to understand (one of the reasons I like it) but I'm a bit unclear about one bit of code which is a callback function, it is as follows:- # # # # def cb_prepare(args): request = args["request"] data = request.getData() data["statcatslinks"] = PyblStatcats(request) It doesn't matter that it's a callback function (I can follow how/why it gets called) and I can understand the first two lines. The first line sets 'request' and the second gets the data dictionary from the request object. What I'm not clear about is the last line, PyblStatcats is a class. As I understand it 'PyblStatcats(request)' creates an instance of PyblStatcats and runs its __init__ method, so far so good. But what does 'PyblStatcats(request)' return? It would appear to be a string as it's used to set the value in the data dictionary. However I can't find anywhere in the Python documentation that tells me about this (implicit?) return value. -- Chris Green

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Astronomy Software
by Yvonne Everett 11 Jun '07

11 Jun '07

Hello Could anyone recommend some open source astronomy software? I'm looking for something to do the job of "Starry Night" and "Registax" so if anyone has any personal recommendations, I'd love to hear them. Thanks -- Yvonne Everett Email: ye103910(a)googlemail.com

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Wireless NICs
by Matthew 08 Jun '07

08 Jun '07

Hi all, I'd like to play with hostapd to use a wireless interface card as a access point, but the application currently supports a fairly limited range of drivers. Having tried to research a range of prospective cards I found one (D-link DWL-G510) that seemed to have the right chipset. I bought it only to find that I actually have the revision with the same chipset as my existing card. Most of the common cards have either the wrong chipset or have a variety of revisions which makes them troublesome to buy. Can anyone recommend a reliable way of acquiring an 802.11g card that uses one of the following drivers? # Host AP driver for Prism2/2.5/3 # madwifi (Atheros ar521x) # Prism54.org (Prism GT/Duette/Indigo) I'm now using the tables at http://linux-wless.passys.nl/ to check chipsets, but if anyone can suggest any others that might help. If anyone has such a card spare (or would mind risk swapping it out for another) I'd gladly trade an equivalent one that uses the rt61 driver (or rt2x00, if you're on a recent enough kernel to use it). Thanks, Matthew

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