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Console messages
by Stuart Bailey 12 May '05

12 May '05

Does anyone know how to disable console messages? I have a small embedded Linux system running a graphical app which uses QT to access the frame buffer directly. However, when the app is running, I get console messages printed on the screen, thus corrupting it. The sort of message I get are eg notification of eth0 up or down, etc. Many thanks, Stuart. -- --------------------------------------- Stuart Bailey BSc (hons) CEng CITP MBCS LinuSoft (Proprietor) Linux Specialist (01953) 601294 (07778) 383739 http://www.linusoft.co.uk ---------------------------------------- ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please email postmaster(a)linusoft.co.uk immediately. You should not copy or use this email or attachments for any purpose nor disclose their contents to any other person. NO BINDING CONTRACT WILL RESULT FROM THIS E-MAIL UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A WRITTEN DOCUMENT IS SIGNED ON BEHALF OF LinuSoft. LinuSoft cannot accept any responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of this message as it has been transmitted over public networks. *************************************************************************

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Apache rewriterule
by Richard Lewis 10 May '05

10 May '05

Hey ALUG, I've been fiddling with this RewriteRule in Apache for ages (I did ask an Apache forum but no one answered). I wonder if anyone knows anything about these things? I want to make old fashioned URLs like: http://www.sara.uea.ac.uk/search_from_listings.php?artist_id=13 redirect to the new ones: http://www.sara.uea.ac.uk/?artist&id=13 I've tried this rewrite rule (and about a million permutations of it): RewriteRule ^/search_from_listings.php?artist_id=([0-9]+)$ http://www.sara.uea.ac.uk/?artist&id=$1 I've tried escaping all the characters and I've tried all sorts of combinations of flags but it never works. For some reason this: RewriteRule ^/search_from_listings.php?(.*)$ http://www.sara.uea.ac.uk/$1 matches (though it doesn't do anything useful). Any ideas? Cheers, Richard

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 09 May '05

09 May '05

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include tkirc, bitchx, xchat and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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Internet shop in Ely area
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 08 May '05

08 May '05

MJR has suggested I let the list know about this. As of very recent date (about 2 weeks ago) there is now an internet cafe in Soham. MJR tells me that there is (or used to be) one in King's Lynn, though doesn't know about Downham Market.. Elians will know that there is none in Ely. The Soham people tell me they're "the only place this side of Cambridge and Newmarket", which I can well believe. I forget what the Soham shop calls itself, but finding it is very simple. Once in Soham, find the Budgens car park. From there, take the footpath with the signpost "High Street". As you emerge from this, the Internet cafe is facing you on the opposite side of the High St. I found the proprietor (who runs it as a sideline to an insurance business) very friendly and helpful. Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 29-Apr-05 Time: 00:30:27 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Humongous computing with Windows XP 64bit Edition
by Tatsuhiko Maegawa 08 May '05

08 May '05

Hello from Japan. I love using Linux, and I've installed AMD64 version of Gentoo Linux. It has some hitches with Japanese stuff, so I am still obliged to use Windows for sake of typing stuff in Japanese. When I visited Tokyo Akihabara, I've seen Windows XP 64bit Edition on sale. Interested, looked up, and found out that I need 1 Gigabyte RAM in order to install it. Since many visiters out there searches for humongous computer (but they are geeks, not pimps) they make no surprise about it - but me. Though I am not interested in using Windows XP 64 bit Edition, it crosses my mind as to whether I need 1Gigabyte of RAM for my Linux machine. At the moment, I see no reason why I bundle up further, as my machine seems running well. I know I need little further up on developing stuff with Java, since Eclipse kindly asks 758Mb of RAM for ease. Tatsuhiko Maegawa tatsuhiko(a)jazzman.jp http://blog.jazzman.jp == This is private mail ==

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Norwich "Second Thursday" Social Meeting - The Reindeer - 20:00 Thursday 12 May
by Brett Parker 07 May '05

07 May '05

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Hi guys, Just a quick reminder that this coming Thursday (12 May) is the regular Norwich "Second Thursday" alug social meeting. Generally meetings start around 8pm and go on till either we all have to go home or we get kicked out of the pub. The meeting will be held in The Reindeer pub, which is just across the road from the City Gate where we used to hold meetings. Directions to The Reindeer can be found at: http://www.alug.org.uk/venues/reindeer.html I should warn anyone that's come before that I'm, erm, very much less hairy, so might not stick out quite as well as previously. I *imagine* that there will be at least myself and Noodles present, quinophex is hoping to come but he's not been well recently, neither has wildduck, so he may not be there. I'm not quite sure if paul_c will even be back in the country by then, I don't think he will... Anyways - hope to see lots of you there, - -- Brett Parker web: http://www.sommitrealweird.co.uk/ email: iDunno(a)sommitrealweird.co.uk -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.0 (GNU/Linux) iD8DBQFCfSagEh8oWxevnjQRAnfsAJ9ovJq5Z6nVVl326SS+h3P9jS3EtwCgrFkn GJRptcF1HEhdILJd65Yja6w= =w2Ll -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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matrox G450 driver
by Jenny Hopkins 07 May '05

07 May '05

Hi, Has anyone had a Matrox G450 working using the mga linux driver? I'm trying to avoid having to build the Matrox driver, but things aren't looking good. Thanks, Jenny

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HTML
by Bob Dove 06 May '05

06 May '05

Hi Folks, <centre> * </centre> won't do anything 'cos it's spelt proper like, you have to use MS-English <center> * </center> to 'center text or w.h.y. (Did the cousins invent html, or was it writ in MS? Cheers, BD. Incidentally, I use HTML Kit in Win, it might be worth looking at their site to see if there is a Linux version available. www.Chami.com Cheers, BD. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.10.4 - Release Date: 27/04/2005

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Microsoft offering support of Linux?
by Stuart Bailey 04 May '05

04 May '05

Just found this and thought it might be of some interest: http://software.silicon.com/os/0,39024651,39129739,00.htm Maybe Microsoft are beginning to warm to Linux ;-) -- --------------------------------------- Stuart Bailey BSc (hons) CEng CITP MBCS LinuSoft (Proprietor) (01953) 601294 (07778) 383739 http://www.linusoft.co.uk ---------------------------------------- ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you are not the intended recipient, please email postmaster(a)linusoft.co.uk immediately. You should not copy or use this email or attachments for any purpose nor disclose their contents to any other person. NO BINDING CONTRACT WILL RESULT FROM THIS E-MAIL UNTIL SUCH TIME AS A WRITTEN DOCUMENT IS SIGNED ON BEHALF OF LinuSoft. LinuSoft cannot accept any responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of this message as it has been transmitted over public networks. *************************************************************************

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URGENT: SMTP Authenitcation in Linux
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 04 May '05

04 May '05

Hi Folks, I've just received the following from my ISP (BT-yahoo.com) Subject: Warning: Possible misuse of email address Dear Sir or Madam, Your email address has been used to send unauthenticated email through BT mail servers. If you are a BT Yahoo! Internet customer, you must take action by 6.00am on 27th April 2005 if you wish to continue to use BT mail servers. If you are BT Yahoo! Internet customer Please make a simple change: switch on 'SMTP authentication'. This is usually done by ticking a box called 'My server requires authentication' in your email program settings. [...] This particular message was sent to my "efh(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk" email address (which is a genuine account on nessie). I guess this arises because I have my home sendmail configured to masquerade as "nessie.mcc.ac.uk" when sending by SMTP, and "efh" is the user on the home machine from which mail is sent out. (I've been using this setup for years with no problems so far, in order to reconcile (a) being able to mail between my different home machines, and (b) being recognisable to the outside world as a mail originator (since my home LAN is not recognisable outside my LAN). I.e. the following is the start of a typical SMTP dialogue when initiating sending of a mail: 220 smtp807.mail.ukl.yahoo.com ESMTP >>> EHLO nessie.mc.ac.uk 250-smtp807.mail.ukl.yahoo.com 250-AUTH LOGIN PLAIN XYMCOOKIE 250-PIPELINING 250 8BITMIME >>> MAIL From:<efh(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> 250 ok >>> RCPT To:<someone(a)somewhere.on.the.net> 250 ok ETC The "EHLO nessie.mc.ac.uk" and "MAIL From:<efh(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk>" are composed by sendmail, which is configured to masquerade in this way (for the reasons above). This has, as I say, worked without a hitch for years. Now, as you can see, I have been given less than 48 hours to activate "SMTP authentication", after which presumably BT's SMTP servers will no longer accept SMTP from me and I would be unable to use this connection to send email any more. the version of sendmail on the machine whicj looks after my email with the outside world is sendmail-8.8.5 from January 1997 and as far as I can see has no provision for anything resembling SMTP authentication. I've been browsing the web a bit on this topic, and it seems to me that setting it up in Linux is, even now, not straightforward, nor -- depending on your email setup -- even possible. I would be very grateful for good advice about how to grasp this nettle, while there is still time! (Clearly, the advice given in BT's message above is out of the question for me!) Also: Is there anywhere I can read what the details of the "SMTP authnetication" protocol are? Best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 25-Apr-05 Time: 15:59:32 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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kernel questions
by Richard Lewis 03 May '05

03 May '05

Hello ALUG, I've just installed my first home compiled kernel! I used the kernel-source-2.6.11 package from Debian unstable (not my normal version, I just got the deb from a mirror). I got caught out by the bug which stops console VGA mode from working (and, annoyingly, compiled twice thinking I'd done something wrong!). Anyway, I was just wondering what people think about the Debian version of the kernel. I don't really know much about it. How does it differ from the standard version? Is is better? Worse? I understand they add some patches and remove some non-free firmware; is this a good/bad thing? I noticed the current stable, standard version is called '2.6.11.7', does that mean its a later version than the Debian one? Richard.

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TT Fonts
by Leon Stedman 02 May '05

02 May '05

Hello All, Can anyone outline the steps needed to add a character, specifically a pound sterling sign, to a true type font. What software would I need, and what information would I need about the font itself. Thanks. Leon Stedman

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Geeky Terminology.
by Bob Dove 02 May '05

02 May '05

Hi Guys, Er - should somebody write a glossary of terms so thet those looking for the way in can understand the posings? (Sorry, postings)! Cheers, BD. NB: Any of you lot Boy Scouts? -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.10.4 - Release Date: 27/04/2005

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Weekly IRC reminder
by Brett Parker 02 May '05

02 May '05

This is the automated ALUG IRC meeting reminder sent to remind you that there is an IRC meeting tonight (Monday) at 8.00pm. The meeting takes place on the irc server irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Most IRC clients should allow you to get there with the commands "/server irc.alug.org.uk" and "/join #alug". Popular IRC clients include tkirc, bitchx, xchat and EPIC on Unix, and Mirc under windows. Here are some links to help you get started with irc. Unix http://www.xchat.org/ http://freshmeat.net/ http://www.epicsol.org/ Windows http://www.mirc.com (loads of help with irc for newbies!)

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new alug member
by Paul 01 May '05

01 May '05

Congratulations to Kirsty and Adam on the birth of their new daughter - A healthy 3.78Kg.. May she live in interesting times. Regards, Paul. -- Pieces of seven, pieces of seven - A parroty error. "To err is human...to really f*** things up requires the root password." From a collection of quotes at http://www.indigo.org/quotes.html

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Boring times?
by Bob Dove 01 May '05

01 May '05

Hi All, Boring times - how about now with a plethora of party political broadcasts! re newborn - many congrats to happy couple. Is it firstborn? Can guarantee some "times" which you may well describe as "interesting" (with some basic Anglo Saxon thrown in) but yes, it is a form of curse if you believe in that sort of thing! Cheers, BD. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.10.4 - Release Date: 27/04/2005

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Download Probs at NVIDIA?
by Martin John Collins 01 May '05

01 May '05

Hi, I'm trying to download the linux display drivers and the NForce drivers from NVIDIA but all downloads seem to be halting at around the 5% mark. I have tried various browsers and methods even wget , but it's always the same - download halts with no error messages. Is this just me or can some one replicate it? Rgds, Martin

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Re: [ALUG] HTML
by John Seago 30 Apr '05

30 Apr '05

On Saturday 30 Apr 2005 06:26, Alan Pope <alan.pope(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I think it's commonly known as 'International English'. No it was actually deliberate, in order to seperate the english spoken by the 'English', from that spoken by those in the newly independent USA. If I recall correctly it was the Webster of 'Webster's' Dictionary who came up with the alternate spellings. -- John Seago GNU/Linux User #219566 http://counter.li.org AFFS http://www.affs.org.uk/

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Suse 9.3
by Nick Daniels 29 Apr '05

29 Apr '05

Hi I installed Suse 9.3 last night, now using Konqueror, with about every other change of website, I get "An error occurred while loading http://news.bbc.co.uk/: Unknown host news.bbc.co.uk" or similar, Firefox is O.K. Also when checking mail I get "unknown host pop.freeserve.co.uk" about every other try, have been using Suse since 7.0, and never had this sort of trouble Firewall is set to "default", connection is dialup BTW if you want mp3 support other than in Real Player you have to download the 4 extra multimedia packs from YOU Regards -Nick Daniels

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Usable distro for crappy old 'pooter?
by Joe Button 29 Apr '05

29 Apr '05

Hi. We have a P233 machine in our office with 96Mb ram. It's been running Windows 98 for the last few years and it would be good to move it to something less moribund. I installed Mandriva on it but it runs like a dog, compared to Win98. Can anyone suggest a distro that will turn our dinosaur into a usable office machine? I was thinking maybe Gentoo + distcc. Any recommendations? Cheers, Joe

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LISP questions
by Richard Lewis 29 Apr '05

29 Apr '05

Hello ALUG, I thought I'd try and learn LISP for fun! I've found some good tutorials on the web but I can't seem to find a mailing list. I found common-lisp(a)ai.sri.com but I can't find archives for it and the description I read makes it sound like they may not like newbie questions. Does anyone know of any LISP lists that would be good for newbies? And if anyone on ALUG has any experience with LISP: I've been writing a 'hello world' program which consists of a function that returns T if the given parameter is prime or else it returns NIL; the only thing is, it doesn't work. It always returns NIL which I think its getting from the <then> clause of the second (if ) function. I think I may have misunderstood the way that LISP functions return their results: if the number is prime then it should return the (not ()) from the first (if ) function but it doesn't. Heres the code in case anyone knows about LISP: ======================================== ; the recursive function: (defun prime-rfunc (x iterator) (print x) ; for debugging (print (1+ iterator)) ; for debugging (if (= x iterator) (not ()) (if (= 0 (mod x (1+ iterator))) () (prime-rfunc x (1+ iterator))) ) ) ; because the recursive function takes a second, ; non-variable argument, prime is a wrapper function ; which just takes the intuitive first argument: (defun prime (x) (prime-func x 1)) ; test it: (print (prime 7)) ======================================== Cheers, Richard

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Re: Usable distro for crappy old 'pooter?
by tom potts 29 Apr '05

29 Apr '05

To take things to extreeemes I had SuSe 5.3 running on a 16 Mhz 386 with a 50Meg HD and 4MB ram. If I remember rightly it ran X albeit a bit slowly. I ran it as a print server for a while but then left it running some self-tests on system and MySql (3..) for about a year until one day I found a mains cable leading into the darkest reaches of my attic and it was still running cleanly. I can burn you a copy if you're really sad like me and cant throw things away even though you risk divorce and the floor caving in! RH6.1 on a 486 with 32MB makes a perfectly usable internet cafe though it will choke on some sites with dire JS and Movies are only 'watchable' after eleventeen pints. 96Meg- Luxuery. When I was a kid...... Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com

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Re: main digest, Vol 3 #524 - 17 msgs
by John Seago 29 Apr '05

29 Apr '05

On Friday 29 Apr 2005 06:26, main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk wrote: > The conventional answer to this is normally Slackware. I think because > of ZipSlack and also because they make available *all* of their releases > - ever - every single one. So the idea is that you can pick up an older > version which was built when your machine was the cutting edge. Try running Slackware 8 and working your way up to 9·1. All the Slackware versions are available here: ftp://ftp.mirror.ac.uk/sites/ftp.slackware.com/ -- John Seago GNU/Linux User #219566 http://counter.li.org AFFS http://www.affs.org.uk/

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Somewhat urgent - dvd data recovery
by Joe Button 28 Apr '05

28 Apr '05

Hi. I've got some people coming round tonight to watch a film I've got in mpg format on a data DVD. Unfortunately I've just discovered I can't read beyond about three quarters of the file. Does anyone have any idea how I could recover the rest of this file, or at least most of the rest of it? Thanks in advance. Sorry to be so demanding today.

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Re: [ALUG] Usable distro for crappy old 'pooter?
by Richard Lewis 28 Apr '05

28 Apr '05

On 28 Apr 2005, at 13:25, Joe Button wrote: > We have a P233 machine in our office with 96Mb ram. It's been running > Windows > 98 for the last few years and it would be good to move it to something > less > moribund. I installed Mandriva on it but it runs like a dog, compared > to > Win98. Can anyone suggest a distro that will turn our dinosaur into a > usable > office machine? I was thinking maybe Gentoo + distcc. Any > recommendations? The conventional answer to this is normally Slackware. I think because of ZipSlack and also because they make available *all* of their releases - ever - every single one. So the idea is that you can pick up an older version which was built when your machine was the cutting edge. Cheers, Richard

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