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Warning From MS: Beware of Large User Groups
by kpwatson＠pop3.ukfsn.org 08 Jul '04

08 Jul '04

Yes, according to /. MS have a knowledgebase article that warns about the problems of large user groups. I quote; " If a user group contains more than 500 users, the hair colour of the "person" .... changes to grey. This does not affect the functionality of the group or the users for whom the hair colour ... changes. This issue affects built-in groups, local groups, and global groups." See <http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;281923> Regards, Keith ____________ Has anyone attained wisdom by pondering the experience of others? Not since the world began, they must pass through the fire. Norman Douglas

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Decent broadband suppliers
by phil 08 Jul '04

08 Jul '04

Well - I'm getting fine service at home from Talia at £19.99 a month - plus the VAT, and no contract. At work I've got everything running through biscit.net - about £27 when I set it up, but I think they've done some cut price deals for home users now. A fine company run by people with real names that you can contact. Neither seem to have a cap on how much is downloaded that I've reached, even downloading Mandrake PPC and Yellow dog iso's in a day. That's my tuppence worth anyway.

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Availability
by John Seago 08 Jul '04

08 Jul '04

Unfortunately my Father-in -law was rushed into hospital on Monday morning. this has meant that my wife and I are taking my Mother -in-law into hospital every day. I shall therefore not be available to carry forward any of the matters which I started action on in the recent past for some days/weeks. However, it would appear that Steve Purkiss <bnmlist(a)open4.org> has volunteered/had his arm twisted, to act in some capacity in either reviving ELUG or expanding ALUG from Ipswich to the south. I will be watching the list, and when I get the time offer what help I can. -- John Seago Linux User #219566 (http://counter.li.org)

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Norwich pub meeting, City Gate 8pm Thursday 8th
by adam＠thebowery.co.uk 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Hi people, The next 'second thursday' evening meeting in Norwich will be held on Thursday, the 8th of July at the City Gate, Dereham Road, from about 8pm. Venue and meeting details: http://www.alug.org.uk/meetings/2004/all-NorThu.html If you want library books then check the list at http://www.alug.org.uk/contrib/?LibraryBooklist and let me or Kirsty know beforehand and we will bring books for you (some of those on that list may currently be lent out) I also have a copy of Linux User & Developer Magazine to give away. Also, If anyone wants any Linux Distros or other GPL/Free Software downloaded and burned to a CD-Rom to save your dialup let me know in advance. If you are /really/ poor I can supply you CDs for free, but buying me a drink would be a suitable form of payment. Seeyou on Thursday! Thanks Adam -- jabberid = quinophex(a)jabber.earth.li AFFS || http://www.affs.org.uk/ || Not a filesystem

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Knoppix & modems
by BenEBoy 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Someone at work posted a question to the message board there. I suggested a nasty hack as a solution, could someone suggest anything better please? The person is using knoppix, running from the CD (no HD install) and they are trying to get the drivers for their new intel PCI hardware modem working. The problem is the install script is set up to install the binaries to /usr/sbin and that directory is read only. He assumed that this was because the directory is on the CD and not in the ramdisk. Under that assumption I suggested the following... copy /usr/sbin to /home/knoppix/sbin (I assumed the home dir is in RAM) add the new sbin dir to $PATH (and here's the nasty bit) change the mount point of the floppy drive to /usr/sbin mount a floppy then run the script. *If* it works then it should be a case of adding /mnt/floppy/sbin to $PATH after a reboot and everything should work, yes? Rather than using a nice variable, in the install script every reference to /usr is hardcoded. I suppose a global search/replace would be a good option too... ta, BenE

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Decent broadband suppliers
by phil 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Well - I'm getting fine service at home from Talia at £19.99 a month - plus the VAT, and no contract. At work I've got everything running through biscit.net - about £27 when I set it up, but I think they've done some cut price deals for home users now. A fine company run by people with real names that you can contact. Neither seem to have a cap on how much is downloaded that I've reached, even downloading Mandrake PPC and Yellow dog iso's in a day. That's my tuppence worth anyway.

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midi music
by Stan Fraser 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

what are the best packages (similar to Cakewalk or Cubasis) for a wannabe "Disco Noise" composer. Best Regards Stan

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Wires Only Broadband Suggestions
by Nick Heppleston 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

I'll be moving back to Norwich this weekend and one of the first things on my to-do list is broadband. So, I'm looking for recommendations on wires only packages - I'm not particularly bothered about static/dynamic IP's although price might be a factor in the decision. Who do you recommend/wouldn't want to touch with a barge pole? Cheers, Nick ps. I'll also be attending the Norwich meetings from now on! -- Nick Heppleston 07989 581766 | nickheppleston(a)gmx.co.uk

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Meeting venue offered
by Karl Foley 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Although I don't have time to organise a meeting I can make a venue available in Felixstowe for free. I've posted details on the Alug website at the URL Keith mentioned: http://www.alug.org.uk/contrib/?DemosOfferedDemosWanted This is our Learndirect centre that has all the infrastructure required, just bring your machines, organiser and members! ;-)

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BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL
by Nick Daniels 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Hi I sent a thank you on Mon, it appears to have been lost, > > On Saturday 03 July 2004 12:04, Nick Daniels wrote: > > > Hi > > > Has anybody had any success in configuring a BT Voyager 2000 > > > Wireless ADSL 113.16 using Suse 9.0 or 9.1 > > > Regards > > > Nick Daniels > > > > From memory it is either a Sagem or a Thompson/Alcatel under the BT > > badge. Have a look at usbview see what the vendor id is and report back. > > I just took a look online and it looks like the BT Voyager is an ethernet > router... In which case I would think that pointing a web-browser from a > Linux desktop at it would allow it to be configured, other than that the > original question is a bit vague. > > If the OP has one of these routers then I would suggest trying to connect > to it with a Linux box and seeing if it works, if they are asking if they > should buy one as they don't already have a router then they should ask > that instead :) Many thanks for all the replies I install Linux, f.o.c for anybody ( or attempt to show them how to) My nephew bought Suse 9.1 after last weeks IE fiasco. He has presented me with his machine specs: d.. Monitor: Philips Brilliance 150P TFT flat panel e.. Network/internet: BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL 113.16 BT Voyager 1010 USB Wireless So I am asking advance before I attempt an install, and look too much of an idiot. On the subject of ALUG and the empty lands I live in Dunmow nr Chelmsford While disability prevents me travelling only a short distance I personally know of at least 18 people locally who have switched to Linux this last three months.( I have pointed them to ALUG) I should be installing later this week and will let you know how I get on, many thanks Kind Regards Nick Daniels

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Free Suse/Novell stuff
by Karl Foley 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Now I don't read this list as much as I should or post ever so I don't know if you are aware of the following offer. Novell are distributing a free Linux Technical Resource Kit consisting of the following. It seems to be a deal set up with the co-operation of some LUGs (I have no idea if ALUG is involved). You get: - SUSE Linux Professional 9.1 (Bootable Installation DVD) - SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 (ISO Installation Images) - SUSE Linux Professional 8.2 (Installation ISO images for use with Ximiam Desktop) - Ximian Desktop 2.0 Evaluation (ISO Image) - Red Carpet 2.0.2 Evaluation (ISO Image) - GroupWise for Linux 6.5.1 - Server, Client & Messenger (ISO Images) - Novell Nterprise Linux Services 1.0 (ISO Image & NLS Companion CD) - And more... For free... Apply here: http://www.novell.com/community/linux/order.php I am not affiliated with Novell except that I hold some of their certifications.

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Meetings musings
by Syd Hancock 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

Hi All Just been glancing through the archives as I don't get the mailings at the moment. 1. Great to see that the Norwich pub meetings are continuing to be announced - I knew I wasn't indispensable :-) I can't make the meeting this month or in August but hope to start attending from September, depending on work etc. 2. ALUG meetings in general: saw some discussion of this from a week or two ago. Seems to me that there are three types of meeting - social, technical, introductory. Social we have (in Norwich at least). Technical (i.e 'bring kit' meetings) do happen occasionally. Most of the discussion so far has been which of these two types of meeting to have and therefore the type of venue required. The feeling seems to be that the traditional 'technical support' meetings are less useful now than in the past. Certainly people don't seem to turn up to sunday meetings lugging boxes along as they did two or three years ago. Broadband in the home means that access to 'bandwidth' is less of an issue. Maybe all of these factors together is why there has not been great interest in using the Norwich Internet Cafe? Then there are 'introductory' meetings i.e. public events designed specifically to show Linux to interested people. These happen rarely if ever. Unfortunately they require the most work and commitment and may never happen but without them ALUG remains inward-looking, as has been hinted at by MJR. GNU/Linux is on the move into the mainstream on the desktop - it already is mainstream in the server world of course - but it may well be that ALUG is not going to be the group of people that is going to take that forward in our area. Given the amount of time/commitment/dedication etc required to set up and run linux support and training groups for novice users, perhaps it will need to be profit-making not voluntary. I do believe that there are a lot of business opportunities for this with possible massive growth in the next few years. Please cc any replies to me (easier to do than *not* to do on this list :-). Syd

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SAMBA how-to
by Syd Hancock 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

This may be useful: http://mandrake.vmlinuz.ca/bin/view/Main/SambaDomainMember "This section contains information on the latest features available in Samba, which allow you get the most out of your Linux desktop or server, and allow you to integrate it into a large Windows network, or to form the basis of a small Windows network". Also other sections under here: http://mandrake.vmlinuz.ca/bin/view/Main/SaMBa I'm not saying that you don't know how to do this stuff, just that it may help with documentation :-) Syd

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SAMBA workstation how-to anyone?
by Karl Foley 07 Jul '04

07 Jul '04

I've got some rare free time coming up and as I've been doing some experimenting recently on using linux workstations in a Windows AD environemnt I've decided to have a go at writing a how-to. I couldn't find anything specifically targeted at workstations so I'd like to write a document that would allow you to set up a Linux workstation to log into a windows ad domain to access files and printers in an automated as possible way. Anyone in Alug want to help, either testing the how-to or contributing? I'll be starting work on it w/c 26th July.

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Re: [ALUG] ALUG and the Empty Lands
by John Seago 06 Jul '04

06 Jul '04

On Monday 05 July Adam < adam(a)thebowery.co.uk> wrote: > I saw that you posted to uk.comp.os.linux about this also, a suggestion > to attract people would be perhaps posting in the newsgroup > uk.local.east-anglia but I wouldn't hold out much hope as there are so > many trolls there now :) Thanks Adam I'll have a go there. I can always ignore the trolls, and the message might get through to just the one right person! -- John Seago Linux User #219566 (http://counter.li.org)

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Re: [ALUG] Weekly IRC reminder
by Kirsten Naylor 06 Jul '04

06 Jul '04

On Tue, 2004-07-06 at 12:07, IanBell wrote: > I have tried several times to join the chat using xchat, but each time I enter > /server irc.alug.org.uk it says it cannot find the server. Other irc > channels work fine. Any ideas? What output do you get if you do host irc.alug.org.uk ? You could try /server irc.oftc.net in xchat as that is the server all the aliases boil down to. /Kirsten

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Silly question No. 1 (Mail servers)
by bjsamuels＠beenthere-donethat.org.uk 06 Jul '04

06 Jul '04

My ADSL comes with a fixed IP address and I gather that, among other things, it would enable me to run my own mail server. After reading my ISP's instructions about running an SMTP mail server, in double-dutch of course ("A" records ???), it all sounds a little daunting. I already run Postfix locally if that has any bearing on the subject and I don't, as far as I know, run a DNS server locally. What advantages would this give? Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Re: Re: [ALUG] Two Questions
by John Seago 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

On Monday 05 Jul 2004 06:25, MJ Ray <mjr(a)dsl.pipex.com>wrote: > You might not care about the above, though, or be prepared to live > with the risks to get the flexibility of having one large partition. > You can make arguments for each of the other common partitions, but > the ones I can think of seem unlikely for most desktop users. I think I may just go for a 17gig / partition, especially as I always put a duplicate 'spare' or 'extra' install on the second disk with both installs sharing duplicate swap and /archive partitions, (I lost a years email's once). that would give me 2 installs of Slackware and space for one of Debian and one of something else I might like to try. -- John Seago Linux User #219566 (http://counter.li.org)

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Re: [ALUG] BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL
by Wayne Stallwood 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

On Saturday 03 July 2004 12:04, Nick Daniels wrote: > Hi > Has anybody had any success in configuring a BT Voyager 2000 Wireless > ADSL 113.16 using Suse 9.0 or 9.1 > Regards > Nick Daniels From memory it is either a Sagem or a Thompson/Alcatel under the BT badge. Have a look at usbview see what the vendor id is and report back. If it is a sagem then I think they released some (probably closed source) drivers for it. Alcatel also have some blackbox drivers that I am using on this machine, With at least the alcatel you are out of luck with SuSE 9.1 as they don't seem to build against a 2.6 kernel, with SuSE 9 they are already packaged with the kernel (although they are in need of some tweaking to get working). Post back with the results from usbview and I'll see what I can come up with. To be honest though none of those external ADSL modems are worth the hassle, buy a cheap ADSL router.

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BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL
by Nick Daniels 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

> > On Saturday 03 July 2004 12:04, Nick Daniels wrote: > > > Hi > > > Has anybody had any success in configuring a BT Voyager 2000 > > > Wireless ADSL 113.16 using Suse 9.0 or 9.1 > > > Regards > > > Nick Daniels > > > > From memory it is either a Sagem or a Thompson/Alcatel under the BT > > badge. Have a look at usbview see what the vendor id is and report back. > > I just took a look online and it looks like the BT Voyager is an ethernet > router... In which case I would think that pointing a web-browser from a > Linux desktop at it would allow it to be configured, other than that the > original question is a bit vague. > > If the OP has one of these routers then I would suggest trying to connect > to it with a Linux box and seeing if it works, if they are asking if they > should buy one as they don't already have a router then they should ask > that instead :) Many thanks for all the replies I install Linux, f.o.c for anybody ( or attempt to show them how to) My nephew bought Suse 9.1 after last weeks IE fiasco. He has presented me with his machine specs: d.. Monitor: Philips Brilliance 150P TFT flat panel e.. Network/internet: BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL 113.16 BT Voyager 1010 USB Wireless So I am asking advance before I attempt an install, and look too much of an idiot. On the subject of ALUG and the empty lands I live in Dunmow nr Chelmsford While disability prevents me travelling only a short distance I personally know of at least 18 people locally who have switched to Linux this last three months.( I have pointed them to ALUG) I should be installing later this week and will let you know how I get on, many thanks Kind Regards Nick Daniels

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YDL newbie
by phil 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

Just saying hello. I'm mainly an OSX user, but I've managed to get one of an old world powermac 9600 running with Yellowdog on it. 'Twas an experience, what with the Anaconda happily installing onto a second hard drive attached to a PCI scsi card - but not booting from it, until it was attached to the second SCSI bus on the motherboard. And the video card doesn't seem to be supported. And neither is the processor upgrade card. Little steps... I'm also attempting to build a mail server at work (my first experience of intel iron - damn those things run hot) using SuSe 8.2. And failing so far.

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Two Questions
by John Seago 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

1. Was the EASF gathering a useful/informative/interesting experience, I was tempted, however having gone out early with Alison to my daughters house I got back at lunch time to read my email with a visit already planned for the afternoon. 2. Partitions, I have used, up to now, a boot, root, usr, var, home and archive partitions, (the latter mounted with both the main and the spare/extra installations. I am now considering rearranging my hard disks and having used a partition consisting of only /root and seen no disadvantage, (other than fsck takes longer), can see no real reason for the multi partition installation. Would the Group like to persuade me otherwise? Or at least discuss this perennial favourite -- John Seago Linux User #219566 (http://counter.li.org)

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Re: [ALUG] BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL
by Tim Green 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

On Sat, Jul 03, 2004 at 01:04:52PM +0100, Nick Daniels wrote: > Has anybody had any success in configuring a BT Voyager 2000 Wireless > ADSL 113.16 using Suse 9.0 or 9.1 How little success are you having? My Netgear access point uses a web interface, but the country / frequency selection only worked in IE. The rest of the interface was fine in Mozilla. Hope we can help :-) Tim.

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BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL
by Nick Daniels 05 Jul '04

05 Jul '04

Hi Has anybody had any success in configuring a BT Voyager 2000 Wireless ADSL 113.16 using Suse 9.0 or 9.1 Regards Nick Daniels

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ALUG and the Empty Lands
by John Seago 04 Jul '04

04 Jul '04

ALUG seems, from the map published in 'Linux Format', to be bounded by Peterborough, Northants, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire (East), North London, and Southend-on-Sea LUG's, Cambridge LUG perhaps should be regarded as an Enclave within, but not part of ALUG. This leaves a huge chunk between the main activity centres of Norwich, North Suffolk and West Suffolk, (Syleham and Elmswell), and the occasional meetings in Ely and Kings Lynn, a seemingly 'Empty Land' devoid of LUG's or support for those who may have an interest in GNU/Linux. I seem to remember that there was a member in Ipswich trying top promote meetings/activities, but that still would seem to leave the areas around Colchester and Chelmsford without the benefit of our, or indeed their own LUG. Perhaps with the reawakened interest in activities at LUG meetings, we should also be looking to offer support to the Southern, 'unlugged' area of the East of England. (East Anglia being, if I recall correctly, comprised of Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of, or most of, Cambridgeshire). 'Linux Format' in the July issue sought to encourage more use of their LUG page/s, perhaps there is an opportunity here to 'evangelise' in Essex. there being no formal structure to ALUG, I am prepared to try my hand at promoting some activity in that area, however I do not travel far or well, so before I commit myself to an essay into print I would like to know if there are members on the Southern fringe willing to act as 'missionaries' to Essex, either to expand ALUG or to set up ELUG. -- John Seago Linux User #219566 (http://counter.li.org)

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