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Re: [Alug] New member
by MJ Ray 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Rob: > Our company has a large meeting room with a projector, access to a 64k > leased line and a pub next door if anyone is interested. We are in > Elmswell between Bury St. Edmunds and Ipswich just off the A14 and next > door to the railway station. Sounds ideal! Would you like to add a link to your venue information to http://www.alug.org.uk/contrib/?AlugMeetings and possibly steal the April meeting away from me if you can arrange it? Sundays are conventional, but that might be a problem at a company? Saturdays have been suggested, so an experiment may be good. By the way, it's much nicer if you write the reply below the original and trim the previous message quote. We have a lot of people on this list and get quite enough traffic for it to be difficult enough to follow already... Thanks! -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] New member
by MJ Ray 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Eric, Welcome to the group. > [...] Next on my list: Web-services and .NET (see www.go-mono.com) Let me throw a few others at people: Ruby, Scheme, XT3D, XSP, Parrot. > My first question: do you guys ever meet in Ipswich? We've been to Woodbridge and Martlesham in the past. We might be able to use Martlesham again in the future, when David's back from uni, but a venue actually in Ipswich would be easier to get to. If you have the power to arrange such a thing, let us know! -- MJR

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Any Debianeers out there? I need help with modutils & USB.
by bsamuels＠beenthere-donethat.org.uk 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

I have just changed my mouse to USB and have got it working but I have to load all the modules manually. I have searched the internet for solutions and have tried a number of different aliases in modutils without any success (Yes - I did think to run update-modules). It appears that the modules I have to load, using modprobe, are hid.o and usb-ohci.o which then cause other appropriate modules, e.g. usbcore.o, to load. What do I need to put in as aliases to get this to work? I'm running Debian 2.2 with XFree86 3.3.6. One other connected problem is that although I have put the following in fstab: none /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs defaults 0 0 it is not mounted. When the machine boots I see a message something like 'cannot locate module usbdevfs' when it gets to the 'mounting local filesystems' bit which is rather strange because usb file system support is compiled into the kernel. I can, immediately after logging in, manually mount usbdevfs without problems and none of the USB modules have been loaded at this point. I would like to get these modules loaded automatically. Can anyone help please? Barry Samuels

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New member
by Eric Sellin 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Hello everybody, Just discovered the ALUG and its mailing list, so let me introduce myself briefly. My name's Eric, I'm 27 and live in Ipswich. In a previous life, I started a company with some friends to develop a Web-based document sharing and knowledge management solution, which was all 100% free (Linux, Apache, Tomcat, MySQL). Unfortunately, the company closed last year but never mind, we tried and had fun doing it all! I discovered Linux while at university back in 1994. I've been learning quite a lot since: I now speak a good C++ and Java, I love writing dirty shell scripts (preferably Bourne), I also came across Perl, have experience with CORBA, XML, XSLT and all these trendy technologies. Next on my list: Web-services and .NET (see www.go-mono.com) My first question: do you guys ever meet in Ipswich? Cheers, Eric.

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Isdn adaptors
by John Woodard 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Project: need to build a box to use as an isdn dial up and mail server serving a couple of iMacs and a power book. The machine will also be used for a bit of web development and basic office stuff. Problem: what is a good cheap pci isdn terminal adaptor to use bearing in mind I may need fax capability (I use a BT Speedway 128 which is a re-badged AVM Fritz). Bigger problem: I have never configured either fetchmail nor sendmail before (my modest mail requirements are currently satisfied by kmail configured to get mail directly from a pop server). Biggest problem: I know nothing about samba, iptables/ipchains or any of that stuff. Massive problem: I'm likely to have to maintain this machine remotely either via direct isdn dial in or via the net. The distro will most likely be Mdk 8.1 but I'm open to suggestions oh and the down side it will have to dual boot into Windows 98 occasionally to run some bit of bespoke software that won't run under wine for some reason. Any suggestions on what hardware will be gratefully received, first thoughts lean towards 1Gig Duron, 512Mb pc133 ram and 40Gb ata100. I'm starting to feel well out of my league here expect lots of cries for help on irc.openprojects.net:#alug. -- Cheers, BJ

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Re: [Alug] Acrobat/Ghostscript printing
by MJ Ray 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Ted wrote: > And that, to be frank, is the fault of these two viewers, and not of the > PDF format. And this (see below) is why I use Reader -- which, in my > experience, simply works. If xpdf and ghostscript worked as I need them > to, I'd probably use them myself. But they don't. I'm not sure that it is the fault of the viewers. If something which is claimed as an open standard is scattered across many documents with little indication from one that others exist, and that reality differs from what is documented in subtle ways, surely it is the fault of the "standard"'s owner? To the best of my knowledge, but ghostscript and xpdf are quite happy with the really standard bit of PDF (is that PDF/X?) but some documents using incompatible Adobe extensions make them fail. One could argue that it is the fault of the Adobe generator. > That's your choice. But by limiting yourself to Free software, you have to > take the downside that you're closing a lot of your options in real life. By using non-free software, you are similarly closing a lot of options: to be able to fix the software, primarily. I think it's just a different set of closed doors. > [...] Where you hit limits is in "add-on" libraries which extend their > pre-programmed functionality [...] Actually, in R there is one subtle difference in variable scope and very little else that kills extension libraries designed for Splus. > ([...] But life is short, especially real life ... ). Indeed, so I prefer it that we don't keep reinventing the wheel every cycle, as non-free software insists that we do. > [...] The plain fact is that, still, these things do dominate the desktop > world of work. If you don't go along, you're locked out. I'm actually seeing a lot less of this now. In the few cases where we do still get sent proprietary formats, we have converters that put them in a more useful form. There's a lot to be said for now completing the transition by a stance like http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT5759283394.html > So, what you can achieve using Free Software, achieve that way. What you > can only achieve using The Other, achieve that way (even with a heavy > heart). And take the long view! [1] Agreed, but I think we differ on how much energy it is worth adding to Free Software before resorting to the other. The one piece of software that is non-free is in a field that only now are we getting free replacements for, but they are incompatible with the file format and have no market share right now, so can't be used. It's also a field that I know practically nothing about and can't really assist beyond testing the software as it is produced. But I do that, because I can and because I want to see a truly Free solution. [...] > However, the fact (on which we agree) that we don't like Adobe's > proprietariness does not imply that PDF is a bad format in itself. But which PDF is not a bad format? The idealised documented PDF which should allow easy document distribution, or the hacked-up one that you meet in reality? > [...] I will patiently wait till the skilled developers of these things > get it right. Meanwhile, I'll be using Reader. Oh, keep using the free one and sending the results/comments back to them. Without good feedback, it's very hard to develop software. As someone said (and I misquote here): "bug reports are like free software love letters. Share a little love today!" -- MJR

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Sendmail question.....
by Simon 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Hi guys, Hoping for some help here....... It's a question about the virtual user table, if I make any changes directly in the text file, do I have to do a "makemap" to update a db file? If so, can anyone help me out with the correct command please, I've got the "BAT Book", which I've found whilst being a cure for insomnia and very informative, it doesn't tell me what I need to know.. Or it probably does have the information in there, but my eyelids start drooping before I get to the relevant part!!! TIA Simon

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Re: [Alug] Acrobat/Ghostscript printing
by MJ Ray 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Ted wrote: [...] > Therefore I don't recognise the situation Mark is describing, at any rate > for the Reader viewer. If Mark is referring to other viewers, with which > PDF is "hairy", gives "unhelpful error messages", etc., then my first > reaction is "don't use that viewer". [...] Yes, but given that some PDF files make both of the viewers I have here fail with cryptic messages, that leaves me with a choice of zero viewers. Not exactly the most readable document ever ;-) > But, in summary again, provided you use Acrobat Reader, in my belief here > are no major problems with PDF unless it has been badly generated; with > the caveat about Adobe software (not sure if this applies to Reader) > possibly getting huffy about non-Adobe source. That is a huuuge pair of caveats you have there. First off, if it's not free, it's not here (with one shameful exception AFAIK). Secondly, if their reader throws its toys out of the pram if non-Adobe producer software creates it, do you really want to support Adobe trying to pull a Microsoft? They're not really the most fluffy of corporations, as the current Sklyarov/Elcomsoft case and the resultant Adobe Boycott should show. This difference in software may well be why I don't recognise the situation that you describe and view PDF as being a fairly bad format for document distribution. When is a standard not a standard? -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] Qmail custom setup
by MJ Ray 08 Feb '02

08 Feb '02

Darren: > Anyone up on qmail/perl? I need to migrate a system from sendmail to qmail > but could do with some help What exactly is the perl for? If it's to change the mbox files into maildir ones, then there are already scripts to do that. I think the qmail web site has some. (Do you really want a non-free mailserver?) -- MJR

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Alug meeting in Norwich on the 24th at UEA??????????
by Adam Bower 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Hi ppl, Does a UEA person want to book us a room for the 24th so we can have a meeting? there may be beer in it for you if you do it btw..... I don't know the exact process but it shouldn't be difficult, someone will be able to give you details when you come forward.... Adam PS if you got this and you are not on the alug list then go here to subscribe http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main/ you know who you are ;) -- Adam "a funny thing about regret is, that it's better to regret something you have done, than to regret something you haven't done"

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Re: [Alug] Acrobat/Ghostscript printing
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Ted wrote, quoting me: > > In many cases, xhtml is a better format for document interchange. > > Horses for courses, of course; and where xhtml may be useful, XML may be > even better. If you're not fussed about how the person at the other end > will format the layout, then it's probably OK (depending on what kind of > document it is). If what you want them to see is precisely what you see, > then it can get very hairy. As this thread has shown, I think, PDF is also about as hairy because of the fragmentation of the standard by its owner. Files look different in each viewer and some viewers don't like some files. At least with xhtml+css, you can specify as much formatting as the viewer supports, but they can nearly always see it all, even if misformatted. With PDF, if the viewer doesn't support all the formatting, you're left with some unhelpful error message and no way to recover the information. -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] Trolltech competition
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Ian wrote: > I have just uploaded my beta software in the Trolltech competition to win a > Sharp Zaurus. Has anyone else on the list entered? What competition? ;-) -- MJR

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Do I realyy have a trojan ?
by bsamuels＠beenthere-donethat.org.uk 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

I recently saw the following in a chkrootkit report: Feb 7th - Checking `lkm'... You have 1 process hidden for readdir command You have 1 process hidden for ps command Warning: Possible LKM Trojan installed Checking earlier reports I see: Jan 19th - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Jan 21st - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Jan 23rd - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Jan 25th - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Jan 29th - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Jan 31st - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Feb 1st - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected Feb 3rd - Checking `lkm'... You have 1 process hidden for readdir command You have 1 process hidden for ps command Warning: Possible LKM Trojan installed Feb 5th - Checking `lkm'... nothing detected So although the first warning appears on Feb 3rd it does not show on Feb 5th but re-appears on Feb 7th. Because of that I'm assuming (hoping?) it may be a false alarm. Well it does say 'Possible'! I have only a standard dial-up connection and have PMFirewall installed and running when I'm connected to the internet. I run chkrootkit every other day. What do you think chaps? (Chaps is a generic term which includes chapesses). Barry Samuels

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Re: [Alug] Acrobat/Ghostscript printing
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Ted Harding: > However, after 'ps2pdf' this PS file converts to a PDF file of size 40667 > bytes -- actually smaller than the original! (of course, there is > compression involved here; if I turn off compression I end up with 207810 I notice that ps.gz is missing from your figures? Anyway, PDF is a good idea poorly executed, I think. By introducing multiple incompatible versions of the format and making implementers have to play "chase the document trail" if they want to do a full version, they've pretty much guaranteed it's always going to cause pain. (The document trail comment is based on commend from the CL-PDF library authors, not personal experience.) Oh, remember that xpdf (or even pdf2ps and ps2ascii in some cases) recovers you the original text for editing. In many cases, xhtml is a better format for document interchange. -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] New Scientist Article
by Ricardo Campos 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

> No, this is something more - I think the concept is to make the multitrack > original available, which with modern editing/mixing tools can be altered, Sortof like mods? Mods have been around for a long time (anyone remember Octamed on the Amiga?), and you can download them, analyse how the sequence was put together AND the samples are included for your taking/altering. You can download loads of them at www.modarchive.com (and you can view/play them with www.soundtracker.org) The files themselves tend to be far smaller that the resulting MP3/OGG/WAV formats. Besides which, shouldn't we be thankful for any positive publicity, even if they don't get the licensing terms *exactly right*? It's funny how any attempt to get GNU/Linux (or Open Source Software or whatever) exposure to a wider audience always gets pooh-poohed. Maybe they should have printed the GPL and bored their readers to death? Now *that* REALLY would have helped! Ricardo _______________________________________________ "There are several codes, and I know several of them." -Mr. Precise. http://www.rscampos.net Check my online diary out: http://www.rscampos.net/blog.html -- Get your free email from www.linuxmail.org Powered by Outblaze

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Re: [Alug] Isdn adaptors
by Ricardo Campos 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

> heh, reminds me that i will go and play with the alug wiki website (btw > /me likes wiki, already updated the FAQ once today!!) to point out that > ppl are in #alug during the week not just on Monday nights, we may not > always be talking but it could be useful for ppl to know. I never knew that.... And I look forward to running through the scripts on the ALUG site ;) > Anyhow maybe i should write up a home networking, fileserving, > firewalling, printing, etc. etc. HOW-TO at some point... I've got into a habit at work of writing HOWTO's for every awkward (or not so awkward) problem we've had. It's saved our bacon a few times! Ricardo _______________________________________________ "There are several codes, and I know several of them." -Mr. Precise. http://www.rscampos.net Check my online diary out: http://www.rscampos.net/blog.html -- Get your free email from www.linuxmail.org Powered by Outblaze

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Re: Perl plea for help
by Lucy McWilliam 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Simon P wrote: > Now my problem is, for some reason, in my virtual user table, there are space > and tab's, how do I get the split to recognise the tab as well as the space > char? > > my @fields = split(" ", $_) || split("<ascii for tab?", $_); # As usual with perl, TMTOWTDI [0]. Your shortest option is below, where the delimiting character for the split is enclosed in forward slashes, $_ is the variable split my default and \s means whitespace (spaces and tabs). BTW, \t means tab. my @fields = split(/\s/); HTH, L. cam.pm.org [0] There's more than one way to do it ;-)

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Acrobat/Ghostscript printing
by tom potts 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

On of the problems appears to be with Acrobat itself. I've had lots of problems in W$ with PDF document printing. Probably best to regard PDF as a way of making small documents a lot bigger without having to use M$ Word! Thats what you get for re-inventing the wheel! Tom __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com

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Directory help requested!
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Hi all, As you know, part of the ALUG site is now in a wiki, which means that you too could be an ALUG web editor by using nothing but your browser. The three things that need most work are: 1. Decent page templates for viewed pages and editing pages. Send me some HTML, or put it online for us all to look at. 2. The Members Directory, for the all-important help decoding who everyone is on Monday evenings. 3. The Software Directory, which I was holding back from announcing until I'd written a sample review, but Ricardo beat me to it with a good review of Sylpheed. Crib from it. You can find it at http://www.alug.org.uk/contrib/ -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] Acrobat/Ghostscript printing problem
by Edenyard 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

On Wed, 06 Feb 2002 19:57:26 +0000, MJ Ray wrote: > Print to Postscript and use psselect from pstools. > Thanks for pointing that out - I'd never noticed those things lurking on my system! Seemed to work just right. I have an idea it's called 'psutils' though, just to be pedantic. > > Don't use PDF. ghostscript, xpdf and acroread have different problems with > them ;-) > I like that solution. Just one snag: I have all these IC data sheets sent to me, which I need to be able to read/print in order to be able to earn my crust. In the good old days, of course, manufacturers sent out real Data Books. Now all one gets is a CD-rom or an instruction to "go to www... and download the PDF". Either way it needs the use of GS/XPDF/AR. Unless, of course, you know differently....? Thanks for the input! Gerald.

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Perl plea for help....
by Simon 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

As promised in my last mail wanting help, I've been reading up on perl nd having a go and playing with a script sent to me by Raphael (Many thx) .... Now my problem is, for some reason, in my virtual user table, there are space and tab's, how do I get the split to recognise the tab as well as the space char? my @fields = split(" ", $_); # Break it down, this is the original and sees the space ok... my @fields = split(" ", $_) || split("<ascii for tab?", $_); # Break it down, is this anywhere close ? What I'm aiming for is a script that I can add/modify or delete entries in the virtual usertable..... I can get the entries added without any problems, but I will probably be posting again at some time to get help on modifying and deleteing them... #! /usr/bin/perl -w # make sure we get command line args if (not(defined($ARGV[0]))) { print "\n\n\nUsage: chk_alias <username>\n\n\n"; exit(1); } my $username = $ARGV[0]; # Get the username from commandline chomp($username); open(VUT, "</etc/mail/virtusertable")|| die "Cannot read virtusertable\n"; while (<VUT>) { # Read a line from /etc/mail/virtusertable my @fields = split(" ", $_); # Break it down my $alias = $fields[0]; my $user = $fields[1]; # User name chomp($user); next unless $user eq $username; print "Alias for $username is $alias\n"; } close VUT;

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Re: [Alug] Sendmail question.....
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Simon: > [...] if I make any changes directly in the text file, do I have to do a > "makemap" to update a db file? I think so. Sendmail may try to do it itself if it notices: I can't remember if that was standard sendmail, or some FBSD tweak, though. > If so, can anyone help me out with the correct command please, [...] Sorry, I normally have to crib from the man page for makemap. -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] New Scientist Article
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Ricardo: > Besides which, shouldn't we be thankful for any positive publicity, even > if t hey don't get the licensing terms *exactly right*? It's funny how any > attempt to get GNU/Linux (or Open Source Software or whatever) exposure to > a wider a udience always gets pooh-poohed. [GPL troll snipped] Oh, there's no pooh-poohing here. I just wish they'd called a spade a spade instead of a digging implement. Not all digging implements are spades, but they really are talking about spades. The article is good, but it's worth pointing out the inaccuracy, else this abuse of terminology will continue. Politically Correct, anyone? -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] Isdn adaptors
by MJ Ray 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

John wrote: > Bigger problem: I have never configured either fetchmail nor sendmail before fetchmail -- it's fairly simple if you follow the man pages and run everything in debug mode until you're sure the config options work. If it's just simple POP3 (+possible ssl) access, you might want to look at "retchmail" instead, which is faster and has a very simple config file format. > Biggest problem: I know nothing about samba, iptables/ipchains or any of > that stuff. Nor did any of us, but the HOWTOs for them are actually actively maintained, which helps. > Massive problem: I'm likely to have to maintain this machine remotely either > via direct isdn dial in or via the net. via the net is probably easier. Time to get used to securing ssh. ;-) -- MJR

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Re: [Alug] Acrobat/Ghostscript printing problem
by Edenyard 07 Feb '02

07 Feb '02

Thanks for your ideas, Ted: On Wed, 06 Feb 2002 19:40:38 -0000 (GMT), (Ted Harding) wrote: > Then try > a) viewing the PS file in ghostscipt/ghostview/gv ; > if this works try printing it from gv. > If it doesn't work, are there pages which > you can print to file which do work? > b) try printing the PS straight: lpr file.ps > GV wouldn't view the FILE.PS generated by Acrobat. I got this message: [ GNU Ghostscript 5.50 (2000-2-13) [ Copyright (C) 1998 Aladdin Enterprises, Menlo Park, CA. All rights reserved. [ This software comes with NO WARRANTY: see the file COPYING for details. [ Error: /invalidaccess in -dict- [ Operand stack: [ --dict:914/1241(G)-- [ Execution stack: [ %interp_exit .runexec2 --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- [ 2 %stopped_push --nostringval-- 2 3 %oparray_pop --nostringval-- [ --nostringval-- false 1 %stopped_push 1 3 %oparray_pop 1 [ 3 %oparray_pop .runexec2 --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- [ 2 %stopped_push --nostringval-- 1 3 %oparray_pop --nostringval-- [ --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- [ Dictionary stack: [ --dict:914/1241(G)-- --dict:0/20(G)-- --dict:50/200(L)-- --dict:914/1241(G)-- [ [ Current allocation mode is local [ Current file position is 91 [ GS<1> [ ... and that is very similar to what gets left in Turboprint's log when I try to print from Acrobat. I tried printing various separate pages in the document, but I got the same result whether I tried any 1 or all 57. I tried printing FILE.PS straight to LPR and that gave me the same result. The length of FILE.PS (when Acrobat has printed all 57 pages) is some 1.34Mb. It seems as though it's GS that's falling over. GS's messages seem very cryptic to a bear of very little brain like me. I did wonder whether this was something to do with fonts. I looked in the GS fonts directory and read the "documentation", such as it is. Then I looked in the Acrobat fonts directory, thinking that I could copy some over to GS and somehow tell it to use those. However, GS names the files in a DOS 8.3 format, all with extensions. AR doesn't - it seems to use names of random length, so how I'd persuade GS to use them is totally beyond me. Help!!! (Please!) Gerald.

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