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BASIC and Linux
by Bev Nicolson 04 May '13

04 May '13

I'm not asking for myself by the way. Would it be possible to run BASIC and create programmes in Ubuntu? A quick Google suggests WINE would be necessary. Thoughts? (Other than 'Why would you?') Bev.

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SAMBA vs NFS
by steve-ALUG＠hst.me.uk 03 May '13

03 May '13

Hi Guys, I tried setting up NFS last night and I got it to work, but it was so slow compared to the Samba share I used to use. I've been meaning to try and set up NFS for ages. I was thinking that it was probably the best way to share files between my server and laptops, maintaining appropriate Linux user names/rights etc for files, rather than the kludgey way I have my Samba set up. I got it working using http://czarism.com/easy-peasy-ubuntu-linux-nfs-file-sharing and then I looked at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SettingUpNFSHowTo and I was trying to make it a bit more secure by editing hosts.deny/allow as described. Sometime during this modification, I managed to break it completely. So my questions: Is nfs the way to go to share files & directories from a server to laptops, or should I stick with Samba? Is the Ubuntu link above a sensible way of setting things up? I was thinking I'd just manually keep the user names/numbers in sync between the computers - is that OK? Is there a better way of doing things? I think it's stopped working because rpcbind can't link to localhost. I think I know how to fix it, but can't spare the time at the moment. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance! :-) Steve

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Re: [ALUG] BASIC and Linux
by Ewan Slater 03 May '13

03 May '13

On 3 May 2013 09:55, <main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk> wrote: > Message: 9 > Date: Fri, 3 May 2013 09:55:36 +0100 > From: Bev Nicolson <lumos60(a)gmail.com> > To: ALUG <main(a)lists.alug.org.uk> > Subject: [ALUG] BASIC and Linux > Message-ID: > <CAAoXXvXrtMBtjpbyNya56Hzp_SmkYu83kP4p2A9LFkAQj40ODw(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > I'm not asking for myself by the way. Would it be possible to run > BASIC and create programmes in Ubuntu? A quick Google suggests WINE > would be necessary. Thoughts? (Other than 'Why would you?') > > Bev. > Hi Bev, There is a Wikipedia list of BASIC dialects here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BASIC_dialects Quite a few of which look like they are for Linux native (caveat: I haven't tried them myself). I have done C# development on Linux using Mono and confirm that this works well. It now looks like Mono is starting to support Visual Basic on Linux (http://www.mono-project.com/VisualBasic.NET_support#New_Visual_Basic_Framew…) which I haven't tried, but based on the C# experience I would expect that it would be good. Cheers, Ewan

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iptables question
by Mark Rogers 01 May '13

01 May '13

I have an Internet facing server running pptpd. Users who connect via pptp need to be able to route through the server to the rest of the Internet. As well as configuring net.ipv4.ip_forward=1 I also have iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE .. and it all works. However, is the above iptables command too broad for an internet server? Doesn't it effectively mean that anyone can send traffic through it? Assuming the pptp interface is ppp0 I would have expected (having very little iptables knowledge) that: iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -i ppp0 -j MASQUERADE .. would be better but I'm just guessing and I don't want to kill access to the remote server by playing! Given that every howto I find says to use just "iptables -t nat -A POSTROUTING -o eth0 -j MASQUERADE" I assume that's actually right, so I think I'm just asking for help understanding why. Mark -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Widespread spamattack
by Anthony Anson 30 Apr '13

30 Apr '13

In case anyone doesn't know, there's a widespread infiltration of btinternet and yahoo accounts, spreading multiple spam messages. Beware of trying to open any unknown URLs contained in emails from those sources. (My firewall warned me of just such an attack, seemingly from an old friend. Whether it could have infected a Linux box I don't know.) -- Tony http://www.girolle.co.uk/

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Converting photogravure (back) to photograph quality?
by Anthony Anson 30 Apr '13

30 Apr '13

Does anyone know of a program which will take a (dotty) photogravure pic and convert it back (as far as is possible) to the original one from which the plates were made? -- Tony http://www.girolle.co.uk/

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2600 meeting at 18:00 on Friday the 3rd May.
by Viperfang 30 Apr '13

30 Apr '13

Quick heads up about this months Norwich 2600 meeting, more info at http://www.norwich2600.co.uk

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System temperature monitor?
by Ted.Harding＠wlandres.net 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

Hi Folks, My laptop (which was quite busy at the time) suddenly switched itselfr off. I checked the power lead etc., and then switched it back on, and since then it's been fine. I don't really know what happened. It may have been a loose connection in the power supply (the battery is shot, so any interruption kills it immediately); I may have accidentally tapped on the power button (I was typing furiously at the time); but more probably I suspect that the machine may have been over-heating and decided to switch itself off. It felt quite warm, but not really hot. This led me to look for any program that monitors things like the state (including temperature) of the system (e.g. CPU temperature or whatever), but I didn't find anything. Any suggestions as to what I should look for? This is a rather old Debian system (2010) on which I'm running "classic Gnome" (thank God), and for various to reasons it has reached the state where Debian-sourced updates or further software can no longer be installed off repositories. So anything new would have to be installed from scratch. An alternative might be the contents of something under /dev which stores ambient system information, which I could then decipher for myself. But I'm also wondering where that might be! With thanks for any suggestions, Ted. ------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)wlandres.net> Date: 27-Apr-2013 Time: 21:56:01 This message was sent by XFMail -------------------------------------------------

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Looking for simple web photo gallery software with some very specific requirements
by Chris Green 29 Apr '13

29 Apr '13

I'm after a web application to display pictures, there are zillions of them out there but it's difficult to find one to match my requirements:- Take an existing directory hierarchy of pictures and use it to organise the album/gallery. Don't copy the pictures, use them direct from the existing directory structure. Must not require any write access to the pictures directory. The thumbnails and other information must be stored elsewhere. No need for any picture manipulation at all, just a way to navigate through the hierarchy and view the pictures. Preferably no database and the ability to use EXIF information but these are not absolute requirements. It can use PHP, Python, Perl or anything really, slight preference for Python or PHP as I can modify/maintain it more easily myself then. -- Chris Green

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Accessing IMAP from W*****s
by Ted.Harding＠wlandres.net 26 Apr '13

26 Apr '13

Greetings All! My apologies for even hinting at any abominations, but I would like to know the answer to this problem -- and of all people I think ALUG may be able to help! Situation: I have a remote IMAP account with 1and1.co.uk, which my mailer accesses basically via telnet on port 143 (along with email address thereon as userid and a password, both of which I know, of course). The problem: Suppose I am visiting a friend or family, but without my computer (which has the access built in). They all use W*****s systems. I would like to be able to see my emails on the remote IMAP server, perhaps read some, and delete any I'm not interested in. Maybe even reply (but this is not my priority). So: Is there a procedure with some W*****s softwrare which they would have installed by which I can have such access? Ideally, I'd be delighted if this could be done with a browser (e.g. Ex*****r) so that there's minimal interference with the machine I'm using. And (and here I return to the fold) if that were possible then I could also do it using Linux (which would add to the coterie of friends from whose places I could do this). But my attempts from my home Linux system got nowhere (short of setting up an IMAP account in the mail agent , which of course is already there). The host address for access to IMAP accounts is imap.1and1.co.uk port 143 Much gratitude for any useful advice! Best wishes to all, Ted. ------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)wlandres.net> Date: 23-Apr-2013 Time: 18:02:39 This message was sent by XFMail -------------------------------------------------

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Accessing IMAP from W*****s
by Ewan Slater 24 Apr '13

24 Apr '13

<quote> If you have a spare USB stick, you could install Portable Apps http://portableapps.com/ on it and use something like Thunderbird http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/thunderbird_portable to access the IMAP account. I've only used it with PC's with XP installed but believe it works with most varieties of W*****s. All you do is stick it in a USB socket and the apps automatically fire up. When you remove the USB stick, it doesn't leave anything behind on the host PC. </quote> Portable Apps works on Windows 7 and XP. Don't know about Vista or 8. Another option would be to take a Virtual Box Linux VM with you and use that. My €0.02 Ewan

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old tat going free
by mick 23 Apr '13

23 Apr '13

Or really useful old hardware..... Another clear out means that I have some old tat to get rid of. Someone may find some of it useful. If so, let me know, otherwise it's going to the wee recycling dump. Two EZ PCMCIA 10/100 ethernet adaptors (cards slot into old adaptor slots and provide RJ45 ethernet connectors) One Dell external CD/DVD drive wich uses the Dell connecting cable (with cable) One Dell external CD/DVD drive which uses USB connecting cable (with cable) One 5 1/4" floppy drive (really). I have also found a box of Digital Research 5 1/4 floppies with GEM etc dating from 1987 if anyone is feeling really nostalgic. One "universal modulator" from Maplin (one of these http://www.maplin.co.uk/programmable-universal-modulator-33050) Mick --------------------------------------------------------------------- blog: baldric.net gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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(no subject)
by RICHARD FLETCHER 22 Apr '13

22 Apr '13

http://www.blochtech.com/components/com_content/serviceg/noise/apologize

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Re: [ALUG] Just signed up
by Ewan Slater 22 Apr '13

22 Apr '13

Hi, Thanks for all the responses. I'll try and get to one of the pub meetings in May or June (work/travel permitting) and will be intermittently lurking on IRC, with the imaginative handle of ewan_s Cheers, Ewan On 22 April 2013 12:00, <main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk> wrote: > Send main mailing list submissions to > main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/main > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > main-request(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > You can reach the person managing the list at > main-owner(a)lists.alug.org.uk > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of main digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: Just signed up (mick) > 2. Re: Just signed up (Steve Engledow) > 3. Re: (no subject) (Wayne Stallwood) > 4. (no subject) (RICHARD FLETCHER) > 5. Re: (no subject) ( (Ted Harding)) > 6. Re: (no subject) (mick) > 7. Re: there are two binaries, one works one does not > (Peter Alcibiades) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2013 12:32:38 +0100 > From: mick <mbm(a)rlogin.net> > To: main(a)lists.alug.org.uk > Subject: Re: [ALUG] Just signed up > Message-ID: <20130421123238.79e6a425(a)gate.rlogin.net> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > > On Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:58:09 +0100 > Brett Parker <iDunno(a)sommitrealweird.co.uk> allegedly wrote: > > > On 19 Apr 15:43, Ewan Slater wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > > > I've just joined the list and I was wondering if and when there are > > > any face - to - face meetings of the group, and/or key - signing > > > sessions? > > > > The usual monthly meetings are as per the website: > > http://www.alug.org.uk/ > > > > Basically, 2nd Thursday in Norwich and 3rd Monday in Ipswich. > > > > If there's any other time/place you want to meet it's worth throwing > > out to the list to see if there's any interest. > > Hi Ewan and welcome. > > As far as key signing goes, you can probably do that at a pub meeting. > > Mick > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > blog: baldric.net > gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > >

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there are two binaries, one works one does not
by Peter Alcibiades 22 Apr '13

22 Apr '13

The binary that works is in the home directory. The one that does not is in usr/local/bin. The Qt5 libs are in /opt. The error message from running sigil is this: error while loading shared libraries: libQt5Widgets.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory I am guessing that somehow the path of the sigil command is wrongly set and so it cannot see the file, which is really there? But the other thing I can't understand is why the compile and installer should have apparently installed binaries in /home? Or is the installation process first to compile, and then to move the bits into the right places, and this has not happened? On the other hand, the sigil binaries are where they should be, so the qt5 libs should be also. What the world needs is a Debian maintainer for sigil! Any volunteers? Al

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(no subject)
by RICHARD FLETCHER 21 Apr '13

21 Apr '13

http://miravel.co.za/wp-content/plugins/serviceg/hurry/witness

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Re: [ALUG] Just signed up
by Steve Engledow 21 Apr '13

21 Apr '13

----- Forwarded message from mick <mbm(a)rlogin.net> ----- Hi Ewan and welcome. As far as key signing goes, you can probably do that at a pub meeting. Mick ----- End forwarded message ----- Welcome to ALUG, Ewan. As Mick said, key signing does indeed happen occasionally at pubmeets so come down to one some time. We're generally very unorganised though and have to go look up how to do key signing every time :) We're all experts, honest. It's also worth getting onto IRC at some point to say hi. We're on irc.alug.org.uk in the #alug channel. Steve

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Just signed up
by Ewan Slater 21 Apr '13

21 Apr '13

Hi, I've just joined the list and I was wondering if and when there are any face - to - face meetings of the group, and/or key - signing sessions? Also, is anyone based in the Halesworth area? Cheers, Ewan

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stumbling around with sigil...
by Peter Alcibiades 21 Apr '13

21 Apr '13

OK, finally solved the problem with QT5, though without being really clear what worked or why. It did finally compile and installed itself politely in /opt. Now there is another puzzle. The problem was to install and run sigil. Which is a very nice package indeed if you want to edit epub books.Very nice. Unfortunately you have to compile it from source. They do not do binaries, and if they have as hard a time as me with it, I can understand why. The problem is that entering the command sigil in a terminal produces an error to the effect that libQt5 widgets is not found. However, the binary is installed in my home directory in a sigil folder, and if I execute this binary it works just fine. If I look in the /opt sigil directory, qt5widgets is indeed there. So how do I change the command so that it calls the binary that works? There must be a file someplace that has all these commands in it, but where? Al

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Re: [ALUG] Looking up IP address via DNS
by Mark Rogers 19 Apr '13

19 Apr '13

On 18 April 2013 10:16, Mark Rogers <mark(a)more-solutions.co.uk> wrote: > I need a way to do a DNS lookup of an IP address that returns the IP > address. I have managed to solve this in two ways, in case anyone is interested. First: $ dig @8.8.8.8 192.168.1.1 +short $ dig @192.168.100.5 192.168.1.1 +short 192.168.1.1 It turns out that Google's DNS doesn't give an answer when queried for an IP address, but my own office DNS (dnsmasq) does. So controlling the DNS server gives me a solution. Secondly though: I found a way to bypass the braindead behaviour in the unit, and although it's messy it works, so none of the rest of this matters any more! -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG

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Looking up IP address via DNS
by Mark Rogers 18 Apr '13

18 Apr '13

I'm working with a brain dead system, so bear with me... I need a way to do a DNS lookup of an IP address that returns the IP address. I can control the DNS server, and/or possibly apply a suffix to the IP address. The reason is that I have an industrial unit that will accept a hostname (for FTP purposes) but if I enter an IP address it fails, and this appears to be because its DNS lookup of that address is failing. The unit should have Internet access and I can set the DNS server to whatever I like, so one option would may to run my own DNS server that when queried for "192.168.1.1" returns the IP address "192.168.1.1". That pre-supposes that the unit isn't already detecting that "192.168.1.1" is an IP address, not doing a DNS lookup, but then failing for some other reason (where it does not fail if I use a name which looks up to that IP). A "better" solution is probably to apply a suffix, so instead of entering "192.168.1.1" I enter "192.168.1.1.example.com" [1] where the DNS for "example.com" will return the IP address. That way I know that the unit will be forced to go through a DNS lookup and is more likely to just work. I'd just need some guidance on setting up BIND or some other DNS to achieve this. Any ideas? The "best" option would be to get the manufacturer to fix their product but it turns out that the best options aren't always available :-( [1] Just for clarity: the user enters the IP address and I have no control over what address they'll enter. In my code I then detect that it's an IP address rather than a hostname (probably just checking whether the last character is numeric would suffice), and appending ".example.com" before passing to the FTP handling code. -- Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 Registered in England (0456 0902) 21 Drakes Mews, Milton Keynes, MK8 0ER

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Qt5 again...
by Peter Alcibiades 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

I have found one of the files, what I don't know how to do is put it into the path.... Al

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QT5 compile errors
by Peter Alcibiades 17 Apr '13

17 Apr '13

This is the error I am getting:- Could not find a package configuration file provided by "Qt5Core" with any of the following names: Qt5CoreConfig.cmake qt5core-config.cmake Add the installation prefix of "Qt5Core" to CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH or set "Qt5Core_DIR" to a directory containing one of the above files. If "Qt5Core" provides a separate development package or SDK, be sure it has been installed. I am trying to compile and install Sigil from source. Anyone know specifically how to do what its asking for? Like what to put in what file? Al

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : The Mulberry Tree
by samwise 14 Apr '13

14 Apr '13

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 back tomorrow, 15th April, at 20:00: The Mulberry Tree 5 Woodbridge Road IPSWICH IP4 2EA Tel: 01473 225776 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP4+2EA WWW: https://www.facebook.com/MULBERRYHOSPITALITY The Mulberry Tree, previously known as The Milestone Beer House, is a grade 2 listed building in the centre of Ipswich. It is located at the intersection between Woodbridge Road and the A1156, across the road from the old Odeon cinema and not far from the Regent Theatre. It re-opened on Thursday March 29th 2012 after a major refurbishment, under its original name of The Mulberry House and has already begun to regain a good reputation for its selection of beers and ales. It has a sizeable car park to the rear of the building. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. I should be arriving at 20:00 - hope to see some of you there! Cheers, 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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USB 2.0 to ethernet adaptors
by mick 11 Apr '13

11 Apr '13

Hi all Does anyone have any experience of using USB 2.0 to ethernet adaptors? Ignoring the apparently magical ability to get more than 280 Mbits/s of adaptors advertised as "USB 2.0 to gigabit ethernet", what is the realistic maximum throughput anyone has experienced with such devices, and on what architectures? I am considering options for building a very small, low powered in-line F/W and some of the devices I am looking at only have one ethernet port (but often two or more USB ports). Any and all advice (up to and including "don't be silly, do it properly") happily accepted. Cheers Mick --------------------------------------------------------------------- blog: baldric.net gpg fingerprint: FC23 3338 F664 5E66 876B 72C0 0A1F E60B 5BAD D312 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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