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Is there any way to 'ssh and cd'?
by Chris G 01 Nov '10

01 Nov '10

I'd like to set up some logins to various places around my LAN which not only ssh to the relevant place but also do a cd to a specific directory. Can anyone suggest a way to do this? By default if you give a command to ssh at the end of the line then it executes that command and then closes the connection - it only keeps the connection open if there is no command at the end. In addition doing a cd is even a bit more difficult because it's no use at all to execute it in a sub-shell. -- Chris Green

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Search and replace(insert) - can anyone help?
by Barry Samuels 01 Nov '10

01 Nov '10

<table class="socialheader" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td width="85%" align="left" nowrap>The Three Sisters, Glen Coe</td> </tr> </table> I have over 2500 pages with the above HTML in ( the "Three Sisters, Glen Coe" bit is different in every file) and I want to add two lines so: <table class="socialheader" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td width="85%" align="left" nowrap>The Three Sisters, Glen Coe</td> <One new line here> <Another new line here> </tr> </table> The pair of lines to be inserted is identical in each case but the only unique identifier is the "class=socialheader". Is there any way I can do it with a script? -- Barry Samuels http://www.beenthere-donethat.org.uk The Unofficial Guide to Great Britain

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Re: [ALUG] Thunderguts 2.# in Usenet mode
by Anthony Anson 31 Oct '10

31 Oct '10

nev young wrote: > On 30/10/10 22:55, Anthony Anson wrote: >> >> <MI5> Is deleting Mike Corley an option? </MI5> >> > When I used TB2 I trained my hand to press "k" on any thread started by > Mr C or anything cross-posted to more than 2 gropes. I'll play - that's a keystroke which I missed somewhere along the line (along with Alt+F9...) for which I also have you to thank innit. -- Tony Anson www.girolle.co.uk/

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Thunderguts 2.# in Usenet mode
by Anthony Anson 30 Oct '10

30 Oct '10

Can anyone explain why, when I download headers there will be (say) 5 unread in a group, but on accessing it, a couple will disappear without trace? It happens most times the server is accessed. They haven't been eaten by the killfile - indeed, on most gruppen I don't have any filters. -- Tony Anson www.girolle.co.uk/

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TV & Computer display screen
by ted.harding＠wlandres.net 29 Oct '10

29 Oct '10

Hi Folks, Once again picking the brains of the hardware-savvy amongst you! A friend of mine has asked me about what to get for a flat-screen which can double as TV and computer display screen. The size would need to be big enough to serve as a comfortable YV (so, I guess, at least 19/21 inch, probably larger). The intention is to plug the TV aerial into the back and use it as the TV, or plug the computer in and use it as the display. One computer is a not-too-recent laptop (no details held), but not very old. Dunno whether it has an S-video socket. Two other computers are rather old desktops dating back some 10 years (and with a Win of the vintage of Win 98 as OS, though I'm not certain of the exact version). Almost certainly no S-video, probably only standard monitor socket on video card. I'm clueless[*] about this sort of hardware question, so I'm asking for advice/comments! I guess the real question is whether a standard monitor socket can be connnectied to a TV (for suitable choice of TV); with associated question of whether large screen size may not work well with the computer. With thanks, Ted. [*] Not completely -- I have succeeded in connecting a recentish laptop to a TV using an adaptor cable from Maplin's, with S-video (1 connector) plus audio (2 connectors plus adptor to stero plug-in for computer's line-out socket) at the computer end, and a SCART plug at the other end for the TV. But this may be irrelevant for the present question! -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 28-Oct-10 Time: 19:22:59 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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postgresql client question
by Jenny Hopkins 28 Oct '10

28 Oct '10

Hullo all, I've written a shell script that sends a line of insert sql to a postgresql database - or it's supposed to. If the script is run on the same host as the database, there is no problem. However, I want the sql to be sent and inserted from a client running ubuntu, to a debian server, without having to install the entire postgres package on the former. I read about postgresql-client-common being the tool for the job, duly installed it, but when it ran the sql "psql -h hostname -U username dbname < filename" it grumbled "Error: You must install at least one postgresql-client-<version> package". After googling some, I then tried sticking a default cluster in /etc/postgresql-common/user_clusters on the ubuntu client: "jenny jenny 8.3 CWMain dbname" but it seems to be looking at itself, rather than the host specified on the sql line: "Error: /etc/postgresql-common/user_clusters line 24: version 8.3 does not exist" The postgres version on the server is 8.3. Is there a different approach I can take - I feel I'm missing something incredibly obvious? I've always had postgresql installed on clients in the past and haven't come across this. Many thanks, Jenny

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ALUG library
by Wayne Stallwood 25 Oct '10

25 Oct '10

I am still looking to rid myself of having to store the ALUG library. The fact is that since being librarian (2003ish) we have lent exactly no books. Most of it is now horribly out of date...a long time ago I abandoned the magazines. There are a few newish titles I have added and a recent donation of "linux in a nutshell" from O'Reily. The online catalogue is offline due to the hosting it was on being broken. I have backups but it was pretty crufty anyway. More donations can be sought..but to get more out of O'Reily they were wanting us to do online and open access reviews and comments about the donated titles. I no longer have the time or the enthusiasm to do this. I see two potential futures. Somebody takes it over and tries to resurrect it by getting a book review section up on the wiki and therefore hopefully attracts more relevant donations..clears out the crud and tries to resolve the logistical issues of free book lending to remote members. or we disband it.... If this was decided then I would post a catalogue and members could claim anything they wanted to keep for themselves. After a time I would take whatever is left and donate to a charity shop or similar. Please can you respond and let me know your ideas...I don't want to go giving it away without approval from those that helped build the collection or if anyone sees a potential future for it. At the same time however it has long been a burden for me to store and I need the space in my study back...currently it consists of about 3 stackable boxes full of books. Many Thanks Wayne

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Re: [ALUG] free or cheap web hosting
by Peter Alcibiades 24 Oct '10

24 Oct '10

Thanks, guys. Turns out on investigation that 1and1 has a much cheaper basic package than I realized, at around 2.50 a month for the entry level one, but he seems most impressed with the daily.co.uk package. The year in advance is a pretty decent deal. Thanks. Peter

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free or cheap web hosting
by Peter Alcibiades 23 Oct '10

23 Oct '10

A penniless artist asked me to suggest free or cheap web hosting. Obviously he will not have a lot of traffic, and what he wants to do is put up his pictures for view, but not particularly high res. So it does not have to have a lot of space. I don't know whether own domain is important or not. Might be nice. Any suggestions? I had thought of 1and1, which seems to do a basic package for around £120 a year including domain. But if there is anything anyone would recommend thats cheaper and still decent, the pennies would help. Peter

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Netbook Dual Boot Distro-Hopping Grub/MBR Recovery Solution
by S 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Hi I have a non-standard Netbook HP 2133 which for now anyway I want to be able to Dual Boot XP MCE and a Linux Distro. The Mini has a VIA Chip and none of the distros have yet fully got to grips with maximising the Graphics though I read that Ubuntu is getting closer to seamlessly building in a new open-source driver from Via (don't drivers end up in the kernel though?). Bottom line is I hop distros to try to find one that has mastered the trick of all forms of video and flash so that I can finally dump the Windows. In doing so I recently installed Jolicloud in place of Linux Mint. I made a mistake in thinking I could just delete the mint & related swap partition and get "Error 15". I know I can sort it by hooking up an external DVD and doing full reinstalls of Windows and Jolicloud or whatever and maybe next time I'll do the Express install of Jolicloud which I think uses Wubi making uninstallation easy (it says) Whilst I'd like to learn to avoid these messes in the first place, I'd like to know how to fix them much more quickly too. I read on Lifehacker of Wintoflash and thought that would speed re-installations of Windows (maybe it doesn't like MCE version of XP) or maybe the cross disk installation process caught out the software (as it didn't ask me to swap disks) but it doesn't get to an installation/repair type screen, though it will start windows from a grub like menu but doesn't fix boot on restart. I've also tried super grub disk on systemrescuecd-x86-1.6.2 and can access and fully use either of the OSs on the hard disk fine. Having the usb stick in to do this each time is of course daft. GRUB/MBR and Xorg seem to be two that really I need to get to grips with but i've yet to build confidence or even familiarity in digging around much in Linux - kinda just want it to work. Lots (& lots!) of info online but are there some golden rules / infallible-simple-quick sources to go to prevent & sort my problems. Is there a master tool kit on a usb stick. I'll try and get along to one of the meetings sometime. Er, I think that's quite enough Steve >

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multi function photo printer advice please
by mick 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

My HP Photosmart (C5280) has finally irritated me enough to want to get rid of it. It currently refuses to print at all using "recycled" cartridges (always tricky with HP printers in my experience) and is now also flaky with HP branded cartridges. I am also thoroughly pissed off with the cost of Vivera ink and the fact that I have to replace the entire colour (or photo) cartridge when just one colour is depleted. So I have been researching Epson MFPs which have 6 seperate ink cartidges. My needs are classic home user: - scanning 1200/2400 - photocopying - monochrome and colour printing up to A4 - photo printing up to A4 - ideally printing direct from assorted flash memory sticks (I have both sony and SD cards). The Epson photo PX 650 looks as if it would fit the bill, but it does not appear in the linux openprinting database. There is a driver quoted for it which appears to require the installation of the lsb packages but I'm not sure how well supported this might be. Does anyone here have any experience of this printer? And if not, what other epson (or non HP printer which meets the above requirements) can people recommend? The main reason for using HP in the past is the fact that they are pretty good at supporting linux through HPLIP. Shame about the extortionate running costs. Mick (Anyone want a C5280 which /might/ be fixable) --------------------------------------------------------------------- The text file for RFC 854 contains exactly 854 lines. Do you think there is any cosmic significance in this? Douglas E Comer - Internetworking with TCP/IP Volume 1 http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc854.txt ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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Android Readers
by Martin Collins 21 Oct '10

21 Oct '10

Hi, has anyone any experience of some of these new Android E-Readers? I was looking for something to read pdfs, things like Full Circle Magazine (http://fullcirclemagazine.org/downloads/) Linux Format pdfs and some programming manuals I've got - all Linuxy Languages of course. However, these are mostly 7" in size and although probably ok for text, I'm a bit unsure whether they would be big enough for fixed format pdfs? Anyone used one yet. Next do a 10" one but it's a bit pricey (£180) - http://www.next.co.uk/shopping/electric/carryover/10/13 I'd feel better with that one but for that price I could buy a cheap Netbook - maybe that would be the best option. Any opinions greatly received before I splash my cash. Rgds, Martin

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Android phones and Linux, any experience?
by Chris G 20 Oct '10

20 Oct '10

Does anyone hare have an Android based phone and use it with Linux on their desktop? -- Chris Green

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scanners part the second
by Bev Nicolson 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

Hmph. Not because Adam was right but because I have been trying to change permissions for this scanner (I need root permish) and it isn't playing ball. Nautilus claims I already have it. Terminal won't let me. (I've tried chmod) The scanner itself does work, btw but only when I fire up VueScan. Help, please. TIA. Bev.

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[ALUG Announce] 3rd Monday Monthly Ipswich Social Meeting : McGintys, Northgate Street
by samwise 18 Oct '10

18 Oct '10

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 tonight, Monday 18th October, at 20:00: P J McGinty & Sons 15 Northgate Street Ipswich Suffolk IP1 3BY Tel: 01473 251 515 Map/Directions URI: http://maps.google.co.uk/?q=IP1+3BY WWW: http://www.pjmcgintys.co.uk/ McGintys pub is in the centre of Ipswich. It's directly opposite the town's central library and has a reputation for good Irish beer. We're usually to be found in the lowest section of the bar, near the library entrance to the pub. All are welcome, novices and experienced users. Feel free to ask for further information on the Main ALUG mailing list. Hopefully, see some of you there! Peter. ----- Send discussion replies to main(a)lists.alug.org.uk (Reply-To set) Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Re: [ALUG] Intel 2200BG wireless
by Richard McLellan 15 Oct '10

15 Oct '10

I got it all sorted now. I was using Mint Isadora on my laptop but changed over to Xubuntu and it works no problems in there.Thanks for the help on this.

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Kindles - Was Android Readers
by mark fernandes (IFR) 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

I can confirm that Kindles are good bit of kit. I've got cheaper version (without 3G) for work. Wifi and browser works well with limitations of e-paper (no flash - not necessarily a bad thing :-)) I go to lots of meetings for my sins and get issued with lots of docs (=76 pages of dead tree) and our group travel a lot (so baggage limits)- so am trying out Kindle as a solution to these probs. So far, so good - screen is really good, readable in bright sunlight (sadly less of a problem at the moment...). Used also to read my OU Maths course books (formulae etc quite clear). Only time so far I've had to charge battery was when it arrived - it's seems to get by with my USB transfers of books to feed itself. Also, can back it up that way as it is a 'standard' USB storage device on PC. Since you invited it Mick - You're a luddite :-) Seriously, I've always loved books but e-readers enable me to cart my library about when travelling, are searchable and so are v. useful. Both have their place. I've got problems browsing local HTML files and need a program to reformat 3 column scientific paper PDFs into e-reader friendly single column form but despite that am content with the device. See http://codingscience.blogspot.com/2010/10/kindle.html for the ups and downs so far Like so many things, e-readers are horses for courses - if it does what you need then that's the sweet spot. Been quite interested in the debate so far (Will especially try out the debug mode...) All the best, Mark Sign hanging in Einstein's office at Princeton: Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.

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Audio input for laptops?
by ted.harding＠wlandres.net 13 Oct '10

13 Oct '10

Hi Folks, Unlike desktop sound cards, which usually have a "Line In" socket for headphone/speaker output (aka "Line Out") from audio devices, most laptops seem to have only microphone input (though they do have "Line Out"). Now one can of course simply plug a mike into the laptop, play the audio device through speakers with the mike near the speakers, and record to the laptop that way. But it's not fully satisfactory, and one may need to experiment a bit before it's acceptable. (And you will need to move around silently, avoid slurping coffee or saying "b****r" when you spill it, and above all don't flush the loo ... ). So it would be nice to have a means of putting a cable between the "Line Out" and the mike input on the laptop, but I've not managed to work out a way of doing this! Does anyone have a good solution? With thanks, Ted. PS: I have just heard that the Good Lord has finally finished marking your exam papers (He has been having a lot of intray crashes, which tend to happen at times of high prayer input -- He shouldn't leave His admin to Archangel Gabriel, who seems to spend a lot of time just flapping around). Anyway, the result is that you have all got 10/10/10, on this date. Congratulations! -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <ted.harding(a)wlandres.net> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 10-Oct-10 Time: 19:02:51 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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[ALUG Announce] Alug Norwich 2nd Thursday Pub Meet 14th October @ The Coach & Horses
by Srdjan Todorovic 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

ALUG Announce Please send announcements to Announce(a)lists.alug.org.uk Unsub, change settings via http://lists.alug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/announce ----- Dear ALUG, This months second Thursday social meeting of ALUG will take place on 14th October 2010 at The Coach and Horses (82 Thorpe Road, Norwich, NR1 1BA http://www.thecoachthorperoad.co.uk/ ). The Coach and Horses offers food (really great burgers!), a good selection of real beer (including takeouts!) and reasonably good connections for travel and parking. There should be people there from 8pm (I'm hoping to be there from 6:30pm), hopefully I'll remember to bring my small foam Tux to aid people in recognising us. We are usually at the back of the pub. I look forward to seeing you on Thursday. Regards, Srdjan ----- 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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IRC channel configuration change
by MJ Ray 12 Oct '10

12 Oct '10

I've had a request to give quinophex on #alug more admin power. I've not been there much, so I don't know the context/motive, so I'm emailing the list. Is everyone OK with that? On- or off-list replies OK. Thanks, -- MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op. Webmaster, Debian Developer, Past Koha RM, statistician, former lecturer. In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html Available for hire for various work http://www.software.coop/products/

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Just a quick shout out...
by Brett Parker 11 Oct '10

11 Oct '10

Has anyone heard from/seen Ruth Bygrave recently... I was recently hitting the archives and noted that we don't appear to have seen anything on list from her since Feb 2009. She was never a very active poster, but we did usually see a message from here at least once every 4 months, just want to check that she's doing alright. Thanks, -- Brett Parker http://www.sommitrealweird.co.uk/ PGP Fingerprint 1A9E C066 EDEE 6746 36CB BD7F 479E C24F 95C7 1D61

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Intel 2200B/G wireless
by Richard McLellan 11 Oct '10

11 Oct '10

Hi folks, I have a Dell Inspiron with the Intel 2200B/G wireless card. After reading the destructions that came with the linux drivers, it goes on about building it with the kernel or something close to that. I have no idea what/how to do this. Would this have to be done regardless of linux version or might there be a linux version with these drivers already in the distro? ThanksRich

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Can one get rid of Desktop?
by Chris G 07 Oct '10

07 Oct '10

Is it possible to get rid of the (IMHO) stupid Desktop directory and the concept that goes with it? If my screen is anywhere I want it to be my home directory, not ~/Desktop. I can delete ~/Desktop but it just gets recreated whenever I do anything like open a terminal 'here'. Why can't I just get a terminal to open at /home/chris when I right click on my screen? (Not to mention the silliness of all those directories like Pictures, Videos, etc. starting with an uppercase letter) -- Chris Green

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Co-lo and VM hosting
by Laurie Brown 06 Oct '10

06 Oct '10

We find ourselves in need to some tertiary DNS and other services, and am looking at either using a VM, or some co-lo. In the case of the former, can anyone on-list recommend a Linux-supporting VM company, either Ubuntu or Gentoo (the latter fairly important)? In the case of the latter, does anyone know and can recommend a local (to Ipswich) co-lo company with reasonable rates? Bandwidth is an issue in each case, as we need to keep the servers current, and there's a fair amount of traffic flowing through. Cheers, Laurie. -- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Laurie Brown laurie(a)brownowl.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------

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'ssh -X' doesn't seem to work, any alternative ways to do the same?
by Chris G 06 Oct '10

06 Oct '10

I'm currently away from home and I'm trying to get a GUI application running on a machine at home with the display here in N. Wales. Normally I would connect from the remote location using 'ssh -X' so that the DISPLAY environment variable would be set up to work through the ssh 'pipe' and a GUI app run on the remote machine (at my house) would use the display on the machine where I'm sitting currently (in North Wales). For some reason (possibly security on intermediate machines, this isn't a single hop ssh connection) the -X parameter in ssh isn't working for me in this case so I'm looking for alternatives. Can anyone suggest alternative ways of achieving my goal? The *real* aim is to allow me to get at my router configuration from here in Wales so I can change it to allow direct ssh access from this IP address. The router's web configuration uses so much bad/arcane javascript that you can't access it using lynx/links/w3m and the telnet access to its configuration is far too difficult to attempt to use remotely, the chances of screwing it up so that access is completely denied are very high. I have full root access to the server machine at home if necessary so can install/configure stuff as necessary, similarly at this end I'm running Linux on the laptop I'm using and can do whatever's needed. Thanks for any help and suggestions. -- Chris Green

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