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FW: FSF announces release of gNewSense 1.0
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 02 Nov '06

02 Nov '06

Hi Folks, I've just received the following from gnu.org. It looks interesting and worthy! (The only things is, I find the Logo, wel, not restful ... Hopefully the Freedom etends to allowing one to change that!) Best wishes to all, Ted. -----FW: <200611021900.kA2J0Bm19695(a)f7.net>----- Date: Thu, 02 Nov 2006 12:07:01 -0500 Sender: gnu-prog-bounces+ted.harding=nessie.mcc.ac.uk(a)gnu.org From: John Sullivan <johns(a)fsf.org> To: gnu-prog(a)gnu.org Subject: FSF announces release of gNewSense 1.0 BOSTON, November 2, 2006 - Free Software Foundation announces release of gNewSense version 1.0. (Screenshots available at http://www.fsf.org/news/gnewsense) gNewSense (http://www.gnewsense.org) is a free software GNU/Linux distribution created by two Irish free software advocates, Brian Brazil and Paul O'Malley, and is based on the Ubuntu and Debian distributions. The goal of gNewSense is to provide users with a software package that offers the stability of Ubuntu with the addition of freedom. In announcing the release of version 1.0, the gNewSense developers stated, "From a philosophical perspective we wanted to create a GNU/Linux distribution where the user has access to all the sources for all software on the system. This includes everything from the heart of the kernel through to the everyday desktop applications." With the avowed goal of providing a completely free distribution - one without non-free kernel binary "blobs" or any other non-free software, the Free Software Foundation has announced sponsorship of the project. Ted Teah, FSF's free software directory maintainer explained, "With all the kernel firmware and restricted repositories removed, and the reliance on Ubuntu's proprietary distribution management tool gone, this distribution is the most advanced GNU/Linux distribution that has a commitment to be 100% free." gNewSense will provide users with full security updates and is available for immediate download in LiveCD ISO format along with a version of the Ubiquity graphical installer. Furthermore, the gNewSense team has created a set of software called Builder which allows users to create their own gNewSense-based distributions. gNewSense provides detailed instructions on how to use the software and the recipe to roll out a customized distro. The Free Software Foundation is providing the gNewSense team with a high end build machine (running with a free BIOS), with bandwidth and with assistance in developing artwork. The FSF plans to aid widespread adoption of the distribution and, with the release of gNewSense 1.0, is making a call for volunteers who have the skills to act as the following: * Developers; * Website Maintainers; * Graphic Artists; * Freedom verifiers to monitor package additions and mailing lists; * Documentation Writers. To volunteer, please, sign on at irc.freenode.net and /join #gnewsense. You can also join the mailing list via the project website http://www.gnewsense.org/ ----30---- About the Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software - particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants - and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software. Their Web site, located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support their work can be made at http://fsf.org/join They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA. Press contact: To schedule an interview with the developers of gNewSense, please contact Ted Teah at the Free Software Foundation (+1 617-542-5942) or Peter Brown (+1 617-542-5942) or email pr(a)fsf.org ---------- -- John Sullivan Program Administrator | Phone: (617)542-5942 x23 51 Franklin Street, 5th Fl. | Fax: (617)542-2652 Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA | GPG: AE8600B6 -- http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/gnu-prog --------------End of forwarded message------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 02-Nov-06 Time: 19:32:38 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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Re: Odd behaviour in OO - Java??
by Peter Alcibiades 02 Nov '06

02 Nov '06

>How did you install Sun Java? If you didn't, then I'd suggest you try using >Debian's java-package tool like this: ># apt-get install java-package fakeroot >$ fakeroot make-jpkg name-of-downloaded-java-binary.bin ># dpkg -i name-of-created-package.deb >(note that the middle step has to be done as a non-root user; and that >java-package is in contrib) >This may put the JRE in a location where OOo can find it. OK, tried that - many thanks - it seemed to install sun's amd64 java ok. But still not recognised by 00, and hasn't fixed it. It declined to install the 586 version. I still cannot manage to point OO at a jre that it will acknowledge. It can't be, surely, that the Debian packagers of OO would have let it go out with something as basic as this not working? Peter

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Upgrading kernels - what do others do?
by cl＠isbd.net 01 Nov '06

01 Nov '06

I have just tried to upgrade my kernel from 2.6.18 to 2.6.18.1, this raises a number of problems/issues and I was wondering how other people deal with them. When you run the vmware upgrade to build vmware for the new kernel it complains that the running kernel (2.6.18) is not the same as one you're trying to upgrade to (2.6.18.1) - not surprising really! However it means you have to build the new kernel succesfully before you can upgrade vmware to it, which is a bit sort of messy at least. Building one of my required added modules (the drivers for the RTL8168 network on the MB) it creates the new module in /lib/modules/2.6.18/kernel/drivers/net because it uses 'uname -r' to get the kernel version. This doesn't work very well when you reboot - no network. What's the right/best way to patch the kernel to minimise these problems? I created /usr/src/linux-2.6.18.1 as a copy of /usr/src/linux-2.6.18 and applied the 2.6.18.1 patches to the new directory tree. It would seem (in view of the above problems) that this may not be the ideal way to do it. I've now changed names so that I have /usr/src/linux-2.6.18.base (as the original version) and /usr/src/linux-2.6.18 which is the patched version but then it's a bit more difficult to keep track of which version you patched to. -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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Odd behaviour in OO - Java??
by Peter Alcibiades 01 Nov '06

01 Nov '06

Just changed to Etch AMD64, and OO behaves oddly, I suspect connected to Java in some way. The approved way of putting buttons and controls into your documents is VIEW>TOOLBARS>FORMCONTROLS. This brings up the little click and paste widget, and it does allow you to paste buttons in. Having done this, the next step would be right click on the button. You are now supposed to be able to choose CONTROL. However, nothing happens. The cross hairs stay in place, and all I can do is create a new button. In Writer, drag and drop doesn't work at all. Select some text and try to drag it, and nothing happens. Base seems to be so unstable as to be unusable. Almost anything you do crashes it. Suspecting this might be something to do with Java, I tried to install both the Sun JRE 64bit and 32 bit versions in addition to the FSF one. They appeared to go in fine, but the only one OO is aware of in the OPTONS>Java menu is the FSF one. How does OO become aware of a JRE? You're invited to supply classes and so on, but I can't figure out how to do that because of not being able to find anything it will agree is a Jre. Where would I look for such a thing? One thing that suggests it may not be Java, its very odd that if it is Java, my Mandriva installation shows no Jre at all, but all this stuff works fine. On the other hand, turning off the FSF Jre in Etch leads to a lot of stuff going missing. Its true that Mandriva 2006 being stuck in a timewarp with OO, I downloaded and installed it direct from OO. The Mandriva is 2.03 and the Debian is 2.04. But its hardly credible that going from 03 to 04 screwed up something as basic as this. Anyone have any ideas? Should I just apt-get uninstall and then download and install directly from OO? Or does anyone know some way of testing that the Sun Javas are installed and working and telling OO they are there? Cheers Peter

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System shutting itself down but I can't see why
by cl＠isbd.net 01 Nov '06

01 Nov '06

My Slackware 11 keeps shutting itself down but I can't see why. In /var/log/syslog and /var/log/messages there are messages from apache and samba saying they're shutting themselves down because they've been told to but I can't see a reason anywhere. It happens fairly randomly anywhere from once every ten minutes to once every several hours. It reboots all by itself and continues running. It's not a temperature problem as the system is way below the BIOS alarm temperatures. Any ideas as to how to diagnose this or places to look? -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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My random resets solved - I think
by cl＠isbd.net 31 Oct '06

31 Oct '06

I think I have found the cause of my random system resets, nothing at all to do with software, there was a whisker of solder or something similar adjacent to the little PCB which has the reset button on it and it occasionally reset - probably with thermal cylcing or whatever. I found it because the reset button wasn't working and, getting it to work, I found that wiggling the board caused a reset. Humph! There I was thinking it was some wierd option I'd set when building my kernel! :-) -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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Monitoring mains via serial port
by Ted.Harding＠nessie.mcc.ac.uk 31 Oct '06

31 Oct '06

Hi Folks, Your expertise and wisdom may help me clarify thoughts on the following. I'm contemplating buying a couple of UPS units, at the very cheap end, so no comms to the computer which could be used to initiate a programmed shutdown if the mains goes off. So in turn I'm contemplating rigging a little circuit which would supply a signal to a serial port while the mains was on. The germ of the idea is to use one of those very cheap power converters which can deliver a DC voltage chosen from (say) 3V, 4.5V, 6V, 9V, 12V, and set it up so as to put say 12V between 2 pins on a serial port, when plugged directly into the mains. Then it would be easy to have a little script running in the background which would monitor the lines on the serial port, and initiate a shutdown if the voltage dropped to zero for (say) more than a minute. That's the bare bones of the idea, and indeed enough to define a basic soldering-iron job! But I'm not sure I'm being circumspect enough here, so would welcome comment! With thanks, and best wishes to all, Ted. -------------------------------------------------------------------- E-Mail: (Ted Harding) <Ted.Harding(a)nessie.mcc.ac.uk> Fax-to-email: +44 (0)870 094 0861 Date: 31-Oct-06 Time: 20:26:50 ------------------------------ XFMail ------------------------------

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matrox G450 dual head and two identical monitors problem
by Jenny Hopkins 31 Oct '06

31 Oct '06

Hullo there, I've got a Matrox G450 dual head graphics card. I've then got two identical monitors: Flatron L1715S. In my xorg.conf I've put the vertical and horizontal refresh rates as the same, however the second monitor stays dark. If I tweak the horiz rate for second monitor, the screen appears, but fuzzy. (I've posted what I think ought to work but is out of range below. If I change the HorizSync for Monitor[1] to 30-63 it does the fuzzy thing.) Can anybody see any earthly reason why the same setting is not valid? Thanks, Jenny Section "Monitor" HorizSync 30-83 Identifier "Monitor[0]" ModelName "LG" Option "DPMS" VendorName "Flatron" VertRefresh 56-75 UseModes "Modes[0]" EndSection Section "Monitor" HorizSync 30-83 Identifier "Monitor[1]" ModelName "LG" Option "DPMS" VendorName "Flatron" VertRefresh 56-75 UseModes "Modes[1]" EndSection

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computer fairs
by Nick Atkins 31 Oct '06

31 Oct '06

Does anybody know if there are any computer fairs in East Anglia? I have a workshop that is bulging with hardware. All pointers gratefully received, otherwise it's eBay (groan) or London :0( Thanks, -- Nick Atkins South Norfolk

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Simple apache/hosting question
by cl＠isbd.net 30 Oct '06

30 Oct '06

Well I assume it's simple but I can't quite see how to sort it out. I'm running Slackware 11 on my home machine and, on the home network, its IP address is 192.168.1.1, it's running apache 1.3.37 (the Slackware 11 default). I have set up my router/firewall so that HTTP requests are sent to 192.168.1.1. At just-the-name I have the domain isbd.ltd.uk set up so that HTTP requests are routed to my static IP address at my ISP. So far, so good, if you go to http://www.isbd.ltd.uk/ up pops the default apache index.html page to indicate that it's all working. However, if I go to http://www.isbd.ltd.uk/~chris then instead of bringing up the index.html that I have in the public_html directory in my home directory on the Slackware system I get an error:- Firefox can't find the server at server.isbd.ltd.uk. ... and Firefox is looking for http://server.isbd.ltd.uk/~chris/ which of course doesn't work because server.isbd.ltd.uk doesn't exist in the outside world. How do I get my Slackware machine to look like isbd.ltd.uk when seen from the outside world but give it the name server and/or server.isbd.ltd.uk internally to my home network? -- Chris Green (chris(a)halon.org.uk)

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