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[Alug]ALUG Webmaster
by Dan Hatton 01 Aug '03

01 Aug '03

Who maintains the ALUG web pages, please? As far as I can make out (and this could just be me being stupid,) they're named neither on the home page, nor in the FAQ. I ask because I wanted to send them a spelling correction ;-). -- Dan Hatton <http://www.bib.hatton.btinternet.co.uk/dan/>

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[Alug]RPM files
by Richard Lewis 01 Aug '03

01 Aug '03

Dear ALUG, Three things: 1) Is it possible to extract a single file from an RPM file (as if it were a tar archive, for instance)? 2) To ellaborate on 1): Last time I booted up my Mandake 9.1 box KDE (3.1) loaded without the kicker program (the panel at the bottom). Eventually I found that this was because /usr/lib/kicker.so was missing. I tried creating a symbolic link to /usr/lib/kicker.la but (as I half suspected) it didn't work (.so's and .la's clearly aren't that same thing!). So I found the kdebase.*.rpm on my discs and found that this rpm includes the kicker.so file but I can't find a way to get at that file without installing the entire package (which both I and Linux are reluctant to do!). Hence question 1). 3) I've had similar problems before and I believe I know the cause - but not the solution! Every 23rd boot my Mandrake box checks the root filesystem for errors and always finds and repairs them. On odd occasions after it's done this I get these sorts of problems - in fact its always been missing libraries. So, if anyone has any answers to any of these questions I'd be very grateful to hear them! Thanks very much, Richard. Linux forever, Windows never!

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[Alug]HTML editor for Linux
by Ben Francis 01 Aug '03

01 Aug '03

Hi LUGers I'm trying to find an HTML editor that can give me the same productivity I got in Macromedia Dreamweaver MX but in Linux. I've tried getting Dreamweaver to run under Wine which is supposed to be possible but I'm not keen on the idea anyway - I'd rather run something that was actually written for Linux and *ideally* under the GPL. So far I've looked around and I've tried BlueFish and Quanta Plus, the latter being the most impressive. However, I still don't find it anywhere near as productive to work with as the joint WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) and source code interface that Dreamweaver has. I need something that can: - have a split screen between WYSIWYG (not just a preview) and the actual source code (Dreamweaver style) - FTP capability and management of multiple sites - some kind of recognition of embedded PHP scripts and similar - preferably free software under the GPL - WYSIWYG should generate clean, nicely indented code that is W3C compliant - dreamweaver isn't too bad in this respect although some of the code it generates is a bit messy. I know the purists out there will just say that vi is the only way to write HTML, but that's not what I want. I know HTML well and am perfectly capable of coding it all by hand, but I've always found that a well written WYSIWYG interface can really help speed up web page creation without generating nasty code and sacrificing quality. Providing I have access to the page source as well, coding embedded scripting languages and tidying up nasty bits is no problem. Surely there's an app out there somewhere that can fulfill my needs... any suggestions? Many Thanks -- Ben "tola" Francis

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[Alug]Kylix 3 and other IDE's
by Keith Watson 01 Aug '03

01 Aug '03

Does anyone on this list have a favourite IDE (Integrated Development Environment) they use for developing GNU/Linux apps? I know it has a dependency on what language and graphics libraries you prefer but I'd be interested in hearing people's experiences. Going along the GNU/Gnome route (e.g. GTK+) has anyone used Glade (a GUI/IDE?) and what do you think of it? This has all been prompted by a copy of Kylix 3 I downloaded recently (for those who haven't a clue what I'm talking about Kylix is a port of Borland's Delphi (** see below) to GNU/Linux (and other platforms also I think?)). For the past few years Delphi has been the main software development tool I've used professionally and I was curious to see what the GNU/Linux version was like. I was quite pleased by the completeness of the port, I successfully created the usual Hello World etc. types of applications and they ran quite happily, plus a number of more complex ones. So in terms of a development environment I had no problems. If distributed the applications need a bunch of runtime libraries to be bundled with it. At the present time Borland grants a license to do this but it is proprietary and not GPL (although they do specifically allow the developed code and supporting configuration files to be distributed under the GPL). Personally I'm not keen on this because; the runtime libraries are proprietary and not GPL, they are yet another bunch of libraries to install and they are not part of the usual set of GPL libraries bundled in with the common distros. Where I'm also not so keen is the fact that the underlying tool isn't OS (open source). So I was wondering if anyone has used (or knows of) one or more OS tools that could be used to develop OS applications in a manner similar to the Delphi IDE. I'm specifically thinking of GNU/Gnome here but that's a personal prejudice, I'd like to hear what's around for KDE and command line or ncurses type application development as well. As a caveat I should say that, at this time, I've yet to trawl through Sourceforge or the Gnome websites. Regards, Keith ____________ Since it is no part of the words we unthinkingly use, it leaves no trace in the things we say. Dogen ** Delphi is an IDE that uses an object oriented variant of Pascal as the underlying language. It has an integrated GUI designer/builder where you can create your various window forms graphically by dragging and dropping various widgets on them. Similar to Visual Basic et. al. if you've ever used them.

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[Alug]Hello ALUG!
by Nick Heppleston 31 Jul '03

31 Jul '03

Hello list, I've been sitting in the shadows for sometime (reading the digest mail). Thought it was about time I emerge and become a fully fledged participant. I've been involved in the GNU/Linux/UNIX area for just over two years both commercially and as a hobby, maintaining our EDI links with customers (several Linux based servers - RedHat etc and recently Gentoo, which I can seriously recommend, and our main commercial server running HP-UX) as my day job and working on various websites mini-projects on a semi-commercial basis on an evening. I mainly develop in PHP/MySQL on the command-line and I'm in the process of starting my own business providing consultancy in an around the Diss area ( <shamelessplug>I'm available for hire</shamelessplug> :-) Anyway, one of the main reasons why I decided to make this first posting to the list was to discuss the use of Wi-Fi as a reasonable ADSL alternative. Although Norwich West has ADSL capability, I live further than the minimum 5.5Km from the exchange, so I'm stuck with my BT Openworld 56Kb dial-up connection. We have two local businesses nearby which both have leased line capability but neither of them are prepared to let me hook some Wi-Fi kit up to their connection ;-) So i'm starting to investigate the possibility of a not-for-profit install of a leased line etc, hooking up a beefy machine with a Wi-Fi capability and provide 'broadband' services to the local area. Has anybody done this? is it feasible? what barriers am I likely to face? suggestions etc most welcome! Regards, Nick Ps. Hello Mark! hope all is well :-) -- Nick Heppleston 07989 581766 | nickheppleston(a)gmx.co.uk

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[Alug]Meeting pages
by MJ Ray 31 Jul '03

31 Jul '03

Please twit-filter the pages for meetings 2003.10 and 2003.9 on http://www.alug.org.uk/meetings/2003/ and send diffs (preferred command "diff -u meeting9.html.orig meeting9.html" or similar). Syd? John? Shall I run the announcer script on these to email the LUGs and newsgroups? -- MJR/slef My Opinion Only and possibly not of any group I know. http://mjr.towers.org.uk/ jabber://slef@jabber.at Creative copyleft computing services via http://www.ttllp.co.uk/ Thought: Edwin A Abbott wrote about trouble with Windows in 1884

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[Alug]RE: Sweatshirts, T-Shirts & other goodies
by Keith Watson 31 Jul '03

31 Jul '03

> From: Keith Watson on Tuesday, July 29, 2003 3:03 PM > to ALUG Social List... > > Some time back, well a long time back, when I first joined > this list, in a sudden fit of enthusiasm I suggested we got > some T-shirts and/or Sweatshirts printed up with Tux and the > ALUG acronym over the left breast. I found a company on > Dereham who could do this for us but needed a minimum order > of 10 garments (mixed sizes and colours) and I think the cost > (at that time) was around £15 for a sweatshirt. > > I haven't dropped the idea (yet) just been overwhelmed > by other things :o) and I have also become aware of other > companies in the area who offer this service. > > A number of you expressed interest at the time, so can anyone > who is still interested please reply to this so I can get an > idea of the numbers? > > Please indicate; > > 1) are you interested in a T-shirt (more than one)? > > if so what would be the sort of price range you would > consider (min - max)? > > and what size (male/female)? > > and colours? > > 2) are you interested in a sweatshirt (more than one)? > > if so what would be the sort of price range you would > consider (min - max)? > > and what size (male/female)? > > and colours? > > 2) are you interested in a polo shirt (more than one)? > > if so what would be the sort of price range you would > consider (min - max)? > > and what size (male/female)? > > and colours? > > for comparison purposes take a look at > http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk/index.php?PAGE=18 , > http://www.gifts4geeks.co.uk and http://www.cashncarrion.co.uk/ > > (Not sure if I should x-post this to Main as well?) The man from Del-Monte, he say YES!! Regards, Keith ____________ Sometimes the highest form of action is inaction. - Jerry Brown

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[Alug]Scribus DTP
by Keith Watson 31 Jul '03

31 Jul '03

Just read a Slashdot article raving about a GPL DTP program called Scribus. Anyone on the list tried it yet? Latest version is in Debian unstable (4.5Mb) Regards, Keith ____________ Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the whole world cry? HP Blavatsky

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[Alug]East Anglia Update
by Tony Dietrich 30 Jul '03

30 Jul '03

A couple of weeks ago, I promised to look for possible locations for a meet in the East of the area. I'm afraid I have to admit that due to some rather exciting developments in my business, I've not been able to take the time to fully investigate the possibilities. In fact, I may not have the time to do much for several weeks. I'm happy to continue to try and find the time to locate a suitable place and organise a meet. But is anyone else want to take over because of the delay, I'm also happy to stand aside. Things should hopefully get a bit better in 3-4 weeks for me, since I'll have a few extra staff by then to take on more of the remote support. Until then I'm doing about 1000k a week and falling into bed exhausted 7 nights a week ;-( Incidentally, if anyone on here is currently at a loose end, and is a skilled network admin who can handle a mixture of Linux and Windows networks, drop me a line. It seems that I may need someone like that soon. You'd need to be willing to travel a lot :p Maturity, experience and the ability to work independently would count a LOT. As would some experience dealing with dificult customers :p -- Tony Dietrich <td(a)transoft.demon.co.uk> Transoft Computer Consultants

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[Alug]TV Tuner cards
by Dan Beimborn 29 Jul '03

29 Jul '03

Hi guys, Wondering if anyone could recommend a cheap linux-friendly tv tuner card? DB

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