2524 lines
106 KiB
HTML
2524 lines
106 KiB
HTML
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<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
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<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
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<html>
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<head>
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<META NAME="generator" CONTENT="lgazmail v1.3E.h">
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<TITLE>Linux Gazette 60: The Answer Gang (TWDT)</TITLE></HEAD><BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#000000"
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LINK="#3366FF" VLINK="#A000A0">
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<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
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<P>
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<CENTER>
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<!-- *** BEGIN navbar *** -->
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<!-- *** END navbar *** -->
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</CENTER>
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</p>
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
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<center>
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<H1><A NAME="answer">
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<img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif" alt="(?)"
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border="0" align="middle">
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<font color="#B03060">The Answer Gang</font>
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<img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif" alt="(!)"
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border="0" align="middle">
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</A></H1>
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<BR>
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<H4>By Jim Dennis, Ben Okopnik, Dan Wilder, Robert Uhl,
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Paul MacKerras, Dmitriy M. Labutin, C<>sar A. K. Grossmann,
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Niek Rijnbout, the Editors of <em>Linux Gazette</em>... and You!
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<br>Send questions (or interesting answers) to
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<a href="mailto:linux-questions-only@ssc.com">linux-questions-only@ssc.com</a>
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</H4>
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</center>
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<p><hr><p>
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<!-- endcut ======================================================= -->
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<H3>Contents:</H3>
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<dl>
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<dt><a href="#tag/greeting"
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><strong>¶: Greetings From Heather Stern</strong></A></dl>
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<DL>
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<!-- index_text begins -->
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/1"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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></a>Caldera Names Linux Management Product Volution --or--
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<dd><A HREF="#tag/1"
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><strong>LDAP users: look to Caldera.</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/2"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>Windows NT Event Log on a Linux Box</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/3"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>Two OS</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/4"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>Best Linux Distro For A Newbie...?</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/5"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>newbie installation question</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/6"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>PPP protocol stack modification</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/7"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(!)" border="0"
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><strong>What IS "The Internet" anyway?</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/9"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>Classified Disk - Low-level Format</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/10"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>GPM is interfering with x...</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/11"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>Graphics Programming for Printing / Faxing</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/13"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>networked machine goes to sleep</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/17"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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></a>Internet server specifications --or--
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<dd><A HREF="#tag/17"
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><strong>Web server/firewall hardware specifications, Apache and Zope</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/18"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>'neighbour table overflow'</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/19"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(?)" border="0"
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><strong>Networking</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/21"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(!)" border="0"
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><strong>DSL on Linux Information</strong></a>
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<dt><A HREF="#tag/22"
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><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" height="28" width="50"
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alt="(!)" border="0"
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><strong>sticky notes</strong></a>
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<!-- index_text ends -->
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</DL>
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<A NAME="tag/greeting"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/hbubble.gif"
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height="50" width="60" alt="(¶) " border="0"
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>Greetings from Heather Stern</H3>
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<!-- begin hgreeting -->
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<p>Hello, everyone, and welcome to issue 60... that means the whole 'zine has
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been here for 5 years now? That's just amazing to me. In fact I'm coming
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up on 3 years as the HTML wizardess for TAG in only a few months. Y2K
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is almost over and all the usual questions are still here. The only thing
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different is that politics grow more boneheaded every year
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<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="middle"> I don't care. I
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have my own plans for the season - what a fun Xmas this is going to be!
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<p>This seems to be the season that I get to help my friends who are only
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now getting into Linux (computing at all, in one case) get themselves
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all tucked in and snug in their distros. With any luck enough of you
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out there are doing the same, and we'll see a new blush on some
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HOWTOs in the LDP project which have gotten a bit dusty. (If you might
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want to work on that, see the thread
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"<a href="#tag/5">newbie installation question</a>" below) For one of
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these pals, I'm not even sure which distro we are going to end up using...
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only that she can't bear to see a poor old 486 trapped under the yoke
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of Redmond any longer... (For a dissertation on selecting distros, see
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the thread "<a href="#tag/4">Best Linux Distro for a Newbie</a>" where
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I recycled more than my fair share of electrons babbling about it.)
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<p>We just got a sweet little toy for ourselves here in the Starshine
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network, specifically, an NIC (New Internet Computer) from
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<a href="http://www.thinknic.com/">ThinkNIC.com</a>. It comes
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with a CD, Linux based, and you just plug it in (power, modem or ether,
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it comes with speakers and keyboard), add a monitor and off you go.
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Errr, it didn't like our really old VGA monitor. I wonder just how
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long it's been since <em>any</em> of our machines have used that monitor
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for graphics at all... um, where was I? Oh yeah. It took a little while
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to find ssh and VNC in there, but it's a pretty useful setup. Nonetheless,
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we're going to see if we can run any other CD based distros on it too.
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This will make for hours of fun.
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<p>Now I suppose it's possible that you would be thinking of candied yams
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and duck dinners and the large fellow with the sack of toys about now.
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In our household it's more likely to be Bootable Business Card stocking
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stuffers (er, after we shave the contents down a bit - the RW business
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cards Jim got me are a bit small - but I'm sure you can find a dozen
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places selling 'em if you go to Google with the search keys
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<tt>business card</tt> and <tt>CDRW</tt>.
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Depending on the nerdiness factor in your household, the CDRW's might
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make a great stuffer even if left blank
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<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
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height="24" width="20" align="top">
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<p>As for the meal of the season, since Jim and I are heading out to
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<a href="http://www.usenix.org/events/lisa2000/">LISA 2000</a> in
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New Orleans, the annual sysadmin's conference, we are going to enjoy
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some jazz and jambalaya. We'll also have a chance to hear Illiad as
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a keynote speaker. BOFH meets
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<a href="http://www.userfriendly.org">Dust Puppy</a>? Oh my. This
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<em>is</em> gonna be fun...
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<p>Wherever the season takes you, and whatever it happens to bring, remember
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we're all here to <em>make Linux a little more fun!</em>
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<!-- end hgreeting -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<A NAME="tag/1"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
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<!-- begin 1 -->
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
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height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
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>LDAP users: look to Caldera.</H3>
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<p><strong>From Caldera
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</strong></p>
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<!-- ::
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LDAP users: look to <A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A>.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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:: -->
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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As a followup to the LDAP discussions that have been answered here:
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQuote>
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Caldera Systems' Linux management solution (formerly code-named
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"Cosmos") has been named Caldera Volution. The product, currently in open
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beta, is available for download from Caldera's Web site at
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</BLOCKQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<A HREF="http://www.calderasystems.com/beta"
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>http://www.calderasystems.com/beta</A>
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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More details can be found in our News Bytes
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(<A HREF="bytes60.html#distro"
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>Distribution section</A>).
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<!-- end 1 -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<A NAME="tag/2"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
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<!-- begin 2 -->
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
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height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
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>Windows NT Event Log on a Linux Box</H3>
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<p><strong>Answers by: Dmitriy M. Labutin, C<>sar A. K. Grossmann,
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Niek Rijnbout
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</strong></p>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Hi,
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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You can dump NT event log with dumpel utility (it comes with WindowsNT
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Resource kit) into flat file.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Cheers
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Cesar]
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To do this I must "be" in the NT computer. Not a thing I can schedule a
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crontab at the Linux box to do it. I was thinking in some utility I can
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use to dump the log remotely, from the Linux box, where I have some
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freedom and tools to do nasty things such as reporting unusual
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activities from the users...
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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<DL><DT>
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<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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> [Nick] See
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<DD><A HREF="http://www.eventreporter.com/en"
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>http://www.eventreporter.com/en</A>
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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</DL>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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...for a $25 application to send the NT log to a syslog host.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Regards
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<p><em>The app Nick mentions also appears to deal well with Win2000
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and offers email as well as syslog transfer of the events.
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-- Heather</em></p>
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<!-- end 2 -->
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<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
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<A NAME="tag/3"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
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<!-- begin 3 -->
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<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
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height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
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>Two OS</H3>
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<p><strong>From Juan Pryor on Tue, 7 Nov 2000
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<br>Answered by: Heather Stern
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</strong></p>
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<P><STRONG>
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I'm pretty new to Linux and I was wondering if there is a way in which I
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</STRONG></P>
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<P><STRONG>
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can have two OSes working at the same time. I mean, I've had some trouble
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with the people at my house since they want to go back to Win98 and I only
|
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have one PC. Is there any win98 program that reboots and starts in Linux and
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then when the computer reboots it starts in win98 again? Any help will do.
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</STRONG></P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
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HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
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>
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Juan,
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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It's very common for Linux users to have their systems setup as dual-boot,
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sometimes up in MSwin, sometimes running Linux. Some distributions even
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try to make it easy to turn a box which is completely Windows into a half
|
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and half setup (or other divisions as you like).
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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There is a DOS program named <TT>LOADLIN.EXE</TT> which can easily load up a Linux
|
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kernel kept as a file in the MSwin filesystem somewhere - my friends that
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do this like to keep their Linux parts under c:\linux so they can find them
|
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easily. Loadlin is commonly found in a tools directory on major distro CDs.
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Of course, you do have to let Windows know that Loadlin needs full CPU control.
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In that sense, it's no different than setting up a PIF for some really cool
|
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DOS game that takes over the box, screen and all. Anyways, there's even a
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nice GUI available to help you configure it, called Winux, which you can
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get at <A HREF="http://www.linux-france.org/prj/winux/English"
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>http://www.linux-france.org/prj/winux/English</A> ... which, I'm pleased
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to add, comes in several languages.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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It's also possible to setup LILO so that it always prefers to boot MSwin
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(the option is often called '<tt>dos</tt>') instead of Linux... in fact, I recommend
|
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this too, unless you want to not be able to boot Linux from anything but a
|
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floppy if MSwin should happen to mangle its drive space too far.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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Now this is kind of different from "two OSes working at the same time"...
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It is possible to run VMware, and have a couple of different setups running
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together, but doing this might be rather confusing to family who are not used
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to anything but Windows. They might accidentally hit some key combination
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that switches to the other environment that's running, and think they broke
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something even if it's all running perfectly.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
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<BLOCKQUOTE>
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To finish off - it's also possible to find really friendly boot managers;
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I've been looking over one named GAG (don't laugh, it's just initials for
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Spanish words meaning "Graphical Boot Manager") that looks like it might
|
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be fun, at <A HREF="http://www.rastersoft.com/gageng.htm"
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|||
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>http://www.rastersoft.com/gageng.htm</A>. It was just updated, too.
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Anyways, it can boot up to 9 different choices and has nice icons to use for
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a lot of different OSs you may have on a system. Unlike LILO and some other
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boot managers that only replace the DOS "master boot record", though, it
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takes over a fair chunk of track 0.
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</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
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|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 3 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/4"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 4 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>Best Linux Distro For A Newbie...?</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From Michael Lauzon to tag on Tue, 14 Nov 2000
|
|||
|
<br>Answers by: Dan Wilder, Ben Okopnik, Heather Stern
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<strong><p>
|
|||
|
I am wondering, what is the best Linux distro for a newbie to learn
|
|||
|
on (I have been told never to ask this question or it would start a
|
|||
|
flame war; I of course don't care)...so in your opinion: what is the
|
|||
|
best Linux distro for a newbie?
|
|||
|
</p></strong>
|
|||
|
<strong><p>
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
Michael Lauzon
|
|||
|
</p></strong>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -->
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Dan]
|
|||
|
<troll>
|
|||
|
<br><A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A>. Beause by the time you really get it
|
|||
|
installed and running, you know a lot more about
|
|||
|
what's under Linux's hood, than with any other
|
|||
|
common distribution!
|
|||
|
<br></troll>
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
--
|
|||
|
<br>Dan Wilder
|
|||
|
<br>Darn those trolls anyway. They're eating the dahlias now!
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
<Grumble> Sure, <em>you</em> don't care; <em>we're</em> the ones that
|
|||
|
need the asbestos raincoats!
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Well yeah, but I usually put out the flame with a Halon cannister labelled
|
|||
|
"waaay too much information." It does make me popular in the mailing lists
|
|||
|
though.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Spoilsport.
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
To follow on in the spirit of Dan's contribution:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<Great Big Troll With Heavy Steel-Toed Boots>
|
|||
|
<br><A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>, <em>of course</em>.
|
|||
|
Not only do you get to learn all the Deep
|
|||
|
Wizardry, you get all the power tools <em>and</em> a super-easy package
|
|||
|
installer - just tell it which archive server you want to use,
|
|||
|
and it installs everything you want!
|
|||
|
<br></GBT>
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
(The <em>Linux Gazette</em> - your best resource for Linux fun, info, and
|
|||
|
<EM>polite</EM> flame wars...
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Of course it helps if you know which archive server you want to use, or
|
|||
|
that the way to tell it so is to add lines to <TT>/etc/apt/sources.list</TT> ...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Oooh, are <EM>you</EM> in for a pleasant surprise! (I was...) These days, "apt"
|
|||
|
(via dselect) asks you very politely which server you want to use, and
|
|||
|
handles the "sources.list" on its own. I still wish they'd let you
|
|||
|
<EM>append</EM> sources rather than having to rewrite the entire list (that's
|
|||
|
where knowing about "<TT>/etc/apt</TT>" comes in handy), but the whole "dselect"
|
|||
|
interface is pretty slick nowadays. It even allows you to specify
|
|||
|
CD-based (i.e., split) sources; I'm actually in the process of setting
|
|||
|
up Debian 2.2 right now, and my sources are a CD-ROM and DVD drive - on
|
|||
|
another one of my machines - and an FTP server for the "non-free" stuff.
|
|||
|
Being the type of guy who likes to read all the docs and play with the
|
|||
|
new toys, I used "tasksel" for the original selection, "dselect" for the
|
|||
|
gross uninstallation of all the extraneous stuff, and "apt-get" for all
|
|||
|
subsequent install stuff. It's worked flawlessly.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
I did write a big note on debian-laptops a while back about installing
|
|||
|
Debian by skipping the installer, but I think I'll let my notes about
|
|||
|
the handful of debian based distros stand.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
I agree with your evaluation. It's one of the things I really like about
|
|||
|
Debian; I was able to throw an install onto a 40MB (!) HD on a junk
|
|||
|
machine which I then set up as a PostScript "server", thus saving the
|
|||
|
company untold $$$s in new PS-capable printers.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
There is rpmfind to attempt to make rpm stuff more fun to install, but
|
|||
|
it's still a young package. I think the K guys have the right idea, writing
|
|||
|
a front end that deals with more than one package type.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Yep; "alien" in Debian works well, but I remember it being a "Catch-22"
|
|||
|
nightmare to get it going in RedHat. I've got package installation
|
|||
|
(whatever flavor) down to a science at this point, but it could be made
|
|||
|
easier.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
<!-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -->
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
It's really a matter of requirements analysis. Most of the flame wars arise
|
|||
|
from people stating their own preferences, and fussing over those instead of
|
|||
|
trying to figure out which would work best for <EM>you</EM>.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Learning linux is a big definition, some people mean learning the unixlike
|
|||
|
features that they've never encountered before; some people mean learning to
|
|||
|
use the same things in Linux that they already know how to use in other systems.
|
|||
|
These are, to say the least, rather opposite needs...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you want to goof off learning Linux but are very afraid of touching
|
|||
|
your hard drive's data, there are a few distributions designed to run off
|
|||
|
of a CD, or out of RAM. One pretty good one that runs directly from a
|
|||
|
RAMdisk is <A HREF="http://www.toms.net/rb/">Tom's rootboot</A> (<A HREF="http://www.tons.net/rb"
|
|||
|
>http://www.tons.net/rb</A>). While a lot of people
|
|||
|
use it merely as a rescue disk, Tom himself lives in it day to day. But,
|
|||
|
it's not graphical. And, it's libc5 based, so it's a little strange to get
|
|||
|
software for. It uses a different shell than most major distributions, but
|
|||
|
the same kernels. It's not exactly aimed at "just surfing the web and doing
|
|||
|
email" which I often hear newbies say that they'd be happy with. Linux
|
|||
|
Weekly News (<A HREF="http://www.lwn.net"
|
|||
|
>http://www.lwn.net</A>) has recently sorted their distributions,
|
|||
|
so you could find a CD based distro that meets these more mainstream desires
|
|||
|
fairly easily there.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you want to learn about things from their raw parts, the way some kids
|
|||
|
like to learn about cars by putting one together themselves, there is a
|
|||
|
Linux From Scratch HOWTO stored at the <A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org/">LDP</A> site (<A HREF="http://www.linuxdoc.org"
|
|||
|
>http://www.linuxdoc.org</A>).
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If the newbie's native language isn't English, he or she probably wants a
|
|||
|
localized distro, that is, one that installs and whose menus, etc. are in
|
|||
|
their language. (I'm guessing that such a newbie wouldn't be you - your
|
|||
|
.sig links were to purely English websites.) You can find a bunch of those
|
|||
|
at LWN too, but you'll have to go looking at home pages to be sure what
|
|||
|
languages are covered.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Otherwise, you probably want a "normal" linux, in other words, a major distro.
|
|||
|
Newbies generally want to be able to ask their local gurus for help, rather
|
|||
|
than wonder if some random wizard on the internet will ever answer them. If
|
|||
|
your local techie pals have a favorite, try that - they'll be better at helping
|
|||
|
you with it than stuff they don't know as well. I could be wrong of course -
|
|||
|
some techie folks prefer to learn stuff the same time you do, and you can get
|
|||
|
a great sense of energy by sometimes figuring out a thing here and there faster
|
|||
|
than they do. But by and large, gaining from someone else's experience will
|
|||
|
make things smoother, a smooth start will generally be more fun, and enjoying
|
|||
|
your first experiences will make you more willing to experiment later.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you like to learn from a book, there are a fair number of books that are
|
|||
|
about a specific distro, and have a CD of that distro in the back. These
|
|||
|
are good, but not usually aimed at people who want to dual boot. Just so
|
|||
|
you know.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The big commercial brands usually try to push that they're an easy install.
|
|||
|
What they don't push so much is their particular specialty, the market they
|
|||
|
are aiming for. I've heard good things about <A HREF="http://linux.corel.com/">Corel</A> (esp. for dual boot
|
|||
|
plans), I've seen good things with both <A HREF="http://www.suse.com/">SuSE</A> and Storm. Mandrake and <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A>
|
|||
|
have both been a little weird to install - not too bad, but I'm experienced,
|
|||
|
and enjoy wandering around reading the little notes before doing things ...
|
|||
|
if you want the computer to be bright enough to do it all by itself, these
|
|||
|
might not be for you. (note, my Mandrake experience is a version old. And
|
|||
|
they compile everything Pentium optimized, so if things go smoothly, it will
|
|||
|
usually be a lot faster system.) Several of the brands are now pushing a
|
|||
|
"graphical installer" which is supposed to be <EM>even</EM> easier. However, if
|
|||
|
you have a really bleeding edge video card, it would also make the distro a
|
|||
|
real pain to install. Storm and RedHat favor graphical over non-graphical
|
|||
|
installs. <A HREF="http://www.libranet.com/">LibraNet</A> has a nongraphical install that still gives Debian a
|
|||
|
somewhat friendlier setup. I hear that <A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A> is fairly friendly to
|
|||
|
people who like to compile their own software, and I never hear anything
|
|||
|
about their installer, so maybe it is really incredibly easy. Or maybe my
|
|||
|
friends don't want to tell me about their install woes once they get going,
|
|||
|
I dunno
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If RedHat (6.2, I have to say I haven't tried 7 yet) is where you're going,
|
|||
|
and their graphical install is a bummer for you, use their "expert" mode.
|
|||
|
Their "text" mode is almost useless, and they really do have lots of help
|
|||
|
in expert mode, so it's not as bad as you would think.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In any case, I would recommend backing up your current system if there's
|
|||
|
anything on it you want to keep, not because the installs are hard - they're
|
|||
|
nothing like the days before the 1.0 kernel - but because this is the most
|
|||
|
likely time to really mangle something, and you'll just kick yourself if you
|
|||
|
need a backup after all and don't have one.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The next thing to consider is your philosophy. Do you want to be a minimalist,
|
|||
|
only adding stuff that makes sense to you (or that you've heard of), and then
|
|||
|
add more later? If so, you want a distro that makes it really easy to add
|
|||
|
more later. Debian and its derivatives are excellent for this - that includes
|
|||
|
Corel, Libranet, and Storm. SuSE's YaST also does pretty well for this, but
|
|||
|
they don't update as often... on the other hand, they don't get burned at the
|
|||
|
bleeding edge a lot, either. If most of the stuff you'll add later is likely
|
|||
|
to be commercial, RedHat or a derivative like Mandrake might be better - lots
|
|||
|
of companies ship RedHat compatible rpm's first, and get around to the other
|
|||
|
distros later, if at all.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you have a scrap machine to play on, try several distros, one at a time;
|
|||
|
most of them are available as inexpensive eval disks from the online stores.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you'd rather install the kitchen sink and take things back out later, any
|
|||
|
of the "power pack" type stuff, 3 CDs or more in the set, might work for you.
|
|||
|
Most of these are still based on major distros anyway, there's just a lot more
|
|||
|
stuff listed, and you swap a couple of CDs in. Umm, the first things you'll
|
|||
|
probably end up deleting are the packages to support languages you don't use...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
A minimal but still graphical install should fit in a gigabyte or so - might
|
|||
|
want 2. A more thorough setup should go on 6 Gb of disk or so (you can, of
|
|||
|
course, have more if you like). It's possible to have usable setups in
|
|||
|
300 to 500 Mb, but tricky... so I wouldn't recommend that a newbie impose
|
|||
|
such restrictions on himself.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
To summarize, decide how much disk you want to use (if any!) and whether
|
|||
|
you want to go for a minimal, a mostly-normal, or a full-to-the-brim
|
|||
|
environment. Consider what sort of help you're going to depend on, and
|
|||
|
that might make your decision for you. But at the end, strive to have fun.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Heather, I have to say that this is about the most
|
|||
|
comprehensive answer to the "WITBLD" question yet, one that looks at a
|
|||
|
number of the different sides of it; color me impressed.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><em>WITBLD = "What Is The Best Linux Distro"</em></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
The key thing here is that there are several aspects of a system. When one
|
|||
|
is "easiest" fo you it doesn't mean all the others are. So, you have to decide
|
|||
|
what parts you care the most about making easy, and what parts you consider
|
|||
|
worth some effort for the experience you'll get. Once you know that, you
|
|||
|
are less of a newbie already. I hope my huge note helped, anyway.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Well, I bought <A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A> OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4, so I am looking for
|
|||
|
people who have had experience with OpenLinux. I still haven't
|
|||
|
installed it on a computer yet, as I need to upgrade the computer;
|
|||
|
but once I do that I will install it (though i do plan on buying
|
|||
|
other distros to try out).
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
Michael Lauzon
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 4 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/5"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 5 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>newbie installation question</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From vinod kumar d
|
|||
|
<br>Answers by: Heather Stern, Ben Okopnik
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Hello
|
|||
|
I'm about to install Redhat Linux as a dual boot on my
|
|||
|
machine running win98 that came preconfig'd to use my
|
|||
|
30 gigs all for windows, and for all the browsing i
|
|||
|
did through red hat's online docs, i could'nt figure
|
|||
|
out one basic thing:
|
|||
|
should i have an unallocated partition to begin
|
|||
|
installation, or will disk druid/fips do the
|
|||
|
"non-descructive repartitioning" as part of the
|
|||
|
install?
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
I do not remember if RedHat will do the right thing here
|
|||
|
or not. <A HREF="http://linux.corel.com/">Corel</A>Linux will (in fact, made a great PR splash by
|
|||
|
being one to make this pleasant). Um, but CorelLinux is
|
|||
|
a debian-type system, not a rpm type system. I'm not sure
|
|||
|
what requirements had you pick RedHat, maybe you need
|
|||
|
something a bit more similar.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Having recently done a couple of RH installations, I can give you the
|
|||
|
answer... and you're right, it's <EM>not</EM> the one you'd like to hear.
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
No, RedHat does not do non-destructive repartitioning. Yes, you do need
|
|||
|
to have another partition (or at least unallocated space on the drive)
|
|||
|
for the installation - in fact, you should have a minimum of two
|
|||
|
partitions for Linux, one for the data/programs/etc., and the other one
|
|||
|
for a swap partition (a max of 128MB for a typical home system.) There
|
|||
|
are reasons for splitting the disk into even more partitions...
|
|||
|
unfortunately, I haven't found any resources that explain it in any
|
|||
|
detail, and a number of these reasons aren't all that applicable to a
|
|||
|
home system anyway.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
if i do need the unallocated partition, which is the
|
|||
|
best partition software to use cos i have stuff that i
|
|||
|
dont want to lose.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
If you feel up to buying another commercial product,
|
|||
|
PartitionMagic is very highly regarded. Not just amongst
|
|||
|
us linux-ers, but also for people who wanted to make
|
|||
|
a new D:, give half a server to Novell, or something like
|
|||
|
that. It's very smart.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
It's also what comes in CorelLinux...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you're more into Linux than MSwin and comfortable
|
|||
|
with booting under a rescue environment, I'm pleased to
|
|||
|
note that gparted (the GNU partition editor) deals well
|
|||
|
with FAT32 filesystems. <A HREF="http://www.tuxtops.com/">Tuxtops</A> uses that.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you're feeling cheap, FIPS is a program that can do
|
|||
|
the drive division after booting from a DOS floppy, which
|
|||
|
you can easily make under the MSwin you already have.
|
|||
|
I'm pretty sure a copy of FIPS is on the redhat CD as
|
|||
|
a tool, so you could use that. It doesn't do anything
|
|||
|
but cut the C: partition into two parts. You'd still
|
|||
|
use disk druid later to partition the Linux stuff the
|
|||
|
way you want.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
(Of course mentioning buying a preloaded dual boot from
|
|||
|
one of the Linux vendors like Tuxtops, <A HREF="http://www.valinux.com/">VA Linux</A>, Penguin,
|
|||
|
or others is a bit late. I'm sure you're fairly fond of
|
|||
|
your 30 Gb system with the exception of wanting to set
|
|||
|
it up just a bit more.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
None of these repartitioners will move your MS Windows
|
|||
|
swap file though. In the initial setup MS' is as likely to
|
|||
|
have the swap near the beginning of the drive, or the end.
|
|||
|
I recommend that you use the control panel advanced system
|
|||
|
options to turn off the swap file, and your favorite
|
|||
|
defragmenter, and then run a nice solid backup of your
|
|||
|
windows stuff before going onwards.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
This isn't because Linux installs might be worse than you
|
|||
|
think (though there's always a chance) but because Windows
|
|||
|
is fragile enough on its own, and frankly, backups under
|
|||
|
any OS are such a pain that some people don't do them very
|
|||
|
often, or test that they're good when they do. (I can hardly
|
|||
|
imagine something more horrible than to have a problem, pat
|
|||
|
yourself on the back for being good enough to do regular
|
|||
|
backups, and discover that the last two weeks of them simply
|
|||
|
are all bad. Eek!) So now, while you're thinking:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQuote>
|
|||
|
"cos i have stuff that i dont want to lose."
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
is a better time than most!
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Following on to Heather's advice, here's a slightly different
|
|||
|
perspective: I've used Partition Magic, as well as a number of other
|
|||
|
utilities to do "live partition" adjustment (i.e., partitions with data
|
|||
|
on them.) At some point, <EM>all</EM> of these, with one exception, have
|
|||
|
played merry hell with boot sectors, etc. - thus reinforcing Heather's
|
|||
|
point about doing a backup NOW. The exception has turned out to be cheap
|
|||
|
old FIPS; in fact, that's all I use these days.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
FIPS does indeed force you to do a few things manually (such as
|
|||
|
defragmenting your original partition); I've come to think that I would
|
|||
|
rather do that than let PM or others of its ilk do some Mysterious
|
|||
|
Something in the background, leaving me without a hint of where to look
|
|||
|
if something does go wrong. Make sure to follow the FIPS instructions
|
|||
|
about backing up your original boot sector; again, I've never had it
|
|||
|
fail on me, but best to "have it and not need it, rather than need it
|
|||
|
and not have it."
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In regard to the Windows swap file, the best way I've found to deal
|
|||
|
with it is by running the defrag, rebooting into DOS, and <EM>deleting</EM>
|
|||
|
the swapfile from the root directory. Windows will rebuild it, without
|
|||
|
even complaining, the next time you start it.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
i really tried a lot of faq's before asking you, so
|
|||
|
could you go easy if you're planning to:
|
|||
|
a) flame me about rtfm'ing first.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Oboy, a chance to soapbox about doing documentation
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> I
|
|||
|
promise, no flame!
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If we should do this we generally are at least kind enough
|
|||
|
to say which F'ing M's to R. Which brings another thought
|
|||
|
to mind. FAQs and HOWTOs are okay, but they are sort of...
|
|||
|
dry. Maybe you could do an article for <em>Linux Gazette</em>
|
|||
|
about your experience, and "make linux a little more fun"
|
|||
|
(our motto) for others who are doing the dual boot install
|
|||
|
their first time out.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Unfortunately it's really sad that the FAQs and HOWTOs
|
|||
|
aren't as useful to everyone as they could be
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/unsmily.gif" ALT=":("
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If one of them was pretty close and just plain wasn't quite
|
|||
|
right, or wasn't obvious until you already went through it,
|
|||
|
give a shot at improving it a little, and send your notes back
|
|||
|
to the maintainer. If he or she doesn't answer you in a long
|
|||
|
time (say a month or two) let us know, maybe get together with
|
|||
|
some friends and see if you can become its new maintainer.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
To be the maintainer of a Linux project doesn't always mean to
|
|||
|
write everything in it, just sort of to try and make sure it
|
|||
|
stays with the times. Linus himself doesn't write every little
|
|||
|
fragment of code in the kernel - though maybe he reads most
|
|||
|
of it :D - he maintains it, and keeps it from falling apart in
|
|||
|
confusion. This is <EM>really</EM> important. Documents need this too.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Because these things are not meant to be ground in stone, they're
|
|||
|
written to be <EM>useful</EM> and yeah, sometimes it happens that the
|
|||
|
fella who first wrote a given doc has moved on to other things.
|
|||
|
Meanwhile folks like you join the linux bandwagon every month and
|
|||
|
still <EM>need</EM> them, but Linux changes and so do the distros.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
But, it's ok if you <EM>personally</EM> can't go for that. It's enough
|
|||
|
if we can find out what important HOWTOs could stand some
|
|||
|
improvement, since maybe it will get some more people working
|
|||
|
on them.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
b) ignoring me totally.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Sadly, we do get hundreds and hundreds of letters a month,
|
|||
|
and don't answer nearly that many. But hopefully what I
|
|||
|
described above helped. If it isn't enough, ask us in more
|
|||
|
detail - there's a whole Gang of us here, and some of us
|
|||
|
have more experience than others.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Well, OK - you get off scot-free <EM>this</EM> time, but if you ever ask
|
|||
|
another question, we'll lock you in a room with a crazed hamster and two
|
|||
|
dozen Pokemon toys on crack.
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle"> The Answer Gang in general seems to
|
|||
|
have taken its mandate from Jim Dennis, the original AnswerGuy: give the
|
|||
|
best possible answers to questions of general interest, be a good
|
|||
|
information resource to the Linux community, and eschew flames -
|
|||
|
incoming or outgoing. <Grin> I like being part of it.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
btw really liked your answers in the column (well
|
|||
|
here's hoping some old fashioned flattery might do the
|
|||
|
trick
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";-P"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">)
|
|||
|
<br>thanks in advance...
|
|||
|
<br>vinod
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Thanks, vinod. It's for people like you (and others out
|
|||
|
there who find their answer and never write in at all) that
|
|||
|
we do this.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
If you scratch us behind the ears, do we not purr?
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="bottom"> Thanks, Vinod;
|
|||
|
I'm sure we all like hearing that our efforts are producing useful
|
|||
|
dividends. As the folks on old-time TV used to say, "Keep those letters
|
|||
|
and postcards coming!"
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 5 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/6"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 6 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>PPP protocol stack modification</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From David Wojik
|
|||
|
<br>Answered by: Heather Stern, Paul MacKerras
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
I need to modify the PPP daemon code to enable dynamic requests
|
|||
|
to come in and renegotiate link parameters. I also need to make
|
|||
|
it gather packet statistics. Do you know of any textbooks or
|
|||
|
other documentation that explain the structure of the PPP protocol
|
|||
|
stack implementation? The HowTos only explain how to use Linux
|
|||
|
PPP, not how to modify it.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks,
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Dave
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Once the ppp link is established, it's just IP packets like the rest of your
|
|||
|
ethernet, so you should be able to get some statistics via ifconfig or other
|
|||
|
tools which study ethernet traffic, I'd think.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Still, renegotiating the link sounds interesting (I'm not sure I see what
|
|||
|
circumstances should cause it ... your <EM>modem</EM> renegotiating a speed is not
|
|||
|
at all the same thing). Anyways, if for some reason the source code of the
|
|||
|
PPP daemon itself isn't enough, your best bet would probably be to start a
|
|||
|
conversation with Paul Mackerras, the ppp maintainer for Linux. After all,
|
|||
|
if you really need this feature, there are likely to be others out there who
|
|||
|
need it too. I've cc'd Paul, so we'll see what he has to say.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Hi Heather,
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks for responding so promptly. My problem is that the product I'm
|
|||
|
working on uses Linux PPP to communicate between routers not modems.
|
|||
|
My software needs to be able to do things dynamically like
|
|||
|
take down the link, start an echo test, or change the mru.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
It sounds like you want to create a router-handler to do that part, that
|
|||
|
looks like a serial interface as far as the ppp functions are concerned.
|
|||
|
Then, these can remain seperated off.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
The
|
|||
|
PPP protocol provides for dynamic renegotiation of link parameters but
|
|||
|
since Linux PPP was written primarily for modems connecting to ISPs, the
|
|||
|
PPP daemon is designed to take all of the parameters on the command line
|
|||
|
when it is invoked; after that it locks out any new input. My software
|
|||
|
also needs to count all of the different LCP packet types (Config-Ack,
|
|||
|
Config-Nak, etc.) and provide an interface to retrieve them.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
And logically the router-handler would do these too? (Sorry, I'm not up
|
|||
|
on whether these are internal to the PPP protocols, they look like higher
|
|||
|
level stuff to me.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
The PPP Protocol Stack implementation consists of thousands of lines of
|
|||
|
code. So what I am hoping to find is some high level documentation that
|
|||
|
will help me to determine how to modify only the parts I need. Even
|
|||
|
better would be to find some software that already does this as you
|
|||
|
suggest.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Hmm. Well, best of luck, and we'll see if Paul can point us to something
|
|||
|
good.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Thanks again,
|
|||
|
<br>Dave
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<blockquote><img src="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif"
|
|||
|
height="28" width="50" alt="(!) " border="0"
|
|||
|
> [Paul]
|
|||
|
David,
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
As you say, the Linux pppd doesn't currently let you change option
|
|||
|
values and initiate a renegotiation (not without stopping pppd and
|
|||
|
starting a new one). It should however respond correctly if the peer
|
|||
|
initiates a renegotiation. I have some plans for having pppd create a
|
|||
|
socket which other processes can connect to and issue commands which
|
|||
|
would then mean that pppd could do what you want. I don't know when
|
|||
|
I'll get that done however as I haven't been able to spend much time
|
|||
|
on pppd lately. As for counting the different packet types, that
|
|||
|
wouldn't be at all hard (you're the first person that has asked for
|
|||
|
that, though).
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
--
|
|||
|
Paul Mackerras, Senior Open Source Researcher, <A HREF="http://www.linuxcare.com/">Linuxcare</A>, Inc.
|
|||
|
<br>Linuxcare. Support for the revolution.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 6 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/7"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 7 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>What IS "The Internet" anyway?</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>Between Bryan Henderson and Mike Orr
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<!-- ::
|
|||
|
What IS "The Internet" anyway?
|
|||
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|||
|
:: -->
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In answering a question about the role of an ISP in
|
|||
|
making one's cable-connected computer vulnerable to
|
|||
|
hackers, Mike Orr makes a misstatement about the
|
|||
|
Internet that could keep people from getting the big
|
|||
|
picture of what the Internet is:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
><font color="navy">
|
|||
|
The cableco or telco connects you to your ISP through
|
|||
|
some non-Internet means (cable or DSL to the
|
|||
|
cableco/telco central office, then ATM or Frame
|
|||
|
Relay or whatever to the ISP), and then the ISP takes
|
|||
|
it from there. Your ISP is your gateway to the
|
|||
|
Internet: no gateway, no Internet.
|
|||
|
</font></STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Bryan]
|
|||
|
The copper wires running from my apartment to the
|
|||
|
telephone company's central office are part of the
|
|||
|
Internet. Together with the lines that connect
|
|||
|
the central office to my ISP, this forms one link of
|
|||
|
the Internet.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The Internet is a huge web of links of all different
|
|||
|
kinds. T3, T1, Frame Relay, PPP over V.34 modem,
|
|||
|
etc.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The network Mike describes that all the ISPs hook up
|
|||
|
to (well, except the ones that hook up to bigger
|
|||
|
ISPs),
|
|||
|
is the Internet backbone, the center of the Internet.
|
|||
|
But I can browse a website without involving the
|
|||
|
Internet backbone at all (if the web server belongs to
|
|||
|
a fellow customer of my ISP), and I'm still using the
|
|||
|
Internet.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
I would agree that you're not on the Internet if you
|
|||
|
don't have some path to the Internet backbone, but
|
|||
|
that
|
|||
|
path <EM>is</EM> part of the Internet.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike]
|
|||
|
It depends on how you define what the Internet "is". My definition is,
|
|||
|
if a link isn't communicating via TCP/IP, it's not Internet. (IP isn't
|
|||
|
called "Internet Protocol" for nothing.) This doesn't mean the link
|
|||
|
can't function as a bridge between Internet sites and thus hold the
|
|||
|
Internet together.
|
|||
|
</p>
|
|||
|
<p>
|
|||
|
Internet hops can be seen by doing a traceroute to your favorite site.
|
|||
|
The listing doesn't show you what happens between the hops: maybe it's a
|
|||
|
directly-connected cable, maybe it's a hyperspace matter-transporter, or
|
|||
|
maybe it goes a hundred hops through another network like ATM or Frame
|
|||
|
Relay or the voice phone network. Traceroute doesn't show those hops
|
|||
|
because they're not TCP/IP--the packet is carried "somehow" and
|
|||
|
reconstructed on the other side before it reaches the next TCP/IP
|
|||
|
router, as if it were a direct cable connection.
|
|||
|
</p>
|
|||
|
<p>
|
|||
|
Of course communicating with another user at your ISP is "Internet
|
|||
|
communication", provided the ISP is using TCP/IP on its internal network
|
|||
|
(as they all do nowadays, not counting a parallel token ring network at
|
|||
|
an ISP I used to work at, where the mailservers were on the token ring).
|
|||
|
And of course, the distinction is perhaps nitpicky for those who don't
|
|||
|
care what precisely the network does as long as it works.
|
|||
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Bryan]
|
|||
|
I'm with you there. But the link between my house and
|
|||
|
my ISP (which is quite ordinary) is TCP/IP. I have an
|
|||
|
IP address, my ISP's router has an IP address and we
|
|||
|
talk TCP/IP to each other. In the normal case that my
|
|||
|
frame's ultimate destination is not the router, the
|
|||
|
router forwards it, typically to some router in the
|
|||
|
backbone. Traceroute shows the hop between my house
|
|||
|
and the ISP.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
All of this is indistinguishable from the way frames
|
|||
|
get from one place to another even in the heart of the
|
|||
|
Internet.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The layers underneath IP might differ, as you say, but
|
|||
|
you seem to be singling out protocols used in the
|
|||
|
home-ISP connection as not real TCP/IP, whereas the
|
|||
|
links between ISPs are real TCP/IP. There's no
|
|||
|
material difference between them. If not for the
|
|||
|
speed
|
|||
|
and cost disadvantage, the Internet backbone could be
|
|||
|
built on PPP over 28.8 modems and POTS lines.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
One way we used to see that the home-ISP connection
|
|||
|
really _wasn't_ the Internet was AOL. You would talk
|
|||
|
AOL language to an AOL computer which was on the
|
|||
|
Internet and functioned as a gateway. The AOL
|
|||
|
computer
|
|||
|
had an IP address but the home computer did not. But
|
|||
|
now even AOL sets up an IP link between the AOL
|
|||
|
computer and the home computer. It's via a special
|
|||
|
AOL
|
|||
|
protocol that shares the phone line with non-IP AOL
|
|||
|
communications, but it's an IP link all the same and
|
|||
|
the home computer is part of the Internet whenever AOL
|
|||
|
is logged on.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 7 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/9"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 9 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>Classified Disk - Low-level Format</H3>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From Shane Welton
|
|||
|
<br>Answered by: Ben Okopnik, Heather Stern, Mike Orr
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
As you know the world has gone wild for Linux, and the company I work for
|
|||
|
is no acception. We work with classified data that can be some what of a
|
|||
|
hassle to deal with. The only means of formatting a hard disk is the analyze/
|
|||
|
format command that comes with Solaris. That method has been ensured as
|
|||
|
declassification method.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> {Ben]
|
|||
|
Actually, <EM>real</EM> low-level formats for IDE hard drives aren't
|
|||
|
user-accessible any more: they are done once, at the factory, and the only
|
|||
|
format available is a high-level one. This does not impact security much,
|
|||
|
since complete data erasure can be assured in other ways - such as
|
|||
|
multiple-pass overwrites (if I remember correctly, a 7-pass overwrite with
|
|||
|
garbage data is recognized as being secure by the US Government - but it's
|
|||
|
been a while since I've looked into it.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I was hoping you could tell me if Linux offers a very
|
|||
|
similar low-level format that would ensure complete data loss. I have
|
|||
|
assumed that "dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/hda" would work, but I need to be
|
|||
|
positive. Thanks.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> {Ben]
|
|||
|
Linux offers something that is significantly more secure than an "all
|
|||
|
zeroes" or "fixed pattern" overwrite: it offers a high-quality "randomness
|
|||
|
source" that generates output based on device driver noise, suitable for
|
|||
|
one-time pads and other high-security applications. See the man page for
|
|||
|
"random" or "urandom" for more info.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Based on what you've been using so far, here's something that would be
|
|||
|
even more secure:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
|
|||
|
dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda
|
|||
|
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you're concerned about spies with superconducting quantum-interference
|
|||
|
detectors <grin>, you can always add a "for" loop for govt.-level
|
|||
|
security:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQuote><code>
|
|||
|
for n in `seq 7`; do dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda; done
|
|||
|
</code></BLOCKQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
This would, of course, take significantly longer than a single overwrite.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike]
|
|||
|
Wow, seven-level security in a simple shell script!
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
<Grin> *I've* always contended that melting down the hard drive and
|
|||
|
dumping it in the Mariannas Trench would add just that extra touch of
|
|||
|
protection, but would they listen to me?...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
Sorry, can't do that, makes the Mariannas Trench too much of a national
|
|||
|
security risk. Someone could claim that our data has been left unprotected
|
|||
|
in international waters.
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=";P"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Or, why security is a moving target: what is impossible one year is a mere
|
|||
|
matter of technology a few years or a decade later.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
You wish.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike]
|
|||
|
My point being, that a one-line shell script can do the job of
|
|||
|
expensive "secure delete" programs.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
<TT>/dev/urandom</TT> uses "real" randomness, that is, quanta from various
|
|||
|
activities in the hardware, and it can run out of available randomness. We
|
|||
|
call its saved bits "entropy" which makes for a great way to make your
|
|||
|
favorite physics major cough. "We used up all our entropy, but it came back
|
|||
|
in a few minutes."
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Hey! If we could just find the "<TT>/dev/random</TT>" for the Universe...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
When it's dry I don't recall what happens - maybe you device wait on it, that
|
|||
|
would be okay. But if you get non-randomness after that (funny how busy the
|
|||
|
disk controller is) you might not really get what you wanted...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
That's actually the difference between "random" and "urandom". "random"
|
|||
|
will block until it has more 'randomness' to give you, while "urandom"
|
|||
|
will spit up the the entire entropy pool, then give you either
|
|||
|
pseudorandomness or a repeat (I'm not sure which, actually), but will not
|
|||
|
block.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
You're welcome to experiment - by which I mean, try it and study the results,
|
|||
|
check that they're what you want or not (confirm or refute the hypothesis).
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
I'm not clear from the original request if they're trying to clear the main
|
|||
|
drive on a system, or some secondary data drive. If it's the main, I'd
|
|||
|
definitely want to boot from <A HREF="http://www.toms.net/rb/">Tom's rootboot</A> (a RAM based distro) so there'd
|
|||
|
be no chance of the system resisting getting scribbled upon, or failing to
|
|||
|
finish the job. Also continuing to multitask (Toms has 4 virtual consoles,
|
|||
|
you can read some doc files or something) will give <TT>/dev/urandom</TT> more noise
|
|||
|
sources to gather randomness from.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<TT>/dev/random</TT> would be faster - not <EM>as</EM> random, but at 7 times, it's (wince
|
|||
|
now, you know what I'm going to say) good enough for government work. MSwin
|
|||
|
doesn't <EM>have</EM> a <TT>/dev/urandom</TT>, it only has pseudorandomness. At least, last
|
|||
|
I looked.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Again, the other way around: "urandom" would be faster but marginally less
|
|||
|
secure (after 7 overwrites? The infinitesimal difference croggles my
|
|||
|
mind...), while "random" is slower but has the true <TT>/gelt/.</TT> Given that
|
|||
|
"<TT>/dev/hda</TT>" was used in the original example, Tom's RootBoot would be an
|
|||
|
excellent idea.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike]
|
|||
|
I thought <TT>/dev/urandom</TT> was the faster but less random one.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
I just looked in the kernel documentation
|
|||
|
(<TT>/usr/src/linux/Documentation</TT>)
|
|||
|
and you are correct. <TT>/dev/random</TT> (character major 1 minor 8) is
|
|||
|
listed as nondeterministic, and <TT>/dev/urandom</TT> (character major 1
|
|||
|
minor 9) is listed as faster and less secure.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Anyways our readers will have to decide for themselves whether they want
|
|||
|
7 layers of pseudo-random, or if their system will be busy enough in different
|
|||
|
ways to get a nice batch of true randomness out of the "better" source.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Heather]
|
|||
|
I hear that the i810 motherboard has a randomness chip, but I don't know how
|
|||
|
it works, so I don't know how far I'd trust it for this sort of thing.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Thanks for the help and the humor, I shall pass the information
|
|||
|
on to our FSO in hopes that this will suffice. Again, thanks.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Shane M. Walton
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 9 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/10"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 10 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>GPM is interfering with x...</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From Dave
|
|||
|
<br>Answered By: Ben Okopnik
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Hello Answerguy,
|
|||
|
<br>Since installing <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> a few days ago, I've been more than pleased with it.
|
|||
|
However, I have run into a wee problem which I was hoping you could help me
|
|||
|
with. Yesterday, I realised I hadn't installed GPM. I immediately got round
|
|||
|
to installing using apt (a lovely painless procedure when compared to RPM).
|
|||
|
All went great until I started to run X, at which point my mouse went insane
|
|||
|
- just flying round the desktop at its own free will every time as I so much
|
|||
|
as breathed on the hardware that operated it. I immediately killed GPM using
|
|||
|
the GPM <TT>-k</TT> command, but to no avail. Then I shut down X, and restarted it
|
|||
|
with no GPM running - the mouse refused to move at all. I then proceded to
|
|||
|
uninstall GPM, and yet the pointer remains motionless :(. I'm using a PS/2
|
|||
|
mouse.. Any suggestions?
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
I thank you for your time
|
|||
|
<br>-Dave-
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Yep; it's a bad idea to kill or uninstall GPM.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In the Ages Long, Long ago (say, 3 years back), it used to be standard
|
|||
|
practice to configure two different ways to "talk" to the mouse: GPM
|
|||
|
for the console, and the mouse mechanism built into X. Nowadays, the
|
|||
|
folks that do the default configuration for X in most distributions seem
|
|||
|
to have caught on to the nifty little "<TT>-R</TT> <name>" switch in GPM. This
|
|||
|
makes GPM pass the mouse data onto a so-called "FIFO" (a "first in -
|
|||
|
first out" interface, like rolling tennis balls down a pipe) called
|
|||
|
"<TT>/dev/gpmdata</TT>" - which is where X gets _its_ mouse info. By removing
|
|||
|
GPM, you've removed the only thing that pays any attention to what the
|
|||
|
mouse is doing.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
So, what's to do? Well, you <EM>could</EM> configure X to actually read the
|
|||
|
raw mouse device - "<TT>/dev/psaux</TT>" in most computers today, perhaps
|
|||
|
"<TT>/dev/ttyS0</TT>" if you have a serial mouse on your first serial port (or
|
|||
|
even "<TT>/dev/mouse</TT>", which is usually a symlink to the actual mouse
|
|||
|
device.) My suggestion is, though, that you do not - for the same
|
|||
|
reason that the distro folks don't do it that way. Instead, reinstall
|
|||
|
GPM - in theory, your "<TT>/etc/gpm.conf</TT>" should still be there, and if
|
|||
|
isn't, it's easy enough to configure - and make sure that it uses that
|
|||
|
"<TT>-R</TT>" switch (hint: read the GPM man page.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Once you've done all that, you'll now need to solve the "jumping mouse"
|
|||
|
problem. In my experience, that's generally caused by the mouse type
|
|||
|
being set to the wrong value (usually "PS/2" instead of "Microsoft".)
|
|||
|
Here's the easy way to do it: from a console, run "XF86Setup"; tell it
|
|||
|
to use your current configuration when prompted. Once X starts up and
|
|||
|
you get the "Welcome" screen, tab to the "Mouse" button and press
|
|||
|
"Enter". Read the presented info page carefully: since you'll be using
|
|||
|
the keyboard to set the options, you'll need to know which keys do what.
|
|||
|
If you forget, "Tab" will get you around.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Make sure that the "Mouse Device" is set to "<TT>/dev/gpmdata</TT>", and try the
|
|||
|
various mouse protocols - these are obviously dependent on your mouse
|
|||
|
type, but the most common ones I've seen have been PS/2 and Microsoft.
|
|||
|
Remember to use the "Apply" button liberally: the changes you set won't
|
|||
|
take effect until you do.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Once you have the right protocol, the mouse should move smoothly. I
|
|||
|
suggest that, unless you have a 3-button mouse, you set the
|
|||
|
"Emulate3Buttons" option - you'll need it to copy and paste in X! Also,
|
|||
|
play with the resolution option a bit - this will set the mouse
|
|||
|
response. I've seen high resolution "lock up" a mouse - but by now you
|
|||
|
know how to use that "Tab" key...
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Once you're done, click "Done" - and you're ready to fly your X-fighter.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 10 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/11"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 11 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>Graphics Programming for Printing / Faxing</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From G David Sword
|
|||
|
<br>Answered By; Ben Okopnik, Mike Orr
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I have a text file full of data, which I would like to turn into a
|
|||
|
bunch of fax documents for automated faxing. I could simply parse
|
|||
|
the file in perl, and produce straight text files for each fax.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Instead of this, I would like to be able to build up something which
|
|||
|
resembles a proper purchase order, or remittance, containing logos,
|
|||
|
boxes for addresses etc.
|
|||
|
Could I have an expert opinion (or six) on what would be the best
|
|||
|
method to use to achieve this - I have read a bit about LaTeX and
|
|||
|
groff, but I am not sure if they are the best solution or not.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks in advance
|
|||
|
<br>G. David Sword
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Since you have already implied that you're competent in Perl, why not
|
|||
|
stick with what you know? Parse the data file (which you will have to
|
|||
|
do anyway no matter what formatting you apply to it afterwards), then
|
|||
|
push it out as HTML - Perl is excellent for that. I can't imagine
|
|||
|
an order form so complex that it would require anything more than that.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
As a broader scope issue, learning LaTeX or groff is, shall we say,
|
|||
|
Non-Trivial. In my !humble opinion, neither is worth doing just to
|
|||
|
accomplish a single task of the sort that you're describing. SGML, on
|
|||
|
the other hand, is an excellent "base" format that can be converted to
|
|||
|
just about anything else - DVI, HTML, Info, LaTeX, PostScript, PDF, RTF,
|
|||
|
Texinfo, troff-enhanced text, or plaintext (as well as all the formats
|
|||
|
that _those_ can be converted into.) You can learn enough to produce
|
|||
|
well-formatted documents in under an hour (no fancy boxes, though) -
|
|||
|
"<TT>/usr/share/doc/sgml-tools/guide.txt.gz</TT>" (part of the "sgml-tools"
|
|||
|
package) will easily get you up to speed. If you want the fancy boxes,
|
|||
|
etc., check out Tom Gordon's QWERTZ DTD
|
|||
|
<<A HREF="ftp://ftp.gmd.de/GMD/sgml/sgml2latex-format.1.4.tar.gz"
|
|||
|
>ftp://ftp.gmd.de/GMD/sgml/sgml2latex-format.1.4.tar.gz</A>>, or the
|
|||
|
LinuxDoc DTD (based on QWERTZ.) I haven't played with either one to any
|
|||
|
great extent, but they're supposed to do mathematical formulae, tables,
|
|||
|
figures, etc.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike]
|
|||
|
Let me second this. If you need to get the reports out the door
|
|||
|
yesterday, stick with what you know. Get them to print in any
|
|||
|
readable text format now and then worry about enhancements later.
|
|||
|
The code you use to extract the fields and calculate the totals
|
|||
|
will still be useful later, whether you plug it into the new
|
|||
|
system directly or convert it into a new language.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
TeX and troff both have a learning curve, and you have to balance
|
|||
|
this against how useful they will be to your present and future purposes.
|
|||
|
At best, they make a better temporary "output format" nowadays than a
|
|||
|
document storage format. SGML or XML is a much better storage format
|
|||
|
because it's more flexible, given the unpredictable needs of the future.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Actually, your "true" storage format will probably remain your flat
|
|||
|
file or a database, and then you'll just convert it to SGML or XML
|
|||
|
and then to whichever print format you want (via a generic
|
|||
|
SGML-to-something tool or your own home-grown tool).
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
I would look at XML for the long term, even if you don't use it right
|
|||
|
away. Perhaps someday you'll want to store your data itself in XML
|
|||
|
files rather than in the text files you're using. This does allow
|
|||
|
convenient editing via any text editor, and for new data, a program can
|
|||
|
create an empty XML structure and invoke an editor on it. And as time
|
|||
|
goes on, more and more programs will be able to interpret and write XML
|
|||
|
files. On the other hand, it <EM>is</EM> darn convenient to have that data in
|
|||
|
a database like MySQL for quick ad-hoc queries...
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
If you just want to learn a little bit of formatting for a simple
|
|||
|
document, troff is probably easier to learn than TeX.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
You can always use the "HTML cop-out" one of my typesetting friends
|
|||
|
(Hi, johnl!) tells people when they ask him what's an easy way to write
|
|||
|
a formatted resume. Write it in HTML and then use Netscape's print
|
|||
|
function to print it Postscript.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<!-- end 11 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/13"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 13 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>networked machine goes to sleep</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From Bob Glass (with a bonus question from Dan Wilder)
|
|||
|
<br>Answered by: Ben Okopnik
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Hi, everyone. I'm a newbie and need help with a linux machine that goes
|
|||
|
to sleep and has to be smacked sharply to wake it up. I'm trying to run
|
|||
|
a proxying service for user authentication for remote databases for my
|
|||
|
college. That's all the machine is used for. The Redhat installation
|
|||
|
is a custom, basically complete, installation of Redhat Linux 6.2. The
|
|||
|
machine is a 9-month old Gateway PIII with 128MB of RAM. The network
|
|||
|
adapter is an Intel Pro100+. My local area network is Novell 5.x and my
|
|||
|
institution has 4 IP segments. I have not configured my linux
|
|||
|
installation beyond defining what's needed to make the machine available
|
|||
|
on the local network (machine name, hard-assigned IP address, default
|
|||
|
gateway etc).
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><em><Snip></em></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
The problem I'm unable to deal with is: my proxy machine disappears
|
|||
|
from the network or 'goes to sleep.' At that point, I can't use a web
|
|||
|
browser to contact the proxy service machine, I can't telnet to the
|
|||
|
machine, and I can't ping the machine. However, if I go across the room
|
|||
|
to the proxy machine, open the web browser, go to an weblink (i.e., send
|
|||
|
packets out from the machine), then go back to my computer and test a
|
|||
|
link, ezproxy responds and all is well. However, usually in an hour or
|
|||
|
so, the proxy machine is unreachable again. Then much later or
|
|||
|
overnight, it will begin to respond again, usually after a 5-7 second
|
|||
|
delay.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
First, an easy temporary fix: figure out the minimum time between
|
|||
|
failures and subtract a couple of minutes; run a "cron" job or a
|
|||
|
backgrounded script that pings a remote IP every time that period
|
|||
|
elapses. As much as I hate "band-aid fixes", that should at least keep
|
|||
|
you up and running.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Second: I've encountered a similar problem twice before. Once with
|
|||
|
sucky PPP in an older kernel (2.0.34, if I remember correctly), and one
|
|||
|
that involved a flaky network card on a Novell network (I've sworn off
|
|||
|
everything but two or three brands of cards since.) Perhaps what I'd
|
|||
|
learned from troubleshooting those may come in useful.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Dan]
|
|||
|
If you don't mind saying, which brands have you had the best luck with
|
|||
|
under Linux?
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Intel EE Pro 10/100Bs have been faultless. I've used a stack of those to
|
|||
|
replace NE2K clones, and a <EM>number</EM> of problems - some of which I would
|
|||
|
have sworn were unrelated to hardware - went away. I can't say the same
|
|||
|
for the various 3Coms I've tried; whether something in the driver
|
|||
|
software or in the cards themselves (under Linux and Windows both), I
|
|||
|
could not get consistent performance out of them. My experience with
|
|||
|
LinkSys has been rather positive, although I've never had the chance to
|
|||
|
really beat up on them; perhaps this has to do with the quality of
|
|||
|
Donald Becker's driver, as they have been very friendly to the Linux
|
|||
|
community from the start (this was the reason I decided to try playing
|
|||
|
with them in the first place.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
For consistently high throughput, by the way, I have not found anything
|
|||
|
to beat the Intels.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
Note that I'm not trying to give you The One True Solution here; this
|
|||
|
seems to be one of those problems that will require an iterative
|
|||
|
approach. The way I'd heard this put before is "when you don't
|
|||
|
understand the problem, do the part that you <EM>do</EM> understand, then look
|
|||
|
again at what's left."
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
A good rule of thumb is that if the problem is happening at regular
|
|||
|
intervals, it's software; if it's irregular, it's hardware. Not a
|
|||
|
solution, but something to keep in mind.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I have turned off power management in the BIOS. I have stopped loading
|
|||
|
the apm daemon. I have tried a different network adapter, 3Com509b. I
|
|||
|
have even migrated away from another computer to the machine described
|
|||
|
above. And still the machine goes to sleep ...!?$#@
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
When it goes to sleep, have you tried looking at the running processes
|
|||
|
(i.e., "ps ax")? Does PPP, perhaps, die, and the proxy server restart
|
|||
|
it when you send out a request? Assuming that you have two interfaces
|
|||
|
(i.e., one NIC that talks to the LAN and another that sees the great
|
|||
|
big outside world), are both of them still up and running ("ifconfig" /
|
|||
|
"ifconfig <TT>-a</TT>")?
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
What happens if you set this machine up as a plain workstation? No
|
|||
|
proxy server, minimum network services, not used by anyone, perhaps
|
|||
|
booted from a floppy with an absolutely minimal Linux system - with
|
|||
|
perhaps another machine pinging it every so often to make sure it's
|
|||
|
still up? If this configuration works, then add the services (including
|
|||
|
the proxy server) back, a couple at a time, until something breaks.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
This is known as the "strip-down" method of troubleshooting. If it
|
|||
|
works OK initially, then the problem is in the software (most likely,
|
|||
|
that is: I've seen NICs that work fine under a light load fall apart in
|
|||
|
heavy traffic.) If it fails, then the problem is in the hardware: NICs
|
|||
|
have always been ugly, devious little animals... although I must admit
|
|||
|
they've become a lot better recently; I can't say that I've had any
|
|||
|
problems with Intel Pros, and I've abused them unmercifully.
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/smily.gif" ALT=":)"
|
|||
|
height="24" width="20" align="middle">
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
(A related question: When you moved from one machine to the other,
|
|||
|
did you happen to bring the NICs along? This could be important...)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
My bad, there; I missed the part about the different NIC in the original
|
|||
|
request for help, even though I quoted it (blame it on sleep-
|
|||
|
deprivation...) - ignore all the stuff about the Evil NICs; it's
|
|||
|
certainly starting to sound like software.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<!-- end 13 -->
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
On Tue, Nov 07, 2000 at 11:37:46AM <TT>-0500</TT>, Bob Glass wrote:
|
|||
|
Dear Mr. Okopnik,
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks so much for your suggestion about creating a cron job which pings
|
|||
|
a network device. I did just that, and now the problem is 'solved.'
|
|||
|
(finding a source which detailed how to set up a cron job to run every
|
|||
|
15 minutes _and_ not e-mail the output to the root account was a bit of
|
|||
|
a challenge!) It's a measure of what a newbie I am that this didn't
|
|||
|
occur to me on my own!
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
I've talked to many people about this problem and have come to the
|
|||
|
conclusion that there's a weird mismatch between hardware and software
|
|||
|
at both the machine and network level (routers, switches, NICs, Linux,
|
|||
|
Novell who knows!@#$ I wish Novell would write network clients for Linux
|
|||
|
and Solaris. I have a Solaris machine which very occasionally has this
|
|||
|
same problem.) Having tussled with this for over a month and been shown
|
|||
|
a workaround which both works and causes no problems, I'm satisfied.
|
|||
|
And as director of my library, I've got to move on to other tasks.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Again, many thanks.
|
|||
|
<br>Bob Glass
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Ben]
|
|||
|
You're certainly welcome; I like being able to "pay forward" at least
|
|||
|
some of the huge debt I owe to the people who helped me in my own early
|
|||
|
struggles with Linux.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Pinging the machine is a workable solution, and I'm glad that it
|
|||
|
mitigated the problem for you - but let me make a suggestion. If you do
|
|||
|
not have the time to actually fix it now (or even in the foreseeable
|
|||
|
future), at least write down a good description of the problem and the
|
|||
|
workaround that you have used. The concept here is that of a shipboard
|
|||
|
"deficiency log" - any problems aboard a ship that cannot be immediately
|
|||
|
resolved go into this log, thus providing a single point of reference
|
|||
|
for anyone who is about to do any kind of work. ("I'll just remove this
|
|||
|
piece of wire that doesn't look like it belongs here... hey, why are we
|
|||
|
sinking???") That way, if you - or another director/admin/etc. - have
|
|||
|
to work on a related problem, you can quickly refresh yourself on
|
|||
|
exactly <em>why</em> that cron job is there. A comment in "crontab" that
|
|||
|
points to the "log" file would be a Good Thing.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
As I understand it, <A HREF="http://www.caldera.com/">Caldera</A>'s OpenLinux promises full Novell
|
|||
|
compatibility/connectivity. I can't comment on it personally, since I
|
|||
|
have no experience with OpenLinux, but it sounds rather promising - Ray
|
|||
|
Noorda is the ex-CEO of Novell, and Caldera is one of his companies.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 13 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/17"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 17 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>Web server/firewall hardware specifications, Apache and Zope</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From John Hinsley
|
|||
|
<br>Answered by: Mike Orr
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<!-- ::
|
|||
|
Web server/firewall hardware specifications, <A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A> and Zope
|
|||
|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|
|||
|
:: -->
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I want a web site, but it looks like I'll have to put together my own
|
|||
|
server and put it on someone's server farm because:
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
What do you mean by server farm? You're going to colocate your server
|
|||
|
at an ISP? (Meaning, put the server in the ISP's office so you have
|
|||
|
direct access to the ISP's network?)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I need to run Zope and MySQL as well as Apache (or whatever) in order to
|
|||
|
be able to use both data generated pages via Zope and "legacy" CGI stuff
|
|||
|
(and it's far easier to find a Perl monger when you want one rather than
|
|||
|
a Python one!). If this seems remotely sensible, we're then faced with
|
|||
|
the hardware spec of this splendid server.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I set up one Zope application at <em>Linux Journal</em>
|
|||
|
(<A HREF="http://www.linuxjournal.com/glue"
|
|||
|
>http://www.linuxjournal.com/glue</A>). It coexists fine with our Python and
|
|||
|
Perl CGI scripts.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<ADVOCACY LANGUAGE="python">
|
|||
|
While it may be easier to find a Perl monger than a Pythoneer, us Python
|
|||
|
types are becoming more common. And anybody who knows <EM>any</EM> programming
|
|||
|
language will find Python a breeze to snap up. The programming concepts
|
|||
|
are all the same, the syntax is very comprehensible, and the standard
|
|||
|
tutorial is excellent.
|
|||
|
</ADVOCACY>
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
So, proposed spec:
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><BLOCKQuote>
|
|||
|
Athlon 700, 3 x 20 GB IDE hard drives, 2 of which are software raided
|
|||
|
together and the third of which is for incremental back up. 256 Mb of
|
|||
|
Ram (at least), 1 100 Mbps NIC. Open SSH as a mode for remote
|
|||
|
administration, but otherwise with a lean kernel with an internal
|
|||
|
firewall.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQuote></STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Does this sound like a remotely viable spec?
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
You didn't say how many hits per month you expect this site to receive.
|
|||
|
Our server has less capacity than that, and it runs <em>Linux Journal</em> +
|
|||
|
<em>Linux Gazette</em> + some small sites just fine.
|
|||
|
And yes, our servers are colocated at an ISP. You get much
|
|||
|
better bandwidth for the price by colocating.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
I discussed your spec with our sysadmin Dan Wilder (who will probably
|
|||
|
chime in himself) and concluded:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQuote>
|
|||
|
** An Athlon 700 processor is way overkill for what you need. (Again,
|
|||
|
assuming this is an "ordinary" web server.) An AMD K6-2 or K6-3 running
|
|||
|
at 233 MHz should be fine (although you probably can't get a new one
|
|||
|
with less than 500 MHz nowadays...) Web servers are more I/O intensive
|
|||
|
than they are CPU intensive. Especially since they don't run GUIs, or
|
|||
|
if they do, the GUI is idle at the login screen most of the time! And
|
|||
|
if you really want the fastest chip available, an Athlon 700 is already
|
|||
|
"slow".
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQuote></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
** Your most difficult task will be finding a motherboard which
|
|||
|
supports the Athlon 700 adequately. One strategy is to go to the
|
|||
|
overclocking web pages (search "overclocking" at www.google.com)
|
|||
|
and see which motherboards overclock best with your CPU. Not that
|
|||
|
you should overclock, especially on a production server!
|
|||
|
But if a motherboard performs OK overclocking your CPU, it should
|
|||
|
do an adequate job running your CPU at its proper speed.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
** 256K MB RAM may or may not be adequate. Since memory is the cheapest
|
|||
|
way to increase performance at high server load, why not add more?
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
** 3 x 20 GB IDE (1 primary, 1 for RAID, 1 for backup) should be fine
|
|||
|
capacity-wise. Are you using hardware RAID or software RAID?
|
|||
|
Software RAID is pretty unreliable on IDE. Will you have easy access
|
|||
|
to the computer when you have to work on it? Or does the ISP have
|
|||
|
good support quality, and will they handle RAID problems for you?
|
|||
|
One thing we want to try (but haven't tested yet) are the 3Ware
|
|||
|
RAID I cards.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
** IDE vs SCSI. SCSI may give better performance when multitasking.
|
|||
|
Of course, it's partly a religious issue how much that performance gain is.
|
|||
|
Given that a web server is by nature a disk-intensive application, SCSI
|
|||
|
is at least worth looking into. Of course, SCSI is also a pain to install
|
|||
|
and maintain because you have to make sure the cables are good quality,
|
|||
|
ensure they are properly terminated, etc.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
** 100 Mbps Ethernet card. Are you sure your ISP's network is 100 Mbps?
|
|||
|
10 Mbps should be fine. If your server saturates a 10 Mbps line, you're
|
|||
|
probably running video imaging applications and paying over US$7000/month for
|
|||
|
bandwidth. Make sure your Ethernet card operates well at 100 Mbps;
|
|||
|
many 10/100 Mbps "auto-switching" cards don't auto-switch that well.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
** OpenSSH for remote admin. Sure.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The biggest FTP site in the world, ftp.cdrom.com, runs on an ordinary
|
|||
|
PC with <A HREF="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</A>. And the Zopistas at the Python conference in January
|
|||
|
said Zope can handle a million hits per day on an ordinary PC.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
*****
|
|||
|
There are several ways to integrate Zope with Apache. We chose the
|
|||
|
"proxy server" way because it allows Zope's web server (Zserver) to
|
|||
|
multitask. You run Apache at port 80, Zserver at 8080, and use
|
|||
|
Apache's ProxyPass directive to relay the request to Zserver and back.
|
|||
|
You have to do some tricky things with mod_rewrite and install a
|
|||
|
scary Zope product, but it works.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
(Scary because it involves modifying the access rules for the entire
|
|||
|
Zope site, which can lock you out of your database if you're not
|
|||
|
careful, and because it makes Zope think your hostname/port is what
|
|||
|
Apache publishes them as, rather than what they really are, and this can
|
|||
|
also lock you out of your database if Apache isn't running or the
|
|||
|
rewrites or proxying aren't working. I refused to implement virtual
|
|||
|
hosts on our Zope server--because they also require playing with access
|
|||
|
rules--until a safer way comes along. Why not let Apache handle the
|
|||
|
virtual hosting since Apache is good at it? You can use a separate Zope
|
|||
|
folder for each virtual site, or even run a separate Zope instance for
|
|||
|
each.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In the end, we decided not to go ahead with wide-scale deployment of
|
|||
|
Zope applications. This was because:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><ul>
|
|||
|
<li> Adequate Zope documentation was missing. Most documentation was
|
|||
|
geared for the through-the-web DTML content manager rather than the
|
|||
|
application programmer. It was a matter of knowing a method to do X
|
|||
|
must exist, then scouring the docs to find the method name, then
|
|||
|
guessing what the arguments must be.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<li> Zope wants to do everything in its own private world. But text
|
|||
|
files and CGI scripts can handle 3/4 of the job we need.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<li> Zope's main feature--the ability to delegate sections of a web site
|
|||
|
to semi-trusted content managers who will write and maintain articles
|
|||
|
using the web interface--was not really what we needed. Our content
|
|||
|
managers know vi and know how to scp a file into place. They aren't
|
|||
|
keen on adjusting to a new interface--and having to upload/download
|
|||
|
files into Zope's database--when it provides little additional
|
|||
|
benefit <EM>for them</EM>.
|
|||
|
</ul>
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
We decided what we really needed was better CGI tools and an Active
|
|||
|
Server Pages type interface. So we're now deploying PHP applications,
|
|||
|
while eagerly waiting for Python's toolset to come up with an
|
|||
|
equivalent solution.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Disclaimers: yes, Zope has some projects in development which address
|
|||
|
these areas (a big documentation
|
|||
|
push, Mozilla-enhanced administration interface, WebDAV [when vi
|
|||
|
supports it] for editing and configuring via XML, built-in support
|
|||
|
for virtual hosts, a "distributed database" that an ordinary filesystem
|
|||
|
directory can be a part of), but these are more or less still in the
|
|||
|
experimental stages (although deployed by some sites). And yes, Python
|
|||
|
has Poor Man's Zope and Python Server Pages and mod_python, but these
|
|||
|
are still <EM>way</EM> in alpha stage and not as optimized or tested as PHP
|
|||
|
is. I also want to look into AOLserver's embedded Python feature we
|
|||
|
read about in October
|
|||
|
(<A HREF="../issue58/washington.html"
|
|||
|
>http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue58/washington.html</A>), but have not had
|
|||
|
the chance to yet.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 17 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -->
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike again]
|
|||
|
I forgot to mention MySQL.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Our web server runs MySQL alongside Apache and Zope. MySQL is called by
|
|||
|
CGI applications as well as Zope methods.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
It took a while to get MySQLdb and the ZMySQLDA (the Zope database
|
|||
|
adapter) installed, but they're both working fine now. I spent a couple
|
|||
|
weeks corresponding with the maintainer, who was very responsive to my
|
|||
|
bug reports and gave me several unreleased versions to try. These issues
|
|||
|
should all be resloved now.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
One problem that remained was that ZMySQLDA would not return DateTime
|
|||
|
objects for Date/DateTime/Timestamp fields. Instead it returned a string,
|
|||
|
which made it inconvenient to manipulate the date in Zope. One problem
|
|||
|
of course is that Zope uses a same-name but incompatible DateTime module
|
|||
|
than the superior one the rest of Python uses (mxDateTime). I finally
|
|||
|
coded around it and just had the SQL SELECT statement return a pre-formatted
|
|||
|
date string and separate month and year integers.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 17 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -->
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0">
|
|||
|
Dear Mike,
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
thank you so much for a really comprehensive answer to my questions. Of
|
|||
|
course, it raises a few more questions for me, but I think the view is a
|
|||
|
bit clearer now.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Yes, I did mean colocation (co-location?). It's a term I have some
|
|||
|
problems with as it seems to suggest putting something in two places at
|
|||
|
one time.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
We might be fortunate in that the funding for this is unlikely to come
|
|||
|
through before 2.4 about which I hear "around Christmas, early New
|
|||
|
Year". And even more so in that we could probably get away with hiring
|
|||
|
some server space for a month or two while we played around with the new
|
|||
|
server and tried to break it. Of course, this might well mean doing
|
|||
|
without much in the way of interactivity, let alone a database driven
|
|||
|
solution, but we can probably survive on static pages for a while and
|
|||
|
get some kind of income dribble going.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
My inclination would be to go with software Raid and IDE (hence the
|
|||
|
attempt to break it!) but I will consider the other alternatives.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Ultimately whether we go with Zope (and in what context vis-a-vis
|
|||
|
<A HREF="http://www.apache.org/">Apache</A>, or Zap) is going to have to depend on whether I can get it up
|
|||
|
and running to my satisfaction at home, but it's good to be reminded
|
|||
|
that PHP is a good alternative.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Once again, many thanks.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 17 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/18"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 18 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>'neighbour table overflow'</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From Alex Kitainik
|
|||
|
<br>Answered by: Heather Stern
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Hi!
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
I've found 'neighbour table overflow' question in your gazette.
|
|||
|
Explanation for this case seems to be not complete although. The most
|
|||
|
nasty case can happen when there are two computers with the same name in
|
|||
|
the LAN. In this case neighbours' search enters endless loop and thus
|
|||
|
'neighbour table overflow' can occur.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Actually, the arp cache doesn't care about names - it cares about MAC
|
|||
|
addresses (those things that look like a set of colon seperated hex values
|
|||
|
in your ifconfig output). But, it is a good point - some cards are dip
|
|||
|
switch configurable, and ifconfig can change the 'hw ether' interface
|
|||
|
if you ask it to.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Between arpwatch and tcpdump it should be possible to seriously track down
|
|||
|
if you have some sort of "twins" problem of either type, though. At the
|
|||
|
higher levels of protocol, having machines with the same name can cause
|
|||
|
annoying problems (e.g. half the samba packets going to the wrong machine)
|
|||
|
so it's still something you want to prevent.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
PS. I apologize for my English (it isn't my mother tongue...)
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Regards -- Alex.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Your English is fine.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 18 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/19"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 19 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/qbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(?) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>Networking</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>From Kopf
|
|||
|
<br>Answered by: Ben Okopnik
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Hi,
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
I want to set up a home network, with 2 machines - workstation & server. The
|
|||
|
problem is, I want to configure Linux so that if I use the workstation, nothing
|
|||
|
is saved on the local drive, everything is kept on the server, so that if I
|
|||
|
shut down the workstation, and I go up to the server, I can work away there,
|
|||
|
without any difference of environments between the 2 boxes.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Another problem is, I'm a bit strapped for cash, so I don't want to buy a
|
|||
|
server & networking equiptment until I know what I want to do is possible.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks!
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Kopf
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Not all that hard to do; in fact, the terms that you've used -
|
|||
|
workstation and server - point to a solution.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In the Windows world, for example, those terms have come to mean "basic
|
|||
|
desktop vs. big, powerful machine." With Linux, the meanings come back
|
|||
|
to their original sense: specifically, a server is a program that
|
|||
|
provides a service (and in terms of hardware, the machine that runs
|
|||
|
that program, usually one that is set up for only - or mainly - that
|
|||
|
purpose.)
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In this case, one of a number of possible solutions that spring to mind
|
|||
|
is NFS - or better yet, Coda (<A HREF="http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu"
|
|||
|
>http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu</A>). Either one
|
|||
|
of these will let you mount a remote filesystem locally; Coda, at least
|
|||
|
in theory (I've read the docs, haven't had any practice with it) will
|
|||
|
allow disconnected operation and continuous operation even during
|
|||
|
partial network failure, as well as bandwidth adaptation (vs. NFS,
|
|||
|
which is <EM>terrible</EM> over slow links.) Coda also uses encryption and
|
|||
|
authentication, while NFS security is, shall we say, problematic at
|
|||
|
best.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Here is how it works in practice, at least for NFS: you run an NFS
|
|||
|
server on the machine that you want to export from - the one you
|
|||
|
referred to as the "server". I seem to remember that most distributions
|
|||
|
come with an NFS module already available, so kernel recompilation will
|
|||
|
probably not be necessary. Read the "NFS-HOWTO": it literally takes you
|
|||
|
step-by-step through the entire process, including in-depth
|
|||
|
troubleshooting tips. Once you've set everything up, export the
|
|||
|
"home/kopf" directory (i.e., your home directory) and mount it under
|
|||
|
"home/kopf" on your client machine. If you have the exported directory
|
|||
|
listed in your "<TT>/etc/fstab</TT>" and append "auto" to the options, you won't
|
|||
|
even have to do anything different to accomodate the setup: you simply
|
|||
|
turn the machine on, and write your documents, etc. Your home directory
|
|||
|
will "travel" with you wherever you go.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Since you mention being strapped for cash, there's always another
|
|||
|
option: put together a minimal machine (say, a 486 or a low-end
|
|||
|
Pentium) that does nothing more than boot Linux. Telnet to your "big"
|
|||
|
machine, work there - run a remote X session, if you like. Other
|
|||
|
advantages of this setup include the need for only one modem (on your
|
|||
|
X/file server), the necessity of securing only a single machine, and,
|
|||
|
of course, the total cost. I would suggest spending a little of the
|
|||
|
money you save on memory and a decent video card, though - not that X is
|
|||
|
that resource-intensive, but snappy performance is nice to have.
|
|||
|
32-64MB should be plenty.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
I also suggest reading the "Thinclient-HOWTO", which explains how to do
|
|||
|
the NFS "complete system export" and the X-client/server setup.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Ben Okopnik
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 19 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . -->
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Hi! Thanks for all the great info!
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
What you've said has really enlighened me - I had never thought of remote
|
|||
|
mounting and stuff like that. Just one question, if I were to mount "<TT>/</TT>" on the
|
|||
|
server as "<TT>/</TT>" on the workstation, how much diskspace would I need on the
|
|||
|
workstation to start up Linux until it mounts all the drives? Or would I use a
|
|||
|
bootdisk to do this, and have absolutely no partition for Linux on the
|
|||
|
workstation?
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
You could indeed boot from a floppy, but it's a longish process, and
|
|||
|
floppies are rather unreliable; I would think that scrounging around can
|
|||
|
get you an small HD for just a few dollars. One of the things I really
|
|||
|
appreciate about <A HREF="http://www.debian.org/">Debian</A> is that you can do a "base setup" - a complete
|
|||
|
working Linux system with networking and tons of system tools - in about
|
|||
|
10 minutes, on about 20MB worth of drive space. I seem to remember that
|
|||
|
<A HREF="http://www.slackware.org/">Slackware</A> does much the same thing.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
As to how much diskspace: you really don't need <EM>any</EM>. You could even
|
|||
|
set your machine up as a terminal (a bit more of a hassle, but it
|
|||
|
eliminates the need for even a floppy.) An HD is nice to have - as I've
|
|||
|
said, booting from one is much more convenient - but start with the
|
|||
|
assumption that it's a luxury, not a necessity. From there, everything
|
|||
|
you do is just fun add-ons.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The point to this is that there are almost infinite possibilities with
|
|||
|
Linux; given the tremendous flexibility and quality of its software, the
|
|||
|
answer to networking questions that start with "Can I..." is almost
|
|||
|
always going to be "Yes."
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Also - I know the risks associated with allowing "(everyone)" to mount "<TT>/</TT>" or
|
|||
|
even "<TT>/home/</TT>" on Linux... Would I be able to restrict this to certain users, or
|
|||
|
even certain computers on the network?
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks for all the help!
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Kopf
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
"Would I be able to..." qualifies; the answer is "Yes". The "NFS-Howto"
|
|||
|
addresses those, and many other security issues in detail.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 19 -->
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Ben,
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
by the way, you talked about putting in about 32mb of Video memory into one of
|
|||
|
the computers to enhance X performance.. Which computer would I put it in, the
|
|||
|
X Server or Client?
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG>
|
|||
|
Thanks!
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Perhaps I didn't make myself clear; I believe I'd mentioned using a
|
|||
|
decent video card <EM>and</EM> 32MB of system memory. In any case, that's what
|
|||
|
I was recommending. Not that X is that hungry, but graphics are always
|
|||
|
more intensive than console use - and given the cost/performance gain of
|
|||
|
adding memory, I would have a minimum of 32MB in both machines. As to
|
|||
|
the video card, you'd have to go far, far down-market to get something
|
|||
|
that was less than decent these days. A quick look at CNet has Diamond
|
|||
|
Stealth cards for US$67 and Nvidia Riva TNT2 AGPs for US$89, and these
|
|||
|
cards are up in the "excellent" range - a buck buys a lot of video bang
|
|||
|
these days!
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
<IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Ok, well, you've answered all questions I had!
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Now 'tis time to make it all work.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Thanks again!
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
Kopf
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 19 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/21"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 21 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>DSL on Linux Information</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>Answer by Robert A. Uhl
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
I've some brief information on DSL for Linux.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Several phone companies do not officially support Linux since they do
|
|||
|
not have software to support our favoured platform. Fortunately I have
|
|||
|
found that it is still possible to configure a DSL bridge and have had
|
|||
|
some success therewith.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Let me note ahead of time that my bridge is a Cisco 675. Others may
|
|||
|
vary and may, indeed, not work.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
The programme which you will use in place of the Windows HyperTerm or
|
|||
|
the Mac OS ZTerm (an excellent programme, BTW; I used it extensively
|
|||
|
back in the day) is screen, a wonderful bit of software which was
|
|||
|
included with my distribution.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
To configure the bridge, connect the maintenance cable to the serial
|
|||
|
port. First you must su to root, or in some other way be able to access
|
|||
|
the appropriate serial port (usually <TT>/dev/ttyS0</TT> or <TT>/dev/ttyS1</TT>). Then
|
|||
|
use the command
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
|
|||
|
screen /dev/ttySx
|
|||
|
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
to start screen. It will connect and you will see a prompt of some
|
|||
|
sort. You may now perform all the tasks your ISP or telco request, just
|
|||
|
as you would from HyperTerm or ZTerm.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
One quits screen simply by typing control-a, then \. Control-a ? is
|
|||
|
used to get help.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Hope this is some use to some of the other poor saps experiencing DSL
|
|||
|
problems.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
--
|
|||
|
Robert Uhl
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><em>
|
|||
|
If I have pinged farther than others, it is because I routed upon the
|
|||
|
T3s of giants. --Greg Adams
|
|||
|
</em></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><em>... so mike asked ...</em></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
Hmm, I have a Cisco something-or-other and it's been doing DSL for
|
|||
|
Linux for almost two years. The external modems are fine, because
|
|||
|
there's nothing OS-specific about them, you just configure them
|
|||
|
in a generic manner.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
It's the configuration that can be trouble. When I've called the telco,
|
|||
|
they've wanted to start a session to get various settings. 'Pon being
|
|||
|
informed that I'm using Linux, it has generally been `Terribly sorry,
|
|||
|
sir, but we don't support that.'
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<P><STRONG><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/qbub.gif" ALT="(?)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
There's two ways to configure it: via the special serial cable that
|
|||
|
came with it or via the regular Ethernet cable using telnet. I tried
|
|||
|
telnet first but I couldn't figure out the device's IP number (it's
|
|||
|
different for different models and that information was hard to get
|
|||
|
ahold of). So I plugged in the serial cable and used minicom as if
|
|||
|
it were an ordinary null-modem cable. That worked fine.
|
|||
|
</STRONG></P>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
>
|
|||
|
I had a deal of difficulty with minicom. Screen seems to be doing a
|
|||
|
right fine job, at least for the moment. Figured I'd let others know.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Enjoy your magazine.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
--
|
|||
|
Robert Uhl
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong><IMG SRC="../gx/dennis/bbub.gif" ALT="(!)"
|
|||
|
HEIGHT="28" WIDTH="50" BORDER="0"
|
|||
|
> [Mike]
|
|||
|
Guess what. I had to configure a router at work last week. On DSL
|
|||
|
with a Cisco 675 bridge. Minicom didn't work. Screen did. And I
|
|||
|
never would have thought of using screen if it hadn't been for this
|
|||
|
TAG thread.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
I pulled out the serial cable inside the box and reseated it before
|
|||
|
using screen, just in case it was loose, so perhaps it wasn't minicom's fault.
|
|||
|
But at least now I have more alternatives to try.
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<p><strong>
|
|||
|
--
|
|||
|
Mike Orr
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 21 -->
|
|||
|
<!-- .~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~.~~. -->
|
|||
|
<A NAME="tag/22"><HR WIDTH="75%" ALIGN="center"></A>
|
|||
|
<!-- begin 22 -->
|
|||
|
<H3 align="left"><img src="../gx/dennis/bbubble.gif"
|
|||
|
height="50" width="60" alt="(!) " border="0"
|
|||
|
>sticky notes</H3>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<p><strong>Answer from Roy
|
|||
|
</strong></p>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Want to set a sticky note reminder on your screen? Create the tcl/tk
|
|||
|
script "memo"
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
|
|||
|
#!/usr/bin/wish
|
|||
|
<BR>button .b -textvariable argv -command exit
|
|||
|
<BR>pack .b
|
|||
|
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
and call it with
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
|
|||
|
sh -c 'memo remember opera tickets for dinner date &'
|
|||
|
</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Want to make a larger investment in script typing? Then make "memo"
|
|||
|
look like this:
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><pre>
|
|||
|
#!/usr/bin/wish
|
|||
|
if {[lindex $argv 0] == "-"} {
|
|||
|
set argv [lrange $argv 1 end]
|
|||
|
exec echo [exec date "+%x %H:%M"] $argv >>$env(HOME)/.memo
|
|||
|
}
|
|||
|
button .b -textvariable argv -command exit
|
|||
|
.b config -fg black -bg yellow -wraplength 6i -justify left
|
|||
|
.b config -activebackground yellow
|
|||
|
.b config -activeforeground black
|
|||
|
pack .b
|
|||
|
</pre></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
and the memo will appear black on yellow. Also, if the first argument
|
|||
|
to memo is a dash, the memo will be logged in the .memo file. The
|
|||
|
simpleness of the script precludes funny characters in the message, as
|
|||
|
the shell will want to act on them.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
In either case, left-click the button and the memo disappears.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
Preceed it with a DISPLAY variable,
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE><code>
|
|||
|
DISPLAY=someterm:0 sh -c 'memo your time card is due &'
|
|||
|
</code></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
<BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
and the note will pop up on another display.
|
|||
|
</BLOCKQUOTE>
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
<!-- end 22 -->
|
|||
|
<!--startcut ======================================================= -->
|
|||
|
<P> <hr> </p>
|
|||
|
<H5 align="center"><a href="http://www.linuxgazette.com/copying.html"
|
|||
|
>Copyright ©</a> 2000, James T. Dennis
|
|||
|
<BR>Published in <I>Linux Gazette</I> Issue 60 December 2000</H5>
|
|||
|
<H6 ALIGN="center">HTML transformation by
|
|||
|
<A HREF="mailto:star@starshine.org">Heather Stern</a> of
|
|||
|
Starshine Technical Services
|
|||
|
<A HREF="http://www.starshine.org/">http://www.starshine.org/</A>
|
|||
|
</H6>
|
|||
|
<!-- ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -->
|
|||
|
</BODY></HTML>
|
|||
|
<!--endcut ========================================================= -->
|