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212 lines
9.0 KiB
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<TITLE>FBB Packet-radio BBS mini-HOWTO: How to use LinFBB's "xfbbX", a GUI client for Linux</TITLE>
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<H2><A NAME="s7">7.</A> <A HREF="FBB.html#toc7">How to use LinFBB's "xfbbX", a GUI client for Linux</A></H2>
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<P>2002-10-20</P>
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<P>Well, soon after the installation of LinFBB v7.04
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<EM>.rpm</EM> package, I noticed
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a new "kid on the block", i.e. a new item within the
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Start menu (under Gnome environment). That was a
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"HamRadio" group, having several "Xfbb version 7.04"
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sub-items and one of them was "xfbbd X Client".</P>
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<P>It seemed that a mouse <EM>click</EM> on that
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"xfbbd X Client" icon was not likely to return any
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response, although <EM>xfbbd</EM> daemon has been successfully
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running <EM>before</EM> invoking the client. That's why I have
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been asking for help (related to that issue) from other LinFBB
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users, but it seemed there was no one capable to solve that
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problem. Anyway, it looks to me that there is a "dead" link
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from this "xfbbd X Client" icon to an existing executable.</P>
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<P>Trying to find a solution, the other day I was browsing the
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<B>/usr/sbin</B> directory. I have noticed something that
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I have already seen for several times. That was <B>xfbbX</B>
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file. Well, I am sure that I tried to use this <EM>executable</EM>
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earlier, but without much success. This time, I have entered
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the full path, like this:</P>
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<P>
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<BLOCKQUOTE><CODE>
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<PRE>
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/usr/sbin/xfbbX
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</PRE>
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</CODE></BLOCKQUOTE>
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</P>
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<P>and, finally, the GUI client appeared on the screen.</P>
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<P>So far - so good. Soon after, I realized that 'Monitoring'
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window was capable to monitor the actual traffic on the radio
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frequency, but not only that. Headers of all packets appear
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in green and the actual information is in blue, so it is easy
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to distinguish what is the header and what is the text info
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(comparing to my old X11 LinFBB application where everything
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came in black).
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What I could describe as a disadvantage of the 'Monitoring'
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window, is that the scroll bar does not give you much of the
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previous, already <EM>scrolled</EM> traffic.</P>
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<P>The 'All channels' screen was even better, so the system
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user correspondents' traffic appeared in green, the local
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user's traffic was in black and the port information was in
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yellow. Unfortunately, there's no easy way (if any) to
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change colors (and that's the standard feature in WinFBB)
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for both 'Monitoring' and 'All channels' windows. Maybe I
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haven't managed yet to find a switch for that, so any
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useful info about is appreciated.</P>
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<P>What I have also found a bit annoying, was that both
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windows mentioned above, appear not arranged side-by-side,
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a form that would be more suitable. Besides that, the
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third window, 'Console', has to be activated with another
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mouse click (instead of being activated automatically
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with the other two windows). Actually, the whole thing of
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<EM>xfbbX</EM> client seems to be primarily useful for
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sysops looking only for BBS's command line, in order to
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execute some server's commands etc. That's why I have found
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a bit strange why the console window must be activated
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separately (OK, I know that's the same with WinFBB's
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windows, but why not to add some additional feature?)</P>
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<P>Anyway, the 'Console' connection window has almost the same
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functionality as WinFBB's 'Console' window. Here I think
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of the commands given at the BBS's command prompt, because
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they are invoked from the usual language *.TXT files.</P>
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<P>But, the big disadvantage of today's version of
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<EM>xfbbX</EM> client, I've found here, is the absence of
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several useful icons, that I was very fond of within
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the WinFBB's user interface. For example, there are
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no icons for pending mail, users information,
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disconnect a user, edit a message text or a header
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etc. It looks to me that <EM>xfbbX</EM> developers are
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not likely to offer the full comfort that we have
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within WinFBB's GUI. It makes me wonder why? There are lots
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of commands that can not be easily activated without the
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proper icons. It drives me crazy whenever I have to
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re-boot to Windows to start WinFBB, in order to perform
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some simple tasks mentioned, using the mouse.</P>
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<P>Besides that, there is no way to activate that nice
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message editor screen, very useful in WinFBB
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(also existed in an old Xwindow LinFBB application
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v7.00g from 1998!) The same goes for replying
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a message, where a sender does not get the text
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of a message to be replied to, within the new
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message body. In short, I don't like absence of
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all those earlier implemented, but now abandoned
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features.</P>
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<P>Well, I can't imagine what Jean-Paul, F6FBB, and
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other developers would do in the future, but I am not
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satisfied with the idea to only keep further development
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of LinFBB server side, but, in the same time, to abandon
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the development of LinFBB's graphical client side. And not
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only that: It looks that MS Windows client for LinFBB server,
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<EM>xfbbW</EM> has been reported to be much more functional
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that described xfbbX, while, in the same time, WinFBB server
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development has been also stopped. A bit confusing situation,
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isn't it?</P>
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<P>Some amateurs think that it is just a result of "global" IT
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situation: Linux (as well as other Unix-type platforms) is better
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suited for servers, but Windows is better for clients. If so,
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it looks that LinFBB packet-radio system operators, "sysop's",
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seem to be forced to run at least two computers, in order
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to get the same functionality they always had with WinFBB.
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I'd rather suggest to Jean-Paul, F6FBB, and other developers
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to transfer all known WinFBB's GUI features to <EM>xfbbX</EM>
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GUI environment, in order to avoid using two computers.</P>
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<P>2002-10-30</P>
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<P>A couple of paragraphs ago, I said that "xfbbd X Client" icon
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didn't work under Gnome environment. It did make me wonder
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if it would work under KDE graphical user interface. So, this
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time I started KDE (and I did it as "root" so, in addition, I
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also got a mailbox icon on the desktop, named "fbb X11". When I
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located the mouse pointer over that icon, there appeared some
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more description: "F6FBB bbs Server for Packet Radio").</P>
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<P>Well, when I tried to <EM>click</EM> on that icon, I got a
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KFM Warning message box explaining that program
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<B>/root/.xfbbX</B> could not be executed. Fortunately,
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a "right click" on the icon allowed to enter file's Properties.
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The Execute card gave me a possibility to change the path
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for a program to be used. So, I did some browsing and located
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the new path: <B>/usr/sbin/xfbbX</B>. After that, another
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<EM>click</EM> resulted in running the GUI client.</P>
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<P>Interestingly, there is some slight difference between
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<EM>xfbbX</EM> appearance under KDE and Gnome. Actually,
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each KDE's <EM>xfbbX</EM> window has "FBB" logo in the upper
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left corner (Gnome's windows haven't that). That may indicate
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that <EM>xfbbX</EM> client was produced primarily for KDE
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environment. Besides that, it seems that other features
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are almost the same, regardless being within KDE or Gnome
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environment.</P>
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<P>On the other side, the already mentioned "xfbbd X Client"
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item (within the Start menu, under the "HamRadio" group), still
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does not work. I suppose that there should also be some
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modifications, related to program executable paths, but I
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do not know how to manage that. Anyway, it does not matter
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because <EM>xfbbX</EM> is running here this or that way.</P>
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<P>2003-06-30</P>
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<P>A recent email from Jose, HI8GN, related to the xfbbX GUI client,
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about the RPM package:</P>
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<P><EM>"The reason of the why not the xfbbd X Client didn't give you any
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answer is for several causes. 1) if the xfbbd daemon is not running
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the xfbbd X client won't run. 2) if the xfbbd is dead in its process.
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3) if the xfbbd was not shutoff correctly, but delete the xfbbd lock file
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as this:</EM></P>
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<P><EM>. /etc/init.d/rc.fbb stop or service rc.fbb stop, and then it was run
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and didn't create the xfbbd lock file, the shell script looks for the
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existence the /var/lock/subsys/xfbbd or /var/lock/subsys/xfbbX lock file
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and 4) if the xfbb X11 Server it is running it create a xfbbX lock file
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by that the xfbbd X client won't neither run</EM></P>
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<P><EM>the same thing makes the X11 Client the one it verifies that the xfbbd is
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not running</EM></P>
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<P><EM>if you make a click on the Icon that says fbb X11 Client and it doesn't run
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it is because the one is seeing that there is a process of the xfbbd
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running like as daemon.
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the script rc.fbb I have also modified it so that it can not be executed
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twice.</EM></P>
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<P><EM>if exist xfbbX lock file the xfbbd X client won't run
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if exist xfbbd lock file the fbb X11 won't run.</EM></P>
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<P><EM>Lastly if you execute the command fbb in the console or in xterminal in
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the desktop, you will see what I mean that simple."</EM></P>
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<P>Thanks Jose!</P>
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