156 lines
7.3 KiB
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156 lines
7.3 KiB
HTML
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<TITLE>Caldera DeskTop Network</TITLE>
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<H1>Caldera Network DeskTop Review</H1>
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<P>
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by <B>Edward Cameron</B>
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<A HREF="mailto: ecame119@ecity.net"><ecame119@ecity.net></A><BR>
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Copyright (c) 1996<BR>
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<H5>Published in Issue #6 of the Linux Gazette</H5>
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<HR>
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<H2>Introduction</H2>
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Slick advertisement led me to Caldera. The fancy images within the Linux Journal magazine promised software that had
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features I have come to expect from a GUI.
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<P> For US $30.00 one could get a lot of functionality at a decent price. What follows is a synopses of several <I>applets
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</I> included with the Caldera DeskTop software. A in-depth discussion is beyond the scope of this article.
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<HR>
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<H2>Package Contents: The Manual</H2>
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<P>
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The provided manual, while on the thin side, is succinct. It explains how to partition the hard drive and how to select
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a boot disk which best fits your hardware. You simply select the boot image from a chart based on the type of CD-ROM, NIC
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card and hard disk controller in your computer.
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<P>
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The DeskTop software is contained on the included CD-ROM.
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<P>
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You will need three disks for this installation. One disk for the boot disk and two disks for the ram disk images.
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Its up to you if you want to create a rescue disk. I found it useless and not worth the effort.
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<P>
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Use the Express Install option. You will need about 160 megs of disk space and all packages will be automatically installed
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for you. The custom installation procedure will require you to baby-sit part of the installation and I found that I installed
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about 90% of the software anyway.
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<P>
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<B>NB: </B>Using the <I><B>custom</B></I> install cause the font server to be omitted from the installation. I don't know
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why, nor have I tested this, but the font server is one major reason for my buying the software. After all, what good is
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it to have several thousands of fonts and be forced to use Windoze in order to take advantage of the fonts?
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<P>
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<B>TIP:</B> Use the text based install- its faster than the graphical install. The text install takes about 45 mins.
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Never timed the graphical install, but it was more than 45 mins. Times will vary depending on computer system.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<H2> The DeskTop </H2>
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<P>
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<H3><EM>The Layouts</EM></H3>
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<P>
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Click on the below highlighted items to view the preconfigured layouts.
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<P>
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<A HREF="./gx/default.gif">Default</A><BR>
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<A HREF="./gx/novice.gif">Novice</A><BR>
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<A HREF="./gx/poweruser.gif">Power User</A><BR>
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<P>
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(the difference between the NOVICE and POWER USER layouts is the omission of the JOBS window in the NOVICE)
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<P>
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The DeskTop come with three pre-configured layouts. Each of the layouts can be tailored to meet your special needs or wants
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simply by adding programs to the desktop and then saving to a <I>user</I> version of the layout. I will save the DeskTop for
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next months 'in-depth' review. The DeskTop is pretty and has several powerful aspects which deserve more than a passing mention.
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<P>
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<H3><EM>The Applets</EM></H3>
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<UL>
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<L1><A HREF="#print">PrintTool</A><BR>
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<L1><A HREF="#time">TimeTool</A><BR>
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<L1><A HREF="#user">Usercfg</A><BR>
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<L1><A HREF="#net">Netcfg</A><BR>
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<L1><A HREF="#glint">Glint</A><BR>
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<L1><A HREF="#crisp">Crisp</A><BR>
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</UL>
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<P>
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What follows is a short intro. to some of the <I>'applets'</I> of the DeskTop. I call them applets simply because I like that
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idea- small useful programs which don't do alot, but are handy to have. Crisp is the exception to this; it is a stripped down version
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of a text/program editor and is very powerful.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="time">TimeTool</H2>
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<P>
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(Click here it view TimeTool screen<I><A HREF="./gx/timetool.gif" >fig</I></A>)
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<P>
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The Timetool program is used to set the system clock and date. A nice utility and one that I welcome
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over the command line program <I>date</I>.
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<HR>
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<P>
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<H2><A NAME="print">PrintTool</H2>
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(Click here to view printtool<I><A HREF="./gx/printtool.gif" >fig</I></A>)
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Have you ever struggled to set up a printer? Well, look no further amigo. This little utility takes the guess work out of
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setting up print services under Linux. Simply click on <B> ADD</B>, enter the required information in each of the blocks, select either
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local or remote printer and then fill in the blanks. Save it, restart lpd and you are off and printing.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME=USER>User Configure</H2></A>
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<P>
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(Click here to view usrcfg screen <I><A HREF="./gx/usrcfg.gif">fig</I></A>)
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No surprises here folks. Configure both your users and groups with this utility. This is a nice utility and it takes some
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of the confusion and guess work out working with users and groups. I don't know of too many harried sys admins who have botched
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the users and groups files on occasion simply because they were in a hurry and didn't pay attention. This utility makes
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it easy to add, delete users and groups as well as changing passwords if the need arises.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME=NET>Net Configure</H2></A>
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<P>
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(Click here to view netcfg screen <I><A HREF="./gx/netcfg.gif">fig</I></A>)
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<P>
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Some parts of this utility work, other parts don't. The <B>Name Servers</B> entry form doesn't work. Entering anything here
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causes an address of 0.0.0.0 to appear instead of the one you want. As you can see from the picture, I don't have much of a
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network. Just the loopback device. I believe that PPP is configurable under this utility, but I've not found the ways
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and means to do that.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME=GLINT>Glint</H2></A>
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<P>
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(Click here to view the glint screen <I><A HREF="./gx/glint.gif">fig</I></A>)
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<P>
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Preview I introduced the <B>LIM</B> utility which is the forerunner of <B>GLINT</B>. Both utilities are designed to install and de-install software which has been packaged according to RedHat
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's <B>rpm</B> rules. The concept behind Glint is simple: collect all of the parts of a program (or series of programs) into a 'package' and then put that package onto a floppy or CD-ROM for
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distribution. The user then extracts the package to the hard drive in one fell swoop with the Glint program.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<H2><A NAME=CRISP>Crisp Editor</H2></A>
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<P>
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(Click here to view the crisp screen <I><A HREF="./gx/crisp.gif">fig</I></A>)
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<P>
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<B>HERE!</B> is the <B>best</B> and only reason I am bothering with the DeskTop. Crisp is the default editor for release II of the Preview program. It is a third party software program included on
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the CD and it is truly outstanding. Only a step below WYSIWYG, it is tempting to spend the additional US $70.00 for the full blown version. Multiple buffers, autoload of last file edited, and a row of menu
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button 'goodies' help make Crisp lite a true gem of a program. Kudos to Caldera for including it on the Preview II CD.
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<P>
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<HR>
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<P>
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<H2>Conclusion</H2>
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<P>
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I originally planned on doing only one article on Caldera, however the more "I writ, the more to writ". It sort of snowballed
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into a monster. I believe the only way to do justice to Caldera is to break the software up into byte sized pieces and serve them
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up two or three at a time. So, next month I'll start with the most troublesome applets: the Print tool and the net configuration.
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<P>
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<I><B>Ciao fer now!</B></I>
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<HR>
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<P>
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Beam me back to the <A HREF="./lg_issue6.html">Linux Gazette</A>, Scotty!
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