203 lines
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203 lines
9.1 KiB
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<HTML>
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<HEAD>
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<TITLE>ClueLess Issue 14</TITLE>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
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<H4>
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"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more lovable!</I>"
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<IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE SRC="../gx/heart.gif"> </H4>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<center>
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<H2>CLUELESS at the Prompt: A New Column for New Users</H2>
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<H4>By Mike List,
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<a href="mailto:"troll@net-link.net>troll@net-link.net</a></H4>
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</center>
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<P> <HR> <P>
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I'm sure you've heard it before, but Welcome to Linux! You've
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heard the stories, your friends told you "Don't do it" but the allure of
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an operating system with at least the power of NT that can run on 4 MB of
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RAM on the same disk, even on the same partition with your DOS/Windows
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installation, was too big to be ignored. So you went on a FTP spree
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or bought a Red Hat or Slackware CD, installed it and you are confused,
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things don't work the way you expected, the man pages seem to be written
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in another language, and the people on the USENET keep telling you to RTFM
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and belittling you.</p>
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<p>
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That's why I decided to ask if I could write this column, it happened
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to me. Actually, when I got into computers (less than a year ago,) my friend
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Trippy told me to learn DOS before trying Windows. Thanks Trippy, you
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saved me a lot of trouble. So when I read about Linux, I thought -WHOA
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COOL!!, and downloaded the mini-linux distribution from Sunsite."HEY!Wait
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a minute, how come the keyboard doesn't work right?" Turns out the
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key table is Portuguese and requires file editing to be usable by us
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Yanks. Thanks to SGK from the Debian group, I got that squared away, so
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I decided to go with Debian, but with my small disk and no CD-ROM,
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Debian's Compatibility/Conflict Resolution was too much for me. So I got a
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second disk, 100 MB but it was still too small. So I decided to give
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Slackware a try. That's what I'm running now.</p>
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<p>
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The point is, I'm not a college educated computer expert but I still
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ended up(for now) with a running linux box. You can too, if you are
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willing to tinker (hack later, tinker now).I made every possible mistake,
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I thought until I saw some of the questions in the news groups. </p>
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<p>
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But enough about me, what do you think about me?;-)</p>
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<p>
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The first things you need to know after you install Linux are the
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most common commands. Here I'm going to assume that you have at least
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some DOS background. The following list will attempt to correlate
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Linux commands:</p>
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<blockquote>
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<p><table border=1 cellpadding=8>
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<tr>
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<th>Linux</th><th>DOS</th></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>ls /directory/name</td><td>cd\directory\name -- dir</td></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>ls /directory | more<br>ls " " | less</td><td>dir | more</td></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>cat /file</td><td>type \file</td></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>cat " " | more<br>less /file</td><td>" " | more</td></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>cp /file /file /to</td><td>copy \file \to</td></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>cd /directory</td><td>cd\directory</td></tr>
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<tr>
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<td>mkdir /directory</td><td>mkdir \directory</td></tr>
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<td>rm /file</td><td>del \file</td></tr>
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</table>
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</blockquote>
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This list is not nearly complete, there are many more commands in both OS
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but these are very likely the most commonly used ones. For command help
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in DOS type: help :in linux type: man (command, substitute the command
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name): Both of these help utilities give options or switches that change
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the nature of the command.
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You can see that there are similarities in the command line operation of
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both OS, historically they share a common ancestry. In fact, to use a
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oversimplified view, at the command line linux could be thought of as
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SUPERDOS. In fact this SUPERDOS can actually be used to run MS Windows -
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check into WINE and WABI home pages on the Internet.(More on those later,
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maybe.)
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<p>
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One of the next things you will need to do is find out how to write
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or change file contents with an editor.I used to think elvis was the easiest
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editor, until Konrad Rokicki told me about pico, which comes with the pine
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mail server. If you used MS Write or Notepad, you'll find it very easy to
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use. Save Emacs for another day unless you are a good typist, I found the
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keyboard commands to be confusing for my two-fingered style. If you don't
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have pico installed, try elvis in the input mode, by typing: input
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filename, it's pretty easy too, except watch out for command mode and
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input mode (type: man elvis :and read the page.If you have a CD
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version of Linux, you either have pico installed or can have it if you
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choose.</p>
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<p>
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If you're like me one of your priority projects will be to to do is use
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an Internet protocol to connect to your Internet Service Provider. My ISP
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uses PPP so that's what I used, and the following descriptions are for
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PPP.</p>
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<p>
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The first thing you will need to confirm is that your kernel supports
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PPP, either in the kernel or by loadable modules. Type: pppd :and hit
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enter. If your kernel doesn't support PPP, you'll get a negative message,
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if you get a prompt you can assume for now that it's supported.</p>
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<p>
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Next you will need to type: ls /usr/sbin | more :and hit enter. Look
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for files called ppp-on and ppp-off. Next, type: ls /etc | more : and hit
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enter. Here you will be looking for a file called resolv.conf. Then type:
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ls /etc/ppp : you can skip the: | more :this time, since it's a small
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directory,and hit enter. You'll be looking for files called options and
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ppp-on-dialer. </p>
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<p>
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Edit your /etc/resolv.conf to look something like:<pre>
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domain net-link.net
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nameserver 205.207.6.2
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nameserver 205.217.6.3
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gateway 205.217.6.10
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</pre>
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Naturally you will have to change the name and numeric to match that of
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your ISP </p>.
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<p>
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Next, edit your /etc/ppp/options file to look something like this:<pre>
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/dev/modem
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38400 # at this line you could substitute 19200, 57600, 115200
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defaultroute
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noipdefault
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debug
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crtscts
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lock
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modem
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</pre></p>
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<p>
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These two files are necessary to either of the methods I am going to
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describe.</p>
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<p>
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Now you can use minicom to dial up your ISP. Type: minicom :, and when it
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loads, type: ATDTYOURISPNUMBER :hit enter. When the remote modem answers
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you will be prompted for your username and password. When you have
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responded with this information, a string of garbage characters will run
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across the screen. Type: ctrl(key)a :then: Q :which will let you out of
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minicom without hanging up the modem. Then immediately type: pppd :then
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hit enter. Type: ping YOURISP'SNUMERIC :you will get a message that will
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inform you if you are connected. If you get a message that says in part
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"network not reached" try again. If no luck after a couple more tries,
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check to see that the files you edited have the correct information. Try
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changing your connection speed in /etc/ppp/options to 19200 and try again.
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If you connect this time, then one at a time try the faster speeds until
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you can't connect, then drop back to the fastest speed that worked.</p>
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<p>
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There is an easier method using the script /usr/sbin/ppp-on, that
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involves editing that file to give your ISPdialup number, username, and
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password and optionally your connection speed. It is commented to help you
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figure out how to change those lines that you need to change. When that is
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done correctly, you can dial up by typing: ppp-on : Pretty cool, huh?
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If these methods don't work for you, start by reading the PPP_HOWTO in
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your /usr/doc/faq/howto directory, then respond by e-mail to
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troll@net-link.net, telling me any error messages, and I'll try to square
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you away.</p>
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<p>
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There is another method using the chat program, but I haven't had
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much luck there, yet. Future installments, if any will fill you in on that
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if it seems that it's wanted. Personally, ppp-on is just fine for me so
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far.</p>
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<p>you will want to get an e-mail program and a browser, if you don't
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already. I recommend lynx. It's fast and you don't need X installed to use
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it. There probably is a lynx binary in your distribution, but if not you
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can get one from sunsite or other ftp.Pine is a good mail program, and it
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includes the pico editor, as noted above.</p>
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<p> NOTE TO LINUX EXPERTS- I would be glad to accept reasonable criticism
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of this article and the information therein. I don't really want to put up
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with heavy fire, if you can help the new user better than me, write an
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article yourself, there are plenty of avenues where such information would
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be of great service.</p>
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<p>
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<h3> Next Time- e-mail<a href="mailto:troll@net-link.net">troll@net-link.net
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</a> me and ask, otherwise I'll just write about what gave me trouble and
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how I got past it.</h3></p>
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<p> TTYL, Mike List </p>
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<!--===================================================================-->
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<P> <hr> <P>
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<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Mike List <BR>
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Published in Issue 14 of the Linux Gazette</H5></center>
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